One way of looking at it is that perhaps the thugs police should be grateful to the Freedom Villagers for presenting them with an ideal opportunity to test out their new kit.
The document states police have 17 Lrad units, bought incrementally since 2016, and that a tactical options report must be completed for the use of an Lrad.
The manufacturer's specifications for the Lrad model 100x used by police says the devices can project 140dB, about the sound level of a gunshot, to a maximum range of 600m.
The devices have the potential to cause permanent hearing damage, which has led to the device being limited in several jurisdictions in the United States following lawsuits.
It is understood the deployment on March 2 was the first use of the Lrads to disperse a crowd in New Zealand.
Lrads might be the weapon of choice for bringing out- of- control crowds into line, but its such a pity about the devastating effects they can have on the targets.
These sonic weapons are capable of inflicting severe, debilitating, permanent harm on U.S. citizens in the form of irreversible hearing loss, tinnitus, vestibular dysfunction, and barotrauma.
But what would a bunch of audiology professionals know?
And the thugs police also had a chance to deploy the new Sabre Red Mk 9 pepper spray. (There's a gag in there somewhere but it escapes me at the moment.) They had to rush the order through…and aren't the good folk of Wellington lucky that the rules were changed to allow the use of pepper spray on crowds just a day before they violently drove out the protesters and trashed their gear?
Yes…I know the good folk from the Left here will say that any 'force' used by the Police during the protest was justified and proportionate. Dragging naked women by their hair then kneeling on their head, planking with the porky cop's full weight on a seventeen year old's head, breaking the sternum of another female protestor...
Yes well… just of course to happily meet your prejudices. In my opinion, good on the Police for using whatever means necessary to evict the law breaking occupiers protestors. They had 20 or so days to stop breaking the law and chose not to. No sympathy at all for your naked idiot and sniveling 17 year old.
I added a working link. In the clear. So you can see that yet again the broken link is in the embed. Please stop embedding, I'm sick of having to sort this out.
My suggestion is don't embed any. This isn't the first time they've failed. Embedding increases the chances of the link breaking. Putting them in the clear also makes it much easier to see what the link is to.
I know the good folk from the Left here will say that any 'force' used by the Police during the protest was justified and proportionate.
Or, some of us believe that if you out yourself into specific kinds of protests, you can expect the police to use force of some kind, and what they use needs to be carefully critiqued.
I disagree with the use of the Lrads (sorry to disappoint you). Can't remember the details of the pepper spray. The naked woman didn't deserve force, but she didn't leave the police many choices. She intentionally covered her body in oil so they couldn't get a good hold of her. Short of using her hair, how else could they have removed her? I'm all ears on suggestions. From memory she later said fair dos about the police action.
Your link says she was treated for a sternum injury, not a broken sternum. Your points are well enough made without exaggerating.
I'm still pissed that it was the Freedom crowd that occupied parliament and not climate protestors. Their tactics about using vehicles to block the streets were impressive. Likewise their functional camp and that they lasted so long. I also think they lost mana in a number of areas, repeated death treats towards MPs and then moaning that the MPs wouldn't meet with them (this is just stupid tactics), not distancing themselves from the white supremacists and the alt right, being dickheads to the locals (again really stupid tactics), and the whole general mess of messaging and confused politics. I have some sympathy for them, hard to sustain a lot.
oh, and the last day, there was heaps of warning of what was about to go down. Those that chose to stay made a choice, and cannot cry unfair later. Again, the police should be closely scrutinised in how they did that operation, but it's silly to think that they weren't going to use force and shut down the protest.
Your link says she was treated for a sternum injury, not a broken sternum. Your points are well enough made without exaggerating.
No, it doesn't. It says…
One elderly woman had ribs broken and is now in hospital; a friend was elbow punched in the chest; she collapsed shortly after, and was treated for a sternum injury;
He goes on to say that the naked woman had her dress ripped off…that's not correct, she was intentionally disrobed. I heard from numerous sources that a woman had a cracked/broken sternum after being knelt on by the cops. I think this fellow writing is quite understandably a little muddled. It was a very difficult day.
…repeated death treats towards MPs and then moaning that the MPs wouldn't meet with them (this is just stupid tactics), not distancing themselves from the white supremacists and the alt right, being dickheads to the locals (again really stupid tactics), and the whole general mess of messaging and confused politics.
You were there weka? At the protest? In the Freedom Village? You were up close and personal with all the fucking filth? I hadn't realized that your knowledge was so first hand for you to be so sure of what was what, who was up who and who was paying.
You must have been at a different protest to the one close friends and whanau attended because they had an altogether experience. You speak of "tactics." And "a mess of messaging" and "confused politics". Hmmm. I don't think you get what most I've spoken to were there for. It wasn't political, per se.
It is now, however, so I guess that's a win. A whole lot of folk have been radicalized…and not in the way I guess you would approve of.
Tell me weka, oh you wise in the way of politics and protest, did you not experience one little worm of fear when Ardern made her …
"Do feel free to visit covid19.govt.nz – otherwise dismiss anything else. We will continue to be your single source of truth.
Here's what a seasoned protester and former MP had to say on RNZ this arvo:
I’ve been thinking that it’s a shocker that Auckland mayoral candidate Efeso Colins, and his family, were dangerously cut off by two cars while driving in west Auckland on Monday. The drivers then went on to verbally abuse the family who were driving in a car with campaign colours on it. And it’s reprehensible I reckon that in this country we’ve reached a point where people think it’s OK to physically endanger and threaten people standing for public office, and their [ah] partners and children.
Um, we really need to think about what instances like this and others mean for any sense of democracy. The anti-vax protests at parliament earlier this year took overt misogyny – hatred of women – and racism to another level. Um I know the Prime Minister’s been particularly impacted by death threats and abuse but so have other MPs and a lot of journalists as well. Then six days ago in Tauranga a building housing a Rainbow Youth and Transgender support service was burnt down after other anti-queer incidents in that district.
I think that the anti-vax occupation of Parliament was instigated and fuelled by various far-right groups, and while that occupation is over, the malevolent culture that it embodies seems to have become even more emboldened and enabled. I really hope Efeso and his family are OK [yeah] and I also hope that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again to anyone standing for election this year or next, because this is the slippery road to Fascism, and I don’t know how many people realise that. – Sue Bradford @ 8:40 minutes
"I've been watching for some days—and this is not unique to New Zealand—that, in the midst of what is a global issue, as you would expect, there are a number of rumours that circulate. I am present on social media; I see it myself. I cannot go round and individually dismiss every single rumour I see, as tempted as I might be. So, instead, I want to send a clear message to the New Zealand public: we will share with you the most up-to-date information daily. You can trust us as a source of that information. You can also trust the Director-General of Health and the Ministry of Health. For that information, do feel free to visit at any time—to clarify any rumour you may hear—thecovid19.govt.nzwebsite. Otherwise, dismiss anything else. We will continue to be your single source of truth. We'll provide information frequently. We will share everything we can. Everything else you see—a grain of salt."
