Talking to my dentist down the pub this afternoon evidently Wally Haumaha was thick as thieves with Clint Rickard, Brad Schollum an Shipton with regards to what was going on with the Louise Nicholas Case. Maybe Chris Bishop knows more about this than we do ?
Interesting. Bishop was born in 1983 and was just 10 years old when Louise Nicholas went to the police with her complaint. Bishop is now the opposition spokesperson for police and he and the National Party does seem to be conveniently in receipt of a lot of information that would naturally be held by police.
The National Party then use this information to attack the government with. I’m thinking the Haumaha case, the Whaitiri case, and the Sroubek case (and even the JLR case if you want to go there).
Just wondering what political channels there are currently between police directly to the opposition spokesperson for police.
Would OIA requests be able to find out who from the police speaks with Chris Bishop on a regular basis and what they talk about?
Bishop will make a name for himself if he can get a hit on Haumaha, anyway the damage has been done and Wally has been dragged through the mud through some very unwise words, whether he was involved with Rickards, Shipton & Schollum is another story ?
For sure, Gobby. There will be hundreds of Haumahas in the NZ police though. And they are informing Chris Bishop as we speak. How to put them down the road?
It seems Karel’s former wife’s new partner, Mark Davis is a member of the National Party. He stood in the 2016 local body elections under the right wing ‘Auckland Future’ banner which was supported by National presidents past and present.
Woodhouse claims he has never met Davis but of course he doesn’t have to does he…
Why is Labour willing to die in a ditch over this guy?
Over the last few years, I’ve seen quite a few cases involving some really talented people/families adding a lot to NZ getting booted out for something quite trivial.
Well I wonder how that came to be? Wasn’t he busted for using a false passport in 2009? I would have thought that would have found it’s way to the minister’s desk?
Strangely you can’t just chuck people with residency out on a whim.
For people to get residency they need to pass the Good Character test which includes not lying on their application. If they got residency and then it was found that they lied to get it then there’s a good case to withdraw residency.
Wow. Fascinating. I speculated just now how so much information finds its way to the National Party on this and other cases and now it appears we know…at least in part.
Of course Trump’s going after Native American land, too.
Brazil's next president, Jair Bolsonaro, wants to do away with indigenous territories, which are protected by law. "Where there is indigenous land, there is wealth underneath it," he said last year. https://t.co/vQ0dlD4pn9— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 11, 2018
“This is not about energy,” Zinke said repeatedly as he sought to defend the downsizing of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monuments. Zinke has maintained that the decision to reduce the monuments grew out of his fact-finding mission in the months before the decision was announced. But anyone who lives in what the Utah-born writer Bernard DeVoto called “the plundered province” of the West knows that Zinke’s statements were suspect. Dig deep enough into any conflicts over public lands and you will be reminded of a simple truth: These days, it’s almost always about energy.
Despite Zinke’s denials, it is now clear that the uranium industry lobbied hard to have Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante reduced. Publicly released Interior Department emails also show that the Bears Ears map was redrawn with potential oil and gas reserves in mind, and that a central motivation for the reduction of Grand Staircase–Escalante was the desire to get at coal reserves. (In June, another Canadian mining firm, Glacier Lake Resources, announced its acquisition of cobalt and copper deposits at Colt Mesa, a site that for more than 20 years had been protected as part of the Grand Staircase–Escalante monument.)
Ah, Jair Bolsonaro in the man-crush of one James of this forum. He believes Bolsonaro is more charming than Jacinda Ardern!
I said previously today that James’ support for loose RW regressive extremists around the world paint a very clear picture of the man. He’s probably outside right now shouting at nature.
Also, Joe, I’m a little confused why you would be so very hard on a fellow traveller in Ed since many, many of your concerns overlap.
I remember once not long ago you ripped into me for agreeing with another commenter that Stormy Daniels has no class. Why the quick temper?
Here we go. Mr Trump wants the vote counting to stop while his people were ahead.
“Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!
Very distressing. The more awareness the better I would have thought. And if the Brits are going to ban the ad they did, do you really think they are going to allow that?
It’s the same problem we in the West face with censoring developing countries for using nuclear research for energy and defence. And having ignored carbon emissions and added to climate change for profit, who are we, the West, to deny developing countries the same opportunity?
Having cut down all “our” forests for profit, how are we to deny developing counties the same opportunity without being incredibly hypocritical ladder-kicking bastards?
Goes to show all those terrible decisions made 150 years ago still come back to haunt.
The early British Settlors in NZ did particularly well here in NZ stripping out the native forests with the help of Maori labour of course to supply the British Navy with Kauri masts, spars and planking materials ?
Indonesia & Brazil are just going through the colonisation and the asset stripping of indigeneous resources the same as the the British did here 170-180 years ago.