– PM Jacinda Ardern
At it again I see Rosemary. Dragging naked women by their hair... one woman who was wandering around without a stich on – which is a punishable offence – was resisting arrest and had to be restrained before being carefully removed without causing injury to her.
Summaries of the incidents leading to hospitalisations show officers were knocked out after being struck down by attackers, and some required head scans and stitches for their open wounds.
One officer was struck down from behind and sprayed with a substance, causing them to lose consciousness and suffer temporary blindness.
Another officer was attacked by a protester and tore their Achilles tendon, while another was thrown into a post, suffering a dislocated shoulder and tendon damage.
Another officer was taken to hospital with breathing issues after taking a concrete paver to the chest, being sprayed in the eyes and having something thrown at their face. They also inhaled smoke from the fires.
Officers were knocked unconscious, tore tendons, and suffered dislocations in the wild melee of the protest, but the unseen mental hits are also widespread…….
…one woman who was wandering around without a stich on – which is a punishable offence – was resisting arrest and had to be restrained …
No Anne. She was not wandering around. She was sitting down with her back to the police line. You are making this up, or you have been lied to.
I guess if one is in the thrall of the (government funded) MSM one is going to only see what the Paymasters allow.
You really need to broaden your horizons….just a tad.
Tell me. Just for shits and giggles. Do you know of anyone who took the Pfizer product who experienced side effects such as chest discomfort, irregular heartbeat, nausea or shortness of breath? Or 'flu like symptoms' that had them bedridden for days?
You exaggerate everything pertaining to the Covid vaccine in an attempt to create a false image of severe consequences. The Pfizer vaccine has no more side effects than other vaccines going back many decades to the smallpox vaccine. A very small percentage of the population can be more seriously affected but that does not mean the rest of us have to be denied them.
I know of no-one who has experienced any bad side-effects. Some have reported fatigue or a sore arm for a day or two and that's it. I experienced a sore arm.
"I need to broaden my horizons"? You're a joke sometimes
If you want to be taken seriously then stop twisting and embellishing the truth.
The Pfizer vaccine has no more side effects than other vaccines going back many decades to the smallpox vaccine.
Can you provide evidence to support this statement? Un- referenced statements on government or pharmaceutical industry funded sites do not constitute "evidence" btw.
On average for every 10,000 people who are vaccinated 55 people report an AEFI.
Check my maths…that's 16.9 (out of 100,000 doses) reports of adverse effects for the flu jab in 2019 compared to 550 reports of adverse effects (out of 100,000 doses) for the Pfizer product.
32 x higher rate of reporting for the Pfizer product.
The evidence of the efficacy of vaccines has been around for effing decades.
That wasn't the question.
You said…The Pfizer vaccine has no more side effects than other vaccines going back many decades to the smallpox vaccine. … and I asked you to provide evidence of this.
On average for every 10,000 people who are vaccinated 55 people report an AEFI.
Check my maths…that's 16.9 (out of 100,000 doses) reports of adverse effects for the flu jab in 2019 compared to 550 reports of adverse effects (out of 100,000 doses) for the Pfizer product.
32 x higher rate of reporting for the Pfizer product.
Rosemary – at risk of sounding indelicate, the young woman revealed, at her post arrest return to Parliament grounds and a chance to take up the microphone, that she was in fact doing something to the police et al that she had been taught to do by bold (Maori women) protesters, involving a part of her anatomy that isn't usually deployed in such circumstances. If you review her address to the crowd, and the video of her arrest, you'll perhaps see what I mean.
Robert. I am not quite sure what you are saying. Can I assume that since the woman deliberately chose this method of protest and resistance, and she was not surprised at the actions of the police…that dragging her by her hair, smothering her with a blanket and kneeling on her head were acceptable? Bearing in mind she was not committing any acts of violence and was very obviously a threat to no one. By design.
You're ok with these tactics….the heavy duty pepper spray, the LRAD, the sponge bullets, the extremely violent arrest and restraint methods deployed by the police (especially on February 10th) to be used on any and all protestors that out stay their welcome? Bearing in mind these people were not being violent…they were resisting attempts by the police to forcibly move them out. By design.
If the police employed the same methods on persistent climate change or environmental protestors would you also take the 'they are asking for it' line?
I don't know anyone who experienced side effects such as chest discomfort from the Pfizer product, but I do know people going about their lives who were treated like shit by arsehole arrogant protestors.
I do know people who had their freedom and choice taken away from them by people who were wielding signs about people's right for freedom and choice.
guess if one is in the thrall of the (government funded) MSM one is going to only see what the Paymasters allow.
You really need to broaden your horizons….just a tad.
“Paymasters” ?I dont know what “Horizon” you see? As you are so far down the rabbit hole….you’re in the depths of the warren. Sad that. I just really hope you arent influencing any Vulnerable people.. Particularly Maori and their Tamariki.
While I detest, anti-science, anti-public health, anti-enlightenment, anti-vax, anti-govt. covid denier sentiments of these fanatics.
I support the right to protest.
Speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard, history of violence and confrontational way of handling these right wing protesters made a violent confrontation inevitable.
In my opinion Mallard has set a very bad precedent.
Trevor Mallard's orders and ham fisted approach and direction to the police which led to the violence has made all protesters vulnerable to harsher policing.
If the Left wing protesters who occupied Rugby Park in Hamilton in 1981 had suffered the same sort of heavy handed policing to clear them off the field. What would have been the result?
Thank goodness cooler heads prevailed.
But as I said, going forward a very bad precedent has been set.
I know for instance that before the last lockdown Extinction Rebellion had been planning to blockade parliament with a Hands Around the Beehive protest occupation.. If they continue with their plan, Mallard's precedent leaves little doubt that the XR protesters will be dealt with possibly even harsher than the Right Wing anti-vaxxers.
Cops were heavy handed with the anti tour protesters. I knew many with injuries including an over seventies Presbyterian Minister who couldn't be threatening if he tried. Watched one of the squad batton charges, myself. Similarly with student protesters in Auckland.
They were, in reality, much more patient and gentle, with the pro plague fools. After weeks of them harrassing and attacking the public. Something Extinction rebellion, Anti TPPA protesters and Gen X do NOT do.
The anti-apartheid protesters have been vindicated and proven to be on the right side of history.