The NZ Dairy Industry and companies like Nestle are the beneficiaries of this asset stripping of indigeneous forests.
Yes. I would have thought if the stripping of our once grand forests stopped at spars and masts we would still have something spectacular.
I also think some economic development will always have been required in NZ but the magnitude of native deforestation for generic agriculture is a crime.
And still in the South Island we see agriculture override natural landscapes with irrigation schemes, water table pollution, and scant regard for what is being lost before our very eyes.
District Council’s & Government’s don’t appear to give a rat’s arse to the pollution and resource plundering by the Dairy Industry and Asian Water Bottlers, make you wonder who is paying the piper ?
The list of the countries currently taking active steps towards eliminating their economic reliance on the US dollar is growing. Russia has joined a league of nations is making a lot of headway with the task, the WSJ reports.
Russia is hardly the only country trying to fight against the predominance of US currency across the global financial system. The European Union has recently announced plans to create a special purpose vehicle to keep on trading with Iran, as these transactions had become a target for US unilateral sanctions. The partners are reportedly working on using the euro in mutual trade and other business activities.
So, not impossible to disconnect from the present US dominated financial system.
‘Required viewing for everyone.
The Washington Institute For Near East Studies just fully admitted that every war we’ve ever been in was a false flag.’
And? That’s a comedy piece met by another comedy piece. What is your point?
And just how has China lost its revolutionary fervour not once ever having held a democratic election? The West has chosen to ignore that, once again for profit.
Joe defends the neoliberal establishment at all costs.
He regularly pimps for war on this site.
He is 28.
He has no historical reference point as to what war looks like.
Don’t know.
But he takes a lot of interest all things American.
Obama, Hilary and Bill would approve of his points of view.
He supports bellicose foreign US policy in the Baltic, Ukraine and Syria.
He believes the White Helmets are a peaceful rescue organisation.
He believes the UK line on the Skripals.
Pathetic. People use pseudonyms here for a reason and don’t deserve your disgusting amateur hour attempts to pigeonhole them. Grow up ffs and just argue your fucken points. Who made you judge, jury and executioner – noone that’s who!
I haven’t changed my view.
And the comments by Clark and Clawson add weight to those of us who ask the question “Cui Bono?”
As Jack Ramaka say, Clark is very credible and what he says is compelling.
So the buildings were destroyed and people murdered in a conspiracy to make it look like a bunch of Saudis had done it, so the US could invade Iraq? Don’t be stupid.
Or maybe a bunch of mostly Saudis organised by a group harboured in Afghanistan did the attack off their own bat, and all the hawks did was use alleged connections with that act (amongst other fabricated evidence) as an excuse to start hostilities against iraq.
Who had the means?
Who had the motive?
Who had the opportunity?
In U.S. criminal law, means, motive, and opportunity is a common summation of the three aspects of a crime that must be established before guilt can possibly be determined in a criminal proceeding. Respectively, they refer to: the ability of the defendant to commit the crime (means), the reason the defendant committed the crime (motive), and whether the defendant had the chance to commit the crime (opportunity).
For example, if a criminal shot someone with a handgun and took his/her money when the victim was in an isolated, secluded area at night, the means would be the handgun, the motive financial (i.e., the money they stole), and the opportunity the fact that it would be unlikely someone else would witness or stop them. For the majority of crimes, means and opportunity are the easiest to prove; however, for some offenses (such as rape or serial killing), the motive can be hard to define.
Opportunity is most often disproved by use of an alibi, which can prove the accused was not able to commit the crime as he or she did not have the correct set of circumstances to commit the crime as it occurred. Some crimes are motiveless. However, proof of a motive can often make it easier to convince a jury of the elements that must be proven for a conviction.
The invasion of Iraq was a crime of opportunity. Like if someone else kicks the door open and runs away, a thief sees it and nicks the purse off the hall table.
Oh, I’m supposed to believe you’d have any idea what a detective would find “interesting”? Watched a lot of Poirot videos, have you?
Because what the neocons actually did in the way of seeing themselves as empire builders and the descendants of Kissinger, that’s what they should be in jail for. Not your fantasy about 9/11, about using it to invade and loot nations completely unrelated to the crime.
They don’t want to destabilise the ME, that’s plan B. They wanted to rule it. And they used the murders of 3,000 people to justify going after people other than the perpetrators.
The Project for the New American Century saw the post 9/11 world as an opportunity to the begin regime changes the organisation had been planning since its inception in 1997.
All they were doing was waiting for a precipitating event. A plane crash, a big bomb, a ship hijacking, a bridge bomb, anything that could be blamed on Iran or Iraq, preferably. Some ME nation. The neocons had a big military dick, and wanted to swing it.
You don’t need a coincidence if you know something of the right character will happen anyway.
“People’s connections in the US to Google – including its cloud, YouTube, and other websites – were suddenly rerouted through Russia and into China in a textbook Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) hijacking attack.