"Cops were heavy handed with the anti tour protesters. I knew many with injuries including an over seventies Presbyterian Minister who couldn't be threatening if he tried." KJT
Of course you are right, KJT. However, it is my opinion, that the failure of the heavy handed policing of anti-racism protesters during the 1981 Springbok tour. Plus the later vindication of their stand by the people of South Africa expressed personally to the protesters by President Nelson Mandela when he visited this country, led to a reappraisal by the police of these sorts of tough anti-protester methods. Which in my opinion was to the betterment and strengthening of our democracy.
The Right have even accused our police force of being 'too woke'.
….National's justice spokesman Simon Bridges says police head Andrew Coster is a "wokester commissioner" and isn't fit for the job.
Bridges accused Coster of putting "being nice" ahead of applying the law.
If that is woke, then I can't get enough of it. Unfortunately my fear is that the actions of these Right Wing anti-vax protesters, aligned as they were to violent far-right neo nazis, and anti-government conspiracy theorists, have set back the latter more tolerant police approach to protest action.
Coster dialing back the overzealous disregard for the law, of a significant proportion of our police, is a plus in my book. And makes police more effective in getting community co-operation and consequently reducing crime in the community.
Of course the "tough on crime" "small dicks" will object, even though evidence shows they are counterproductive.
The response to the many vandels, in the pro plague demonstrations, is restrained compared to responses to way less law breaking demonstrations.
More than a few paying ticket holders and fans at the recent 2022 European Cup final were treated to tear gas and riot control measures, this was mostly due to local authorities not really being prepared to run the event. Some of them have even suggested this has put them off attending live football in future.
And in NZ were complaining about sprinklers getting protesters wet just before they were drenched by a significant storm.
I don't agree with his words, but to be fair I believe he was in Christchurch Airport about to head to Singapore so his surroundings were probably limited. 😉
Quite funny exert of a longer CGTN program called The Heat .In this abbreviated version two panelists voice their diametrically opposed opinions on Ukraine .An analysis from the Ukrainian who is apparently an adviser to Zelensky's gov would have done Goebbels himself proud so distorted is his view of reality , he doesnt fool many of the 150 or so commenters under the vid though .
This is the full version of the above news piece and covers the G7 meeting in full .Watch the clowns great leaders caper and fawn for the cameras against the backdrop of the Bavarian alps while they dream up more silly schemes to squander vast sums of taxpayers money !! For MSM this is actually pretty good and produces lots of facts from a fairly lively panel .Once again the commenters below ar'nt fooled by any bullshit !!
For those who want to stay/become informed about Ukraine etc Brian Berletic of The New Atlas is well worth a look in this his latest he goes over some of the recent msm stories that have been pretty much been regularly regurgitated every week since the start of the conflict .He's on a par with Alexander Mercouris i think and can fill in some of the technical aspects of the war and the fact he's an ex marine gives him a bit of extra credibility not that he needs it imo at least he's right on the money !
Update for the Russian missile attack on the 'Shopping Centre " .According to Defense Politics Asia the shopping center had been closed for some months and had apparently been used for 'other' purposes which mite account for it burning so fiercely ?.Anyway its very unlikely there were one thousand shoppers or indeed any shoppers in the building .Ive read other similar accounts to DPA's but we'll prob have to wait for the dust to settle to know what really happened .
Just for you joe Graham phillips filming in donestk about a week ago while Ukraine was busy shelling the civilians that live there ….again
[lprent: For the benefit of anyone who wants to know what is in the video, it appears to be a gormless dickhead walking and talking, displaying pretty minor damage and a burning building (cause unclear). It isn’t a scene of shelling, and most of it apart from the burning building appears to be pretty old (and possibly staged in the case of broken van). The burning building isn’t displayed enough to indicate eitehr shelling or a legitimate military target. This appears to be just stupid deliberately produced propaganda for the weak-minded. ]
Now do the execrable video the vatnik simp posted of himself crashing a POW swap to abuse and torment a visibly distressed, maimed and disfigured Ukrainian soldier who had been blinded, badly burned, and had lost both arms.
Why dont you post a link joe should be easy for a dirt digging ferret who cant seem to put togeather any sort of reasonable argument himself but has to copy an paste every one else's ….
Dude, you've repeatedly posting the vile propaganda of an alleged war criminal and confirmed hebephile, and regurgitated terror state lies and dezinformatsiya as commentary on a genocidal war.
The Russian Federation is commanding the grunting Donetsk separatists and their impressed conscript slaves to attack Ukrainian civilians with the assistance of the atrocity war criminals of the Wagner mercenary, you find this surprising?
Not to mention that the gutless cowards of the Russia Federation forces stand back and fire missiles at Ukrainian schools and shopping malls because they can’t accurately target anything.
(You see, it is easy to add hyperbole – doesn’t help any rational argument that much. weston – could you possibly be a little less of a mindless raving fuckwit. Your comments are getting pathetic.)
For the benefit of anyone who wants to know what is in the video, it appears to be a gormless dickhead walking and talking, displaying pretty minor damage and a burning building (cause unclear).
Brian Berletic is a joke, a true tankie in love with authoritarian regimes. His rabid defense of the Thai coup makers and the murderous king demonsrtates his unsuitability as a source.
Strange your link contains nothing but a rather good compendium of Brian Berletic's rather excellent work exposing false narratives , the joke is you !!
Really : The report cites a Reuters article [15] in which a Facebook spokesman is quoted as saying that this and other account deletions were for "coordinated inauthentic behavior". It is a detailed account of the methods being employed by the Fake news campaign to censor platforms that effectively challenge western official narratives.
'BANGKOK — The anonymous blogger known for his prolific anti-Western conspiracy theories and unfounded accusations against the pro-democracy movements in Thailand is no longer anonymous.'
Well if Brian Berlitic's work exposes fake western narratives then i salute him for it .Ive no idea what's happening in Thailand and neither am i interested a.t.m. there's only so much world politics i can wrap my head around !!
If you dont like the man bruce stick with BBC an CNN im sure its much easier .
Speaking of China watch lying snake Mike Pompeo field questions from a brain dead fox news presstitute and then read the comments he's obviously not fooling the american public at least !!
[lprent: Having just spent time to read over your comments over the last few days, you don’t appear to be adding anything to a robust debate. You appear to just be dumping shit comments without bothering to engage in a robust debate.
Linking to pretty stupid propaganda and attacking other commentators when they point it out isn’t debate – it is just acting like a troll. If you don’t stop acting like a internet fuckwit, I will simply ban you until after peace settlement is reached.
Fix your behaviour and start acting like someone engaged in robust debate pronto. This is your only warning. ]
It's definitely not a renters market in New Zealand, as reported by 1 News last night. In fact the housing crisis has metastasised into a full-blown catastrophe in 2025, and the National Party Government’s policies are pouring petrol on the flames. Renters are being crushed under skyrocketing costs, first-time buyers ...