That means folks in Texas, California, Ohio, and so on, firing up their browsers and software and connecting to Google and its services were instead talking to systems in Russia and China, and not servers belonging to the Silicon Valley giant.
Any information exchanged during the hour-and-a-half-long hijacking that wasn’t securely encrypted may have leaked into the wrong hands. Netizens outside of America may also have been affected.’ Quote end.
Is that any differment than the state doing the same thing?
Intercepting every cyber communication and collating data.
I recently rewatched Citizen4, and again was surprised by how quickly the public shrugged, accepted and soon enough the sheeple went back to sleep.
I am aware KDC overegged the big reveal came, but what was revealed was a big warning.
Now minister Little wants the spies to have even more power.
Something to do with the terrorism that was visited on the folk of Te Urewera by the constabulary.
When are you going to learn a little science and understand that continual horticulture is fucking the planet. The emissions of methane from killing plants is just as great as that of animals – rice growing in particular is a major contributor to GHG emissions. Now I don’t advocate for industrial farming any more than you do. But restorative grazing on pasturelands is just as efficient in sequestering carbon as growing trees.
And by the way since you ask. I have been campaigning for action on addressing Global Warming since the 1990’s, and I’ve planted more trees than you have hot dinners.
So get off your high horse. You are not the fountain of all that is good and wonderful, and your repetitive posts here are boring in the extreme.
Going vegan is the ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth
A LANDMARK global study has revealed the one simple thing we can all do to massively reduce our impact on the planet.
This is because a landmark global study into the production of greenhouse gas emissions from over 38,000 farms has pointed to one simple way we can reduce our global warming woes — by avoiding meat and dairy products.
The paper published in Science today shows that without these industries, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75 per cent.
That’s an area the size of Australia, the US, China and the EU combined. And what’s more, the study shows we don’t even really need meat anyway.
..the livestock industry accounts for a massive 83 per cent of farmland in the world and produces 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in farming….
“A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification (of ocean water), eutrophication (the build up of nutrients in water bodies which destroys wildlife), land use and water use,” Oxford University researcher Joseph Poore told The Guardian today.
Over all, the researchers estimated a vegan world would produce 49 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions from food, 50 per cent less acidification, 49 per cent less eutrophication, and reduce water use by 19 per cent.
“It (going vegan) is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car,” Mr Poore added. “Agriculture is a sector that spans all the multitude of environmental problems. Really it is animal products that are responsible for so much of this.
Typically Ed cherry picks from an op ed article in the SMH…
As I quite simply stated above – I don’t advocate for industrialised farming any more than Ed does – ie not at all.
Here is the concluding part of the article that Ed decided wasn’t worth quoting – because it contradicted his viewpoint.
Today’s analysis found there was a massive difference between different ways of producing the same food products.
Take beef for example. Cattle raised on deforested land produce 12 times more greenhouse gases and use 50 times more land than the same livestock would grazing on natural pasture.
They also found that if we cut our meat consumption in half and removed the worst 50 per cent of meat producers, and replaced them with vegetable crops, the benefits to the planet would be massive.
Note that the last paragraph doesnot mandate or advocate a vegan diet but simply a reduced meat intake.
Furthermore, what the article doesn’t take into account is the damage caused by intensified Horticulture and the disruption of the microbial environments in the soil of constant tillage – and the necessity of inorganic fertilisers for the production of maize and soy beans etc. Nor does it provide any comment on the release of GHG from tilled soil. A process that is a fundamental part of vegetable food production on an extensive scale. And the release of GHG from tilled soils is surprisingly large.
What were once the vast prairies of North America – and the natural pasture lands – have now been destroyed by industrial farming. Where once, these soils sequestered vast quantities of Carbon, constant tillage has reduced them to such a state, that scientists predict the soils will be incapable of supporting crops with a few decades. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/
There is a growing body of opinion – backed by empirical studies in the US, and elsewhere, that a return to natural practices and simple farming techniques can have significant benefits wrt Carbon sequestration, and at the same time improve animal well being and animal health. A recent white paper give some background to what is sometimes referred to as restorative grazing the Summary is here:
Summary: This white paper reviews the literature on soil organic carbon losses and potential gains through regenerative management. It finds that most literature is limited to areas considered in “agriculture” and that rangelands may be largely under represented both in terms of of losses and drawdown potential. It argues that with regenerative rangeland practices, such as Holistic Planned Grazing, the total capture of atmospheric carbon may be much higher than previously considered. An upward estimate of 88 to 210 gigatons (billions of tons) of carbon (88-210 GtC) representing a total drawdown of 25 to 60 tons per hectare on 3500 million hectares of grasslands worldwide is postulated as achievable through proper rangeland/grassland management. This represents a CO2 reduction equivalency of 41 to 99 ppm, enough to return us to the 350 ppm level mandated by the Paris Climate Accords.