Would I lie to you? (oh yeah)Would I lie to you honey? (oh, no, no no)Now would I say something that wasn't true?I'm asking you sugar, would I lie to you?Writer(s): David Allan Stewart, Annie Lennox.Opinions issue forth from car radios or the daily news…They demand a bluer National, with ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific consensus on climate change? Climatologists made up only 0.1% of signatories ...
In the 1980s and early 1990s when I wrote about Argentine and South American authoritarianism, I borrowed the phrase “cultura del miedo” (culture of fear) from Juan Corradi, Guillermo O’Donnell, Norberto Lechner and others to characterise the social anomaly that exists in a country ruled by a state terror regime ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Chris Bishop has unveiled plans for new roads in Tauranga, Auckland and Northland that will cost up to a combined $10 billion. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from Aotearoa political economy around housing, poverty and climate in the week to Saturday, April 26:Chris Bishop ploughed ahead this week with spending ...
Unless you've been living under a rock, you would have noticed that New Zealand’s government, under the guise of economic stewardship, is tightening the screws on its citizens, and using debt as a tool of control. This isn’t just a conspiracy theory whispered in pub corners...it’s backed by hard data ...
The budget runup is far from easy.Budget 2025 day is Thursday 22 May. About a month earlier in a normal year, the macroeconomic forecasts would be completed (the fiscal ones would still be tidying up) and the main policy decisions would have been made (but there would still be a ...
On 25 April 2021, I published an internal all-staff Anzac Day message. I did so as the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for Australia’s civil defence, and its resilience in ...
You’ve likely noticed that the disgraced blogger of Whale Oil Beef Hooked infamy, Cameron Slater, is still slithering around the internet, peddling his bile on a shiny new blogsite calling itself The Good Oil. If you thought bankruptcy, defamation rulings, and a near-fatal health scare would teach this idiot a ...
The Atlas Network, a sprawling web of libertarian think tanks funded by fossil fuel barons and corporate elites, has sunk its claws into New Zealand’s political landscape. At the forefront of this insidious influence is David Seymour, the ACT Party leader, whose ties to Atlas run deep.With the National Party’s ...
Nicola Willis, National’s supposed Finance Minister, has delivered another policy failure with the Family Boost scheme, a childcare rebate that was big on promises but has been very small on delivery. Only 56,000 families have signed up, a far cry from the 130,000 Willis personally championed in National’s campaign. This ...
This article was first published on 7 February 2025. In January, I crossed the milestone of 24 years of service in two militaries—the British and Australian armies. It is fair to say that I am ...
He shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.Age shall not weary him, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningI will remember him.My mate Keith died yesterday, peacefully in the early hours. My dear friend in Rotorua, whom I’ve been ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on news New Zealand abstained from a vote on a global shipping levy on climate emissions and downgraded the importance ...
Hi,In case you missed it, New Zealand icon Lorde has a new single out. It’s called “What Was That”, and has a very low key music video that was filmed around her impromptu performance in New York’s Washington Square Park. When police shut down the initial popup, one of my ...
A strategy of denial is now the cornerstone concept for Australia’s National Defence Strategy. The term’s use as an overarching guide to defence policy, however, has led to some confusion on what it actually means ...
The IMF’s twice-yearly World Economic Outlook and Fiscal Monitor publications have come out in the last couple of days. If there is gloom in the GDP numbers (eg this chart for the advanced countries, and we don’t score a lot better on the comparable one for the 2019 to ...
For a while, it looked like the government had unfucked the ETS, at least insofar as unit settings were concerned. They had to be forced into it by a court case, but at least it got done, and when National came to power, it learned the lesson (and then fucked ...
The argument over US officials’ misuse of secure but non-governmental messaging platform Signal falls into two camps. Either it is a gross error that undermines national security, or it is a bit of a blunder ...
Cost of living ~1/3 of Kiwis needed help with food as cost of living pressures continue to increase - turning to friends, family, food banks or Work and Income in the past year, to find food. 40% of Kiwis also said they felt schemes offered little or no benefit, according ...
Hi,Perhaps in 2025 it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the CEO and owner of Voyager Internet — the major sponsor of the New Zealand Media Awards — has taken to sharing a variety of Anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories to his 1.2 million followers.This included sharing a post from ...
In the sprint to deepen Australia-India defence cooperation, navy links have shot ahead of ties between the two countries’ air forces and armies. That’s largely a good thing: maritime security is at the heart of ...
'Cause you and me, were meant to be,Walking free, in harmony,One fine day, we'll fly away,Don't you know that Rome wasn't built in a day?Songwriters: Paul David Godfrey / Ross Godfrey / Skye Edwards.I was half expecting to see photos this morning of National Party supporters with wads of cotton ...
The PSA says a settlement with Health New Zealand over the agency’s proposed restructure of its Data and Digital and Pacific Health teams has saved around 200 roles from being cut. A third of New Zealanders have needed help accessing food in the past year, according to Consumer NZ, and ...
John Campbell’s Under His Command, a five-part TVNZ+ investigation series starting today, rips the veil off Destiny Church, exposing the rot festering under Brian Tamaki’s self-proclaimed apostolic throne. This isn’t just a church; it’s a fiefdom, built on fear, manipulation, and a trail of scandals that make your stomach churn. ...
Some argue we still have time, since quantum computing capable of breaking today’s encryption is a decade or more away. But breakthrough capabilities, especially in domains tied to strategic advantage, rarely follow predictable timelines. Just ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Pearl Marvell(Photo credit: Pearl Marvell. Image credit: Samantha Harrington. Dollar bill vector image: by pch.vector on Freepik) Igrew up knowing that when you had extra money, you put it under a bed, stashed it in a book or a clock, or, ...
The political petrified piece of wood, Winston Peters, who refuses to retire gracefully, has had an eventful couple of weeks peddling transphobia, pushing bigoted policies, undertaking his unrelenting war on wokeness and slinging vile accusations like calling Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick a “groomer”.At 80, the hypocritical NZ First leader’s latest ...
It's raining in Cockermouth and we're following our host up the stairs. We’re telling her it’s a lovely building and she’s explaining that it used to be a pub and a nightclub and a backpackers, but no more.There were floods in 2009 and 2015 along the main street, huge floods, ...
A recurring aspect of the Trump tariff coverage is that it normalises – or even sanctifies – a status quo that in many respects has been a disaster for working class families. No doubt, Donald Trump is an uncertainty machine that is tanking the stock market and the growth prospects ...