Ed your firing tonight, too many greens, a bit of activity on Daily Review for those of us who have to work for a living during the day. Keep up the thought provoking topics, also less trolls active in the evenings and at night.
‘Not on mainstream media: Nearly two years after Syria’s Aleppo was liberated from jihadist terrorism, churches all over the ancient city are filled with Christians who can finally worship once again in peace.’
“Illusion of democracy: If US elections could change anything they wouldn’t be held
Political power lies not with the voters, but with the powerful lobby groups who ‘buy’ elected representatives, who then act in their interests, and not the people’s. It’s not those we see at election time who really call the shots, but those we don’t. Those hidden behind the curtain. Those who write the cheques.
That’s why whoever wins we’ll never get any meaningful gun control, no matter how many mass shootings take place. It’s why neither the Democrats nor the Republicans will introduce an American National Health Service. Why the power of Wall Street and finance capital won’t be curbed. And why in foreign policy, presidents and Congress will always do the bidding of the military-industrial complex and Israel“
Having spent some time travelling and working in Russia over two separate trips I’ve experienced the people first hand. For a start I feel safer walking about a typical Russian city than I do in many other places. (There are of course specific places everywhere that really should be avoided.)
In public they can be very buttoned down, grim almost. But once you get to know them at work or in their personal lives, they are both well educated, serious minded AND at the same time great hosts and capable of a lot of fun. If you ever get the chance I highly recommend making the journey; it will be both challenging and remarkable at the same time.
The video above hits on a lot of strong notes I agree with. The point on imperialism is well made; but no mention of what must take it’s place. I saw the poverty and destruction caused by Western policy towards Russia first hand. Deprivation in a hot country is one thing; in a cold country it’s brutal.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 KotahiThe fact that a ...
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 ...
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 CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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; ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
“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 ...
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, ...
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, ...
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, ...
.“$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 ...
“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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 → ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track 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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. 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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
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SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],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. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Talking to my dentist down the pub this afternoon evidently Wally Haumaha was thick as thieves with Clint Rickard, Brad Schollum an Shipton with regards to what was going on with the Louise Nicholas Case. Maybe Chris Bishop knows more about this than we do ?
Eww
Interesting. Bishop was born in 1983 and was just 10 years old when Louise Nicholas went to the police with her complaint. Bishop is now the opposition spokesperson for police and he and the National Party does seem to be conveniently in receipt of a lot of information that would naturally be held by police.
The National Party then use this information to attack the government with. I’m thinking the Haumaha case, the Whaitiri case, and the Sroubek case (and even the JLR case if you want to go there).
Just wondering what political channels there are currently between police directly to the opposition spokesperson for police.
Would OIA requests be able to find out who from the police speaks with Chris Bishop on a regular basis and what they talk about?
If it puts wally down the road that’d be a silver lining mutty, he sounds like a right tosser.
Bishop will make a name for himself if he can get a hit on Haumaha, anyway the damage has been done and Wally has been dragged through the mud through some very unwise words, whether he was involved with Rickards, Shipton & Schollum is another story ?
For sure, Gobby. There will be hundreds of Haumahas in the NZ police though. And they are informing Chris Bishop as we speak. How to put them down the road?
Karel Sroubek’s mother is interviewed.
It seems Karel’s former wife’s new partner, Mark Davis is a member of the National Party. He stood in the 2016 local body elections under the right wing ‘Auckland Future’ banner which was supported by National presidents past and present.
Woodhouse claims he has never met Davis but of course he doesn’t have to does he…
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018671052/karel-sroubek-s-mother-mila-give-him-one-last-chance
National certainly gave him plenty of chances ?
For fuck’s sake man, actually read up about the guy’s history before repeating such idiotic comments.
Why is Labour willing to die in a ditch over this guy?
Over the last few years, I’ve seen quite a few cases involving some really talented people/families adding a lot to NZ getting booted out for something quite trivial.
Why does NZ need a Czech drug dealer living here?
The whole thing stinks of a thousand arses.
We let all the Asian drug dealers stay or use their cheque books to buy justice here in NZ especially under our Sir John Key ?
Yes, I hate to think how many smugglers of meth precursors have been openly welcomed by the National Party of New Zealand to our shores.
+ infinity Muttonbird.
I doubt we have much accurate information on many of our new Asian Immigrants.
Information deliberately not gathered.
Yeah I can’t understand why Woodhouse didn’t chuck him out years ago when he had the chance.
He definitely had every right to, hopefully the Inquiry will reveal the answers ?
What chance?
Woodhouse was never informed of what criminal activity the Czech drug dealer was up to, so how could he deport him?
So Immigration and the Police were not giving Woodhouse the information either ?