The National Party’s Minister of Police, Corrections, and Ethnic Communities (irony alert) has stumbled into yet another racist quagmire, proving that when it comes to bigotry, the right wing’s playbook is as predictable as it is vile. This time, Mitchell’s office reposted an Instagram reel falsely claiming that Te Pāti ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
In a world crying out for empathy, J.K. Rowling has once again proven she’s more interested in stoking division than building bridges. The once-beloved author of Harry Potter has cemented her place as this week’s Arsehole of the Week, a title earned through her relentless, tone-deaf crusade against transgender rights. ...
Health security is often seen as a peripheral security domain, and as a problem that is difficult to address. These perceptions weaken our capacity to respond to borderless threats. With the wind back of Covid-19 ...
Would our political parties pass muster under the Fair Trading Act?WHAT IF OUR POLITICAL PARTIES were subject to the Fair Trading Act? What if they, like the nation’s businesses, were prohibited from misleading their consumers – i.e. the voters – about the nature, characteristics, suitability, or quantity of the products ...
Rod EmmersonThank you to my subscribers and readers - you make it all possible. Tui.Subscribe nowSix updates today from around the world and locally here in Aoteaora New Zealand -1. RFK Jnr’s Autism CrusadeAmerica plans to create a registry of people with autism in the United States. RFK Jr’s department ...
We see it often enough. A democracy deals with an authoritarian state, and those who oppose concessions cite the lesson of Munich 1938: make none to dictators; take a firm stand. And so we hear ...
370 perioperative nurses working at Auckland City Hospital, Starship Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre will strike for two hours on 1 May – the same day senior doctors are striking. This is part of nationwide events to mark May Day on 1 May, including rallies outside public hospitals, organised by ...
Character protections for Auckland’s villas have stymied past development. Now moves afoot to strip character protection from a bunch of inner-city villas. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest from our political economy on Wednesday, April 23:Special Character Areas designed to protect villas are stopping 20,000 sites near Auckland’s ...
Artificial intelligence is poised to significantly transform the Indo-Pacific maritime security landscape. It offers unprecedented situational awareness, decision-making speed and operational flexibility. But without clear rules, shared norms and mechanisms for risk reduction, AI could ...
For what is a man, what has he got?If not himself, then he has naughtTo say the things he truly feelsAnd not the words of one who kneelsThe record showsI took the blowsAnd did it my wayLyrics: Paul Anka.Morena folks, before we discuss Winston’s latest salvo in NZ First’s War ...
Britain once risked a reputation as the weak link in the trilateral AUKUS partnership. But now the appointment of an empowered senior official to drive the project forward and a new burst of British parliamentary ...
Australia’s ability to produce basic metals, including copper, lead, zinc, nickel and construction steel, is in jeopardy, with ageing plants struggling against Chinese competition. The multinational commodities company Trafigura has put its Australian operations under ...
There have been recent PPP debacles, both in New Zealand (think Transmission Gully) and globally, with numerous examples across both Australia and Britain of failed projects and extensive litigation by government agencies seeking redress for the failures.Rob Campbell is one of New Zealand’s sharpest critics of PPPs noting that; "There ...
On Twitter on Saturday I indicated that there had been a mistake in my post from last Thursday in which I attempted to step through the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement issues. Making mistakes (there are two) is annoying and I don’t fully understand how I did it (probably too much ...
Indonesia’s armed forces still have a lot of work to do in making proper use of drones. Two major challenges are pilot training and achieving interoperability between the services. Another is overcoming a predilection for ...
The StrategistBy Sandy Juda Pratama, Curie Maharani and Gautama Adi Kusuma
As a living breathing human being, you’ve likely seen the heart-wrenching images from Gaza...homes reduced to rubble, children burnt to cinders, families displaced, and a death toll that’s beyond comprehension. What is going on in Gaza is most definitely a genocide, the suffering is real, and it’s easy to feel ...
Donald Trump, who has called the Chair of the Federal Reserve “a major loser”. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories shortest from our political economy on Tuesday, April 22:US markets slump after Donald Trump threatens the Fed’s independence. China warns its trading partners not to side with the US. Trump says some ...
Last night, the news came through that Pope Francis had passed away at 7:35 am in Rome on Monday, the 21st of April, following a reported stroke and heart failure. Pope Francis. Photo: AP.Despite his obvious ill health, it still came as a shock, following so soon after the Easter ...
The 2024 Independent Intelligence Review found the NIC to be highly capable and performing well. So, it is not a surprise that most of the 67 recommendations are incremental adjustments and small but nevertheless important ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkThe world has made real progress toward tacking climate change in recent years, with spending on clean energy technologies skyrocketing from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars globally over the past decade, and global CO2 emissions plateauing.This has contributed to a reassessment of ...
Hi,I’ve been having a peaceful month of what I’d call “existential dread”, even more aware than usual that — at some point — this all ends.It was very specifically triggered by watching Pantheon, an animated sci-fi show that I’m filing away with all-time greats like Six Feet Under, Watchmen and ...
Once the formalities of honouring the late Pope wrap up in two to three weeks time, the conclave of Cardinals will go into seclusion. Some 253 of the current College of Cardinals can take part in the debate over choosing the next Pope, but only 138 of them are below ...
The National Party government is doubling down on a grim, regressive vision for the future: more prisons, more prisoners, and a society fractured by policies that punish rather than heal. This isn’t just a misstep; it’s a deliberate lurch toward a dystopian future where incarceration is the answer to every ...
The audacity of Don Brash never ceases to amaze. The former National Party and Hobson’s Pledge mouthpiece has now sunk his claws into NZME, the media giant behind the New Zealand Herald and half of our commercial radio stations. Don Brash has snapped up shares in NZME, aligning himself with ...
A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 13, 2025 thru Sat, April 19, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
“What I’d say to you is…” our Prime Minister might typically begin a sentence, when he’s about to obfuscate and attempt to derail the question you really, really want him to answer properly (even once would be okay, Christopher). Questions such as “Why is a literal election promise over ...
Ruth IrwinExponential Economic growth is the driver of Ecological degradation. It is driven by CO2 greenhouse gas emissions through fossil fuel extraction and burning for the plethora of polluting industries. Extreme weather disasters and Climate change will continue to get worse because governments subscribe to the current global economic system, ...
A man on telly tries to tell me what is realBut it's alright, I like the way that feelsAnd everybody singsWe are evolving from night to morningAnd I wanna believe in somethingWriter: Adam Duritz.The world is changing rapidly, over the last year or so, it has been out with the ...
MFB Co-Founder Cecilia Robinson runs Tend HealthcareSummary:Kieran McAnulty calls out National on healthcare lies and says Health Minister Simeon Brown is “dishonest and disingenuous”(video below)McAnulty says negotiation with doctors is standard practice, but this level of disrespect is not, especially when we need and want our valued doctors.National’s $20bn ...