“Woodhouse was never informed”
Well I wonder how that came to be? Wasn’t he busted for using a false passport in 2009? I would have thought that would have found it’s way to the minister’s desk?
Apparently that was all the fault of the errant leftie judge overseeing the case. At least according to RWNJs that is the story.
I’m wondering if the Nat’s radar has got this badly wrong just like in the JLR situation and they are going to get found out.
Discharge without conviction.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s an untruth.
Did he make sure he wasn’t informed while wearing the wrong hat BMmer?
Mainly because he couldn’t.
Strangely you can’t just chuck people with residency out on a whim.
Which is why it is looking pretty bad for idiot Galloway.
Unless they can extradite him, he will be in the court for years trying to get rid of him.
Idiot along with Jacindarella should have read the report properly ?
It isn’t her job to read it.
There is only one person who wrote the letter (that can’t just be cancelled) and signed it off.
Not sure why she is intent on backing him up though.
Must not want to lose 3 Ministers in a year due to dodgy stuff
For people to get residency they need to pass the Good Character test which includes not lying on their application. If they got residency and then it was found that they lied to get it then there’s a good case to withdraw residency.
Not without grounds to
The judge let him off for it remember.
Wow. Fascinating. I speculated just now how so much information finds its way to the National Party on this and other cases and now it appears we know…at least in part.
The mother says that Karel did go back to the Czech Republic but under a false name. Suggests that he felt at risk.
Evidently he has links with the Hells Angels, so he is obviously well connected ?
Dodgy as, so the new man of the exwife is seems to be out to score points for the national party.
Go figure, typical behaviour of that mob, it’s all just a freaking competition and worries if people get hurt along the way.
May she cotton on to what’s happening, cause from where I’m sitting it looks like she is being used.
Of course Trump’s going after Native American land, too.
“This is not about energy,” Zinke said repeatedly as he sought to defend the downsizing of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monuments. Zinke has maintained that the decision to reduce the monuments grew out of his fact-finding mission in the months before the decision was announced. But anyone who lives in what the Utah-born writer Bernard DeVoto called “the plundered province” of the West knows that Zinke’s statements were suspect. Dig deep enough into any conflicts over public lands and you will be reminded of a simple truth: These days, it’s almost always about energy.
Despite Zinke’s denials, it is now clear that the uranium industry lobbied hard to have Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante reduced. Publicly released Interior Department emails also show that the Bears Ears map was redrawn with potential oil and gas reserves in mind, and that a central motivation for the reduction of Grand Staircase–Escalante was the desire to get at coal reserves. (In June, another Canadian mining firm, Glacier Lake Resources, announced its acquisition of cobalt and copper deposits at Colt Mesa, a site that for more than 20 years had been protected as part of the Grand Staircase–Escalante monument.)
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2018-4-september-october/feature/land-grab-trumps-campaign-against-bears-ears-national
Ah, Jair Bolsonaro in the man-crush of one James of this forum. He believes Bolsonaro is more charming than Jacinda Ardern!
I said previously today that James’ support for loose RW regressive extremists around the world paint a very clear picture of the man. He’s probably outside right now shouting at nature.
Also, Joe, I’m a little confused why you would be so very hard on a fellow traveller in Ed since many, many of your concerns overlap.
I remember once not long ago you ripped into me for agreeing with another commenter that Stormy Daniels has no class. Why the quick temper?
“He’s probably outside right now shouting at nature.”
QFT
Here we go. Mr Trump wants the vote counting to stop while his people were ahead.
“Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!
108K
1:44 AM – Nov 13, 2018”
Damn sight more powerful than a recycled animation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4zzbwM07bw&feature=youtu.be
And despite talk of sustainable production, I ain’t buying the shit.
http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/Whats_the_issue.php
Very distressing. The more awareness the better I would have thought. And if the Brits are going to ban the ad they did, do you really think they are going to allow that?
It’s the same problem we in the West face with censoring developing countries for using nuclear research for energy and defence. And having ignored carbon emissions and added to climate change for profit, who are we, the West, to deny developing countries the same opportunity?
Having cut down all “our” forests for profit, how are we to deny developing counties the same opportunity without being incredibly hypocritical ladder-kicking bastards?
Goes to show all those terrible decisions made 150 years ago still come back to haunt.
The early British Settlors in NZ did particularly well here in NZ stripping out the native forests with the help of Maori labour of course to supply the British Navy with Kauri masts, spars and planking materials ?
Indonesia & Brazil are just going through the colonisation and the asset stripping of indigeneous resources the same as the the British did here 170-180 years ago.
The NZ Dairy Industry and companies like Nestle are the beneficiaries of this asset stripping of indigeneous forests.
Yes. I would have thought if the stripping of our once grand forests stopped at spars and masts we would still have something spectacular.