Chris Luxon’s tenure as New Zealand’s Prime Minister has been a masterclass in incompetence, marked by coalition chaos, economic lethargy, verbal gaffes, and a moral compass that seems to point wherever political expediency lies. The former Air New Zealand CEO (how could we forget?) was sold as a steady hand, ...
Has anybody else noticed Cameron Slater still obsessing over Jacinda Ardern? The disgraced Whale Oil blogger seems to have made it his life’s mission to shadow the former Prime Minister of New Zealand like some unhinged stalker lurking in the digital bushes.The man’s obsession with Ardern isn't just unhealthy...it’s downright ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is climate change a net benefit for society? Human-caused climate change has been a net detriment to society as measured by loss of ...
When the National Party hastily announced its “Local Water Done Well” policy, they touted it as the great saviour of New Zealand’s crumbling water infrastructure. But as time goes by it's looking more and more like a planning and fiscal lame duck...and one that’s going to cost ratepayers far more ...
Donald Trump, the orange-hued oligarch, is back at it again, wielding tariffs like a mob boss swinging a lead pipe. His latest economic edict; slapping hefty tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, has the stench of a protectionist shakedown, cooked up in the fevered minds of his sycophantic ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
One pill makes you largerAnd one pill makes you smallAnd the ones that mother gives youDon't do anything at allGo ask AliceWhen she's ten feet tallSongwriter: Grace Wing Slick.Morena, all, and a happy Bicycle Day to you.Today is an unofficial celebration of the dawning of the psychedelic era, commemorating the ...
It’s only been a few months since the Hollywood fires tore through Los Angeles, leaving a trail of devastation, numerous deaths, over 10,000 homes reduced to rubble, and a once glorious film industry on its knees. The Palisades and Eaton fires, fueled by climate-driven dry winds, didn’t just burn houses; ...
Four eighty-year-old books which are still vitally relevant today. Between 1942 and 1945, four refugees from Vienna each published a ground-breaking – seminal – book.* They left their country after Austria was taken over by fascists in 1934 and by Nazi Germany in 1938. Previously they had lived in ‘Red ...
Good Friday, 18th April, 2025: I can at last unveil the Secret Non-Fiction Project. The first complete Latin-to-English translation of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s twelve-book Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem (Disputations Against Divinatory Astrology). Amounting to some 174,000 words, total. Some context is probably in order. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) ...
National MP Hamish Campbell's pathetic attempt to downplay his deep ties to and involvement in the Two by Twos...a secretive religious sect under FBI and NZ Police investigation for child sexual abuse...isn’t just a misstep; it’s a calculated lie that insults the intelligence of every Kiwi voter.Campbell’s claim of being ...
Te Pāti Māori are appalled by Cabinet's decision to agree to 15 recommendations to the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector following the regulatory review by the Ministry of Regulation. We emphasise the need to prioritise tamariki Māori in Early Childhood Education, conducted by education experts- not economists. “Our mokopuna deserve ...
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will launch another push on health on Sunday, announcing a re-elected Labor government would set up a free around-the-clock 1800MEDICARE advice line and afterhours GP telehealth service. The service would ...
To sleep, perchance to dreamIn the shadowy chambers of Lord Winston,The great clock strikes thirteen.All remains untouched, covered with dust,As it has done since the 1970s,In a simple world where boys were boys,Ladies were mini-skirted and compliant ladies,And Italian law students ruled the streetsIn their wide lapel zoot suits.King Lux ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will launch another push on health on Sunday, announcing a re-elected Labor government would set up a free around-the-clock 1800MEDICARE advice line and afterhours GP telehealth service. The service would ...
Asia Pacific Report Activists for Palestine paid homage to Pope Francis in Aotearoa New Zealand today for his humility, care for marginalised in the world, and his courageous solidarity with the besieged people of Gaza at a street theatre rally just hours before his funeral in Rome. He was remembered ...
By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific presenter The doors of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican have now been closed and the coffin sealed, ahead of preparations for tonight’s funeral of Pope Francis. The Vatican says a quarter of a million people have paid respects to Pope Francis in the last ...
By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific presenter The doors of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican have now been closed and the coffin sealed, ahead of preparations for tonight’s funeral of Pope Francis. The Vatican says a quarter of a million people have paid respects to Pope Francis in the last ...
Once or twice a week, Dr Margaret Henley rolls up the door on a windowless storage locker in central Auckland, pulls her plastic chair up to a picnic table and sifts through the history of netball in New Zealand.She works alongside netball archivist and statistician Todd Miller, together trawling through ...
Corin DannThe time is 7:36am on Wednesday, April 23, and you’re listening to Morning Report, New Zealand’s voice of the educated left on good incomes. I’m joined now by acting Prime Minister Winston Peters. Good morning Mr Peters.Winston PetersIt was, until I saw you. I much prefer your brother.Corin DannLiam ...
When Professor David Krofcheck got an email congratulating him on winning the Oscar of the science world, he dismissed it as a hoax.“I thought it was a scam, I thought it was a phishing email,” recalls Krofcheck, nuclear physicist at Auckland University.“Yeah right, I’ve won the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was.I’ve been re-watching Girls lately, the HBO classic that perfectly captures millennial women in the most painful way. I highly recommend it especially if you haven’t watched it before. Every character on the show is deeply flawed and frustrating in their own ...
With the double-header long weekend comes a welcome chance to escape streaming slop, writes Alex Casey. Over Easter I texted my husband Joe a sentence that perhaps nobody in human history has ever texted: “hurry up geostorm is starting”. No punctuation, no capitalisation, not because I was trying to ...
April 27 is Moehanga Day, the anniversary of the day in 1806 when Ngāpuhi warrior Moehanga became the first Māori to visit England. This is his story. The wooden ship sailed down the River Thames, past smoke stacks and brick factories, until it reached a wharf in industrial south London. ...
Heidi Thomson on how her husband’s illness and Daniel Kalderimis’s book Zest have enhanced her understanding of George Eliot’s great novel.Sometimes a book finds you at just the right time. In early December my husband John had a stroke. At the time we were both reading George Eliot’s Middlemarch, ...
The musician, actor and star of upcoming documentary Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds takes us through his life in television. Musician Marlon Williams has been on our My Life in TV wish list ever since he revealed during his My Boy tour that he wrote ‘Thinking ...
When she walked dripping into the lounge, hair wet from the shower, she took one look at Hamish and dropped her towel.He was holding her phone.—How long has it been going on for?His blue eyes blazed. She wanted to pluck them out and blow on them gently, cool them off. ...