I also think some economic development will always have been required in NZ but the magnitude of native deforestation for generic agriculture is a crime.
And still in the South Island we see agriculture override natural landscapes with irrigation schemes, water table pollution, and scant regard for what is being lost before our very eyes.
District Council’s & Government’s don’t appear to give a rat’s arse to the pollution and resource plundering by the Dairy Industry and Asian Water Bottlers, make you wonder who is paying the piper ?
It’s only fair to let the third world deliver the coup de grace eh mutty.
Always a petty little barb in there, joe.
Why the need for it?
No idea. It is bizarre because he’s obviously concerned about the same things.
Americans! Declining civilisation and all that.
Because poe-faced wowsers merit barbs.
Shooting the messenger.
Not debating the issue, eh.
Sugar Babies are taxable.
I can imagine the married men who patronise them declaring that expense. 🙂
Russia excels in ditching dollar ahead of pending US sanctions against country’s financial system
So, not impossible to disconnect from the present US dominated financial system.
George Galloway points out CNN is a fake new bureau.
Galloway at 4:30.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwUW0qywCy0
heh
Jerome Corsi’s pity party.
@ 5.00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVNl5m8V4UM&feature=youtu.be&t=310
Remember all our RWNJ commenters are right into Trump, and the NRA, and the so called 2nd amendment. Here’s US trauma doctors calling the NRA out:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/375841/doctors-respond-after-nra-tells-them-to-shut-up-over-gun-control
#stayinyourlane
The vast majority of Americans want gun control in pretty much every survey.
With includes a vast amount of republicans
But no matter how many people want change re gun control, things still seem to stay the same.
Why? There’s no money in peace or unity.
No idea
I would guess NRA lobbyist
I was just disagreeing with Muttonbirds “Remember all our RWNJ commenters are right into Trump, and the NRA, and the so called 2nd amendment.”
First ever and probably the last time I’ll post hip hop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9oUnC8JtXY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA-zaE6aevs
And for some really bad arse shit and probably my fav rap/hip-hop song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCWpOzT102U
‘Required viewing for everyone.
The Washington Institute For Near East Studies just fully admitted that every war we’ve ever been in was a false flag.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVP-CLnbFCA
For context, you disingenuous fool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6LKmhDRWFc
And? That’s a comedy piece met by another comedy piece. What is your point?
And just how has China lost its revolutionary fervour not once ever having held a democratic election? The West has chosen to ignore that, once again for profit.
Idiots have taken a stand up at an independent body’s forum, ascribed it as US policy, and said gotcha!.
That’s infowars fuckwittery.
What are you going to fight informers with? You post 100 tweets a month just like the Jimmy Dore crew do but you never suggest solutions.
It’s lazy.
Because I don’t have the po-faced wowser’s delusional discernment to ascribe batshit notions to every, damn thing that goes bump in the night.
It was a comedy show, but if you want to carry on f&^king puppies, feel free.
Joe defends the neoliberal establishment at all costs.
He regularly pimps for war on this site.
He is 28.
He has no historical reference point as to what war looks like.
Is Joe90 American? It would explain a lot.
Don’t know.
But he takes a lot of interest all things American.
Obama, Hilary and Bill would approve of his points of view.
He supports bellicose foreign US policy in the Baltic, Ukraine and Syria.
He believes the White Helmets are a peaceful rescue organisation.
He believes the UK line on the Skripals.
And he posts just like the very people he criticises. Zero self awareness!
Maybe hes a gnat plant lol
Perhaps.
You get my point though. He did just savage the Jimmy Dore clip yet that type of delivery is literally all that Joe90 does on this forum.
Go to bed arsehole.
Yeah, and I post about the goings on in Temple View, in the late sixties.
Pathetic. People use pseudonyms here for a reason and don’t deserve your disgusting amateur hour attempts to pigeonhole them. Grow up ffs and just argue your fucken points. Who made you judge, jury and executioner – noone that’s who!
Go to bed, arsehole.
Lol yeah right.
Why does Iran have to compromise when the NPT guarantees them the right to develop a civilian nuclear program?
And, yes, centrifugal enrichment is still part of a civilian nuclear program.
Why is the US saying that if Iran doesn’t compromise then there must be war?
The video is from 2012, prior to the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
tRump and Bolton want a fucking war with Iran, that’s why they scrapped the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The US needs a war to protect its economy as it’s too hollowed out from all its corruption and the shifting of production offshore.
We were warned 57 years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY
Trump & the USA War Machine definitely looking for a punch up with Iran.
Having heard the spokesperson for The Washington Institute For Near East Studies, one can see why people question this event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mamvq7LWqRU
Definitely a controlled demolition IMHO.
General Wesley Clark.
About ten days after 9/11.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RC1Mepk_Sw
Very compelling stuff from someone quite credible.