A citizens’ assembly of 100 Porirua locals has provided the city council with more than a dozen recommendations about how to tackle climate change and make sure the region is resilient to worsening extreme weather events.Ranging from expanding access to renewable energy and incentivising the planting of native trees through ...
Comment: Democracy globally is in crisis. Around the world we are seeing the rise of nationalism and declining trust in democratic institutions. Politicians, even in Aotearoa, undermine the authority of core institutions like the media and the courts, which are critical for a functioning democracy. To live well together, in ...
Journalist Rod Oram, who died last year, would have been delighted to see the commitment to addressing climate change shown by the 23-year-old winner of a prize established in his memory.Mika Hervel, a student at Victoria University of Wellington, is today named winner of the Rod Oram Memorial Essay Prize, ...
COMMENTARY:By Nour Odeh There was faint hope that efforts to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza would succeed. That hope is now all but gone, offering 2.1 million tormented and starved Palestinians dismal prospects for the days and weeks ahead. Last Saturday, the Israeli Prime Minister once again affirmed ...
An ocean conservation non-profit has condemned the United States President’s latest executive order aimed at boosting the deep sea mining industry. President Donald Trump issued the “Unleashing America’s offshore critical minerals and resources” order on Thursday, directing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to allow deep sea mining. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In this election, voters are more distrustful than ever of politicians, and the political heroes of 2022 have fallen from grace, swept from favour by independent players. A Roy Morgan survey has found, for ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The former head of BenarNews’ Pacific bureau says a United States court ruling this week ordering the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to release congressionally approved funding to Radio Free Asia and its subsidiaries “makes us very happy”. However, Stefan Armbruster, who has ...
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 25, 2025. Labor takes large leads in YouGov and Morgan polls as surge continuesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and ...
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 With just eight days until the May 3 federal election, and with in-person early voting well under way, Labor has taken a ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Fourth Estate, $35) Fictionalised true crime for foodies. 2 Sunrise on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Taneshka Kruger, UP ISMC: Project Manager and Coordinator, University of Pretoria Healthcare in Africa faces a perfect storm: high rates of infectious diseases like malaria and HIV, a rise in non-communicable diseases, and dwindling foreign aid. In 2021, nearly half of ...
Australia and New Zealand join forces once more to bring you the best films and TV shows to watch this weekend. This Anzac Day, our free-to-air TV channels will screen a variety of commemorative coverage. At 11am, TVNZ1 has live coverage of the Anzac Day National Commemorative Service in Wellington. ...
Our laws are leaving many veterans who served after 1974 out in the cold. I know, because I’m one of them.This Sunday Essay was made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.First published in 2024.As I write this story, I am in constant pain. My hands ...
An MP fighting for anti-trafficking legislation says it is hard for prosecutors to take cases to court - but he is hopeful his bill will turn the tide. ...
NONFICTION1 No Words for This by Ali Mau (HarperCollins, $39.99)2 Everyday Comfort Food by Vanya Insull (Allen & Unwin, $39.99)3 Three Wee Bookshops at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw (Allen & Unwin, $39.99)
This Anzac Day marks 110 years since the Gallipoli landings by soldiers in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - the ANZACS. It signalled the beginning of a campaign that was to take the lives of so many of our young men - and would devastate the ...
The violent deportation of migrants is not new, and New Zealand forces had a hand in such a regime after World War II, writes historian Scott Hamilton. The world is watching the new Trump government wage a war against migrants it deems illegal. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.This Sunday Essay was made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
One way of looking at it is that perhaps the
thugspolice should be grateful to the Freedom Villagers for presenting them with an ideal opportunity to test out their new kit.https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/revealed-police-used-sound-cannons-against-parliament-protesters/PIBFZEHRIOEADS7SK4Y4SWM464/
[working link added]
The document states police have 17 Lrad units, bought incrementally since 2016, and that a tactical options report must be completed for the use of an Lrad.
The manufacturer's specifications for the Lrad model 100x used by police says the devices can project 140dB, about the sound level of a gunshot, to a maximum range of 600m.
The devices have the potential to cause permanent hearing damage, which has led to the device being limited in several jurisdictions in the United States following lawsuits.
It is understood the deployment on March 2 was the first use of the Lrads to disperse a crowd in New Zealand.
Lrads might be the weapon of choice for bringing out- of- control crowds into line, but its such a pity about the devastating effects they can have on the targets.
These sonic weapons are capable of inflicting severe, debilitating, permanent harm on U.S. citizens in the form of irreversible hearing loss, tinnitus, vestibular dysfunction, and barotrauma.
But what would a bunch of audiology professionals know?
And the
thugspolice also had a chance to deploy the new Sabre Red Mk 9 pepper spray. (There's a gag in there somewhere but it escapes me at the moment.) They had to rush the order through…and aren't the good folk of Wellington lucky that the rules were changed to allow the use of pepper spray on crowds just a day before they violently drove out the protesters and trashed their gear?Yes…I know the good folk from the Left here will say that any 'force' used by the Police during the protest was justified and proportionate. Dragging naked women by their hair then kneeling on their head, planking with the porky cop's full weight on a seventeen year old's head, breaking the sternum of another female protestor...
Yes. Well.
While were just spit balling equipment for the police to try out.
What would the effects of cluster munitions be on the protesters?
Yes well… just of course to happily meet your prejudices. In my opinion, good on the Police for using whatever means necessary to evict the
law breaking occupiersprotestors. They had 20 or so days to stop breaking the law and chose not to. No sympathy at all for your naked idiot and sniveling 17 year old.I added a working link. In the clear. So you can see that yet again the broken link is in the embed. Please stop embedding, I'm sick of having to sort this out.
It was only the Herald link that failed. All the others are working fine. Should I just not embed Herald links, or do you not want any links embedded?
My suggestion is don't embed any. This isn't the first time they've failed. Embedding increases the chances of the link breaking. Putting them in the clear also makes it much easier to see what the link is to.
Or, some of us believe that if you out yourself into specific kinds of protests, you can expect the police to use force of some kind, and what they use needs to be carefully critiqued.
I disagree with the use of the Lrads (sorry to disappoint you). Can't remember the details of the pepper spray. The naked woman didn't deserve force, but she didn't leave the police many choices. She intentionally covered her body in oil so they couldn't get a good hold of her. Short of using her hair, how else could they have removed her? I'm all ears on suggestions. From memory she later said fair dos about the police action.
Your link says she was treated for a sternum injury, not a broken sternum. Your points are well enough made without exaggerating.