Trailer for the most compelling film on the subject.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjZcIL6CtLg
🙄
haven’t scratched that itch in too long, huh?
I haven’t changed my view.
And the comments by Clark and Clawson add weight to those of us who ask the question “Cui Bono?”
As Jack Ramaka say, Clark is very credible and what he says is compelling.
So the buildings were destroyed and people murdered in a conspiracy to make it look like a bunch of Saudis had done it, so the US could invade Iraq? Don’t be stupid.
Or maybe a bunch of mostly Saudis organised by a group harboured in Afghanistan did the attack off their own bat, and all the hawks did was use alleged connections with that act (amongst other fabricated evidence) as an excuse to start hostilities against iraq.
Who had the means?
Who had the motive?
Who had the opportunity?
The invasion of Iraq was a crime of opportunity. Like if someone else kicks the door open and runs away, a thief sees it and nicks the purse off the hall table.
It was only made possible by 9/11.
If the USS Cole or the 1993 WTC bombing had happened under their watch, they would have done the same thing.
The neocons weren’t in power in 1993.
They were in 2001.
yes, that’s my point.
Why do anything if something was going to happen anyway?
And we know the official story was a lie.
Commentators have drawn similarities to Pearl Harbour.
You know no such thing
Operation Northwoods was one of the USA’s earlier ones with Cuba in the 1960’s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods they have been in USA’s Military Handbook for a while.
Many see parallels between Northwood and 9/11.
So they chose to frame Saudi Arabia as an excuse to attack Iraq?
Hit the nail on the head.
Don’t believe me.
Listen to Wesley Clark.
What Clark said in no way indicates who did 9/11 or how.
A detective investigating a crime would find his statement very interesting.
Means
Motive
Opportunity.
As if you’d fucking know.
Didn’t take you long to abandon reasoned debate and resort to foul and aggressive abuse.
Oh, I’m supposed to believe you’d have any idea what a detective would find “interesting”? Watched a lot of Poirot videos, have you?
Because what the neocons actually did in the way of seeing themselves as empire builders and the descendants of Kissinger, that’s what they should be in jail for. Not your fantasy about 9/11, about using it to invade and loot nations completely unrelated to the crime.
They don’t want to destabilise the ME, that’s plan B. They wanted to rule it. And they used the murders of 3,000 people to justify going after people other than the perpetrators.
And yeah, Trump has brought back the same folks.
And just as they came into power, 9/11 happened.
That was convenient for them.
something happens every few years.
They didn’t need to do anything.
The Project for the New American Century saw the post 9/11 world as an opportunity to the begin regime changes the organisation had been planning since its inception in 1997.
Correct.
They were ready to seize that opportunity.
The plan was already up and ready to go.
What an amazing coincidence.
And when I win powerball I plan to marry ScarJo.
I’m ready to go.
It’ll be an amazing coincidence.
Loose units ?
We don’t know.
What we do know is that the official story is a lie.
All they were doing was waiting for a precipitating event. A plane crash, a big bomb, a ship hijacking, a bridge bomb, anything that could be blamed on Iran or Iraq, preferably. Some ME nation. The neocons had a big military dick, and wanted to swing it.
You don’t need a coincidence if you know something of the right character will happen anyway.
anyone heard of this?
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016219854
“People’s connections in the US to Google – including its cloud, YouTube, and other websites – were suddenly rerouted through Russia and into China in a textbook Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) hijacking attack.
That means folks in Texas, California, Ohio, and so on, firing up their browsers and software and connecting to Google and its services were instead talking to systems in Russia and China, and not servers belonging to the Silicon Valley giant.
Any information exchanged during the hour-and-a-half-long hijacking that wasn’t securely encrypted may have leaked into the wrong hands. Netizens outside of America may also have been affected.’ Quote end.
interesting times i guess.
I’d call that an act of war.
I would too.
Is that any differment than the state doing the same thing?
Intercepting every cyber communication and collating data.
I recently rewatched Citizen4, and again was surprised by how quickly the public shrugged, accepted and soon enough the sheeple went back to sleep.
I am aware KDC overegged the big reveal came, but what was revealed was a big warning.
Now minister Little wants the spies to have even more power.
Something to do with the terrorism that was visited on the folk of Te Urewera by the constabulary.
‘Bleeding’ vegan burger will come with suspiciously authentic scabs
Something for Ed to take his mind off “false flags” for goodness sake
You must be glad I broach so many thought provoking subjects for you to mull over.
When are you going to make a stand for our children and grandchildren and fight climate change?
When are you going to stop eating meat?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU8GE758SaM
Something to think over before you eat a hamburger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut3URdEzlKQ
When are you going to learn a little science and understand that continual horticulture is fucking the planet. The emissions of methane from killing plants is just as great as that of animals – rice growing in particular is a major contributor to GHG emissions. Now I don’t advocate for industrial farming any more than you do. But restorative grazing on pasturelands is just as efficient in sequestering carbon as growing trees.
And by the way since you ask. I have been campaigning for action on addressing Global Warming since the 1990’s, and I’ve planted more trees than you have hot dinners.
So get off your high horse. You are not the fountain of all that is good and wonderful, and your repetitive posts here are boring in the extreme.
You may think so.
Many people don’t.
I don’t give a fuck what people think. I only care about the facts. What do the figures show?
The facts.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/going-vegan-is-the-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth/news-story/7f56cd0edd9ec5dea081f267fe3fc2af
Typically Ed cherry picks from an op ed article in the SMH…
As I quite simply stated above – I don’t advocate for industrialised farming any more than Ed does – ie not at all.
Here is the concluding part of the article that Ed decided wasn’t worth quoting – because it contradicted his viewpoint.
Note that the last paragraph doesnot mandate or advocate a vegan diet but simply a reduced meat intake.
Furthermore, what the article doesn’t take into account is the damage caused by intensified Horticulture and the disruption of the microbial environments in the soil of constant tillage – and the necessity of inorganic fertilisers for the production of maize and soy beans etc. Nor does it provide any comment on the release of GHG from tilled soil. A process that is a fundamental part of vegetable food production on an extensive scale. And the release of GHG from tilled soils is surprisingly large.
What were once the vast prairies of North America – and the natural pasture lands – have now been destroyed by industrial farming. Where once, these soils sequestered vast quantities of Carbon, constant tillage has reduced them to such a state, that scientists predict the soils will be incapable of supporting crops with a few decades.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/
There is a growing body of opinion – backed by empirical studies in the US, and elsewhere, that a return to natural practices and simple farming techniques can have significant benefits wrt Carbon sequestration, and at the same time improve animal well being and animal health. A recent white paper give some background to what is sometimes referred to as restorative grazing the Summary is here:
my bold
https://www.savory.global/the-potential-of-restorative-grazing-to-mitigate-global-warming-by-increasing-carbon-capture-on-grasslands/
Well stated re: restorative grazing. Ed is not in the loop just thinks he is with regards to what agriculture needs.
Get rid of the chemists.
Ed your firing tonight, too many greens, a bit of activity on Daily Review for those of us who have to work for a living during the day. Keep up the thought provoking topics, also less trolls active in the evenings and at night.
Thank you.
The latest from Syria
‘Not on mainstream media: Nearly two years after Syria’s Aleppo was liberated from jihadist terrorism, churches all over the ancient city are filled with Christians who can finally worship once again in peace.’
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DrlhtXSU4AAw2tD.jpg
Which is to say, Ed’s murderous totalitarian idol Assad bombed or gassed all the remaining civilians in the area.
Way to go Ed – our very own Lord Haw Haw.
Your jihadist mates didn’t get the christians ah Stuart Munro, you must be really upset.
Way to go Stuart Munro – our very own Tokyo Rose.
Penultimate thought for the night.
Neil Clark on the U.S. elections.
“Illusion of democracy: If US elections could change anything they wouldn’t be held
Political power lies not with the voters, but with the powerful lobby groups who ‘buy’ elected representatives, who then act in their interests, and not the people’s. It’s not those we see at election time who really call the shots, but those we don’t. Those hidden behind the curtain. Those who write the cheques.
That’s why whoever wins we’ll never get any meaningful gun control, no matter how many mass shootings take place. It’s why neither the Democrats nor the Republicans will introduce an American National Health Service. Why the power of Wall Street and finance capital won’t be curbed. And why in foreign policy, presidents and Congress will always do the bidding of the military-industrial complex and Israel“
https://t.co/hiYxG9samB?amp=1
Ed, shades of National and their money for a place on the list.
And finally.
One of the best left wing thinkers and writers in the U.K.
John Wight discusses the demonisation of Russia.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ5viZQa2F0
NZ MSM and the NZ Government appear to be buying into the demonisation of Russia by the USA.
It’s funny – you murder a couple of former spys and the odd innocent bystander and people demonize you. The UK isn’t like Russia at all.
Having spent some time travelling and working in Russia over two separate trips I’ve experienced the people first hand. For a start I feel safer walking about a typical Russian city than I do in many other places. (There are of course specific places everywhere that really should be avoided.)
In public they can be very buttoned down, grim almost. But once you get to know them at work or in their personal lives, they are both well educated, serious minded AND at the same time great hosts and capable of a lot of fun. If you ever get the chance I highly recommend making the journey; it will be both challenging and remarkable at the same time.
The video above hits on a lot of strong notes I agree with. The point on imperialism is well made; but no mention of what must take it’s place. I saw the poverty and destruction caused by Western policy towards Russia first hand. Deprivation in a hot country is one thing; in a cold country it’s brutal.