I'm still pissed that it was the Freedom crowd that occupied parliament and not climate protestors. Their tactics about using vehicles to block the streets were impressive. Likewise their functional camp and that they lasted so long. I also think they lost mana in a number of areas, repeated death treats towards MPs and then moaning that the MPs wouldn't meet with them (this is just stupid tactics), not distancing themselves from the white supremacists and the alt right, being dickheads to the locals (again really stupid tactics), and the whole general mess of messaging and confused politics. I have some sympathy for them, hard to sustain a lot.
oh, and the last day, there was heaps of warning of what was about to go down. Those that chose to stay made a choice, and cannot cry unfair later. Again, the police should be closely scrutinised in how they did that operation, but it's silly to think that they weren't going to use force and shut down the protest.
" From memory she later said fair dos about the police action."
She certainly did.
Your link says she was treated for a sternum injury, not a broken sternum. Your points are well enough made without exaggerating.
No, it doesn't. It says…
One elderly woman had ribs broken and is now in hospital; a friend was elbow punched in the chest; she collapsed shortly after, and was treated for a sternum injury;
He goes on to say that the naked woman had her dress ripped off…that's not correct, she was intentionally disrobed. I heard from numerous sources that a woman had a cracked/broken sternum after being knelt on by the cops. I think this fellow writing is quite understandably a little muddled. It was a very difficult day.
…repeated death treats towards MPs and then moaning that the MPs wouldn't meet with them (this is just stupid tactics), not distancing themselves from the white supremacists and the alt right, being dickheads to the locals (again really stupid tactics), and the whole general mess of messaging and confused politics.
You were there weka? At the protest? In the Freedom Village? You were up close and personal with all the fucking filth? I hadn't realized that your knowledge was so first hand for you to be so sure of what was what, who was up who and who was paying.
You must have been at a different protest to the one close friends and whanau attended because they had an altogether experience. You speak of "tactics." And "a mess of messaging" and "confused politics". Hmmm. I don't think you get what most I've spoken to were there for. It wasn't political, per se.
It is now, however, so I guess that's a win. A whole lot of folk have been radicalized…and not in the way I guess you would approve of.
Tell me weka, oh you wise in the way of politics and protest, did you not experience one little worm of fear when Ardern made her …
"Do feel free to visit covid19.govt.nz – otherwise dismiss anything else. We will continue to be your single source of truth.
"Everything else you see, a grain of salt."
…statement way back in March?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Wellington_protest#Violence
Radicalised to do… what? We need calm, not the civil war some would forment.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/covid-19/07-01-2022/the-protest-that-revealed-a-new-ugly-dangerous-side-to-our-country
Here's what a seasoned protester and former MP had to say on RNZ this arvo:
Aggressive drivers nearly force Auckland mayoral candidate Efeso Collins and his family off the road [29 June 2022]
At it again I see Rosemary. Dragging naked women by their hair... one woman who was wandering around without a stich on – which is a punishable offence – was resisting arrest and had to be restrained before being carefully removed without causing injury to her.
Who did you say were the thugs?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/parliament-protest-prompts-more-than-750-police-referrals-to-wellness-advisers/SQZDYPDITNEK4I3ULWYZ3WFZMU/
Summaries of the incidents leading to hospitalisations show officers were knocked out after being struck down by attackers, and some required head scans and stitches for their open wounds.
One officer was struck down from behind and sprayed with a substance, causing them to lose consciousness and suffer temporary blindness.
Another officer was attacked by a protester and tore their Achilles tendon, while another was thrown into a post, suffering a dislocated shoulder and tendon damage.
Another officer was taken to hospital with breathing issues after taking a concrete paver to the chest, being sprayed in the eyes and having something thrown at their face. They also inhaled smoke from the fires.
Officers were knocked unconscious, tore tendons, and suffered dislocations in the wild melee of the protest, but the unseen mental hits are also widespread…….
…one woman who was wandering around without a stich on – which is a punishable offence – was resisting arrest and had to be restrained …
No Anne. She was not wandering around. She was sitting down with her back to the police line. You are making this up, or you have been lied to.
I guess if one is in the thrall of the (government funded) MSM one is going to only see what the Paymasters allow.
You really need to broaden your horizons….just a tad.
Tell me. Just for shits and giggles. Do you know of anyone who took the Pfizer product who experienced side effects such as chest discomfort, irregular heartbeat, nausea or shortness of breath? Or 'flu like symptoms' that had them bedridden for days?
You exaggerate everything pertaining to the Covid vaccine in an attempt to create a false image of severe consequences. The Pfizer vaccine has no more side effects than other vaccines going back many decades to the smallpox vaccine. A very small percentage of the population can be more seriously affected but that does not mean the rest of us have to be denied them.
I know of no-one who has experienced any bad side-effects. Some have reported fatigue or a sore arm for a day or two and that's it. I experienced a sore arm.
"I need to broaden my horizons"? You're a joke sometimes
If you want to be taken seriously then stop twisting and embellishing the truth.
The Pfizer vaccine has no more side effects than other vaccines going back many decades to the smallpox vaccine.
Can you provide evidence to support this statement? Un- referenced statements on government or pharmaceutical industry funded sites do not constitute "evidence" btw.
"Only references from "alternative health " funded and alt right funded antivaccers allowed". Right?
Here you are….https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/PUArticles/March2020/Influenza-vaccine-2019-what-to-expect-this-year.html
Estimated reporting rate per 100,000 doses 16.9
and…. https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/COVID-19/safety-report-41.asp#top10_bar
On average for every 10,000 people who are vaccinated 55 people report an AEFI.
Check my maths…that's 16.9 (out of 100,000 doses) reports of adverse effects for the flu jab in 2019 compared to 550 reports of adverse effects (out of 100,000 doses) for the Pfizer product.
32 x higher rate of reporting for the Pfizer product.
If you cannot understand that reporting rates, are not the same as, actual harm rates, then I can't help you.
Many reasons, including greater public concern due to rabid pervasive anti vacc bullshit, can cause higher reporting rates.
"Can you provide evidence to support this statement?"
The evidence of the efficacy of vaccines has been around for effing decades.
Un-referenced? That planet of yours? Where is it?
Time somebody banned it. 🙄
The evidence of the efficacy of vaccines has been around for effing decades.
That wasn't the question.
You said…The Pfizer vaccine has no more side effects than other vaccines going back many decades to the smallpox vaccine. … and I asked you to provide evidence of this.
To assist you…
Here you are….https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/PUArticles/March2020/Influenza-vaccine-2019-what-to-expect-this-year.html
Estimated reporting rate per 100,000 doses 16.9
and…. https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/COVID-19/safety-report-41.asp#top10_bar
On average for every 10,000 people who are vaccinated 55 people report an AEFI.
Check my maths…that's 16.9 (out of 100,000 doses) reports of adverse effects for the flu jab in 2019 compared to 550 reports of adverse effects (out of 100,000 doses) for the Pfizer product.
32 x higher rate of reporting for the Pfizer product.
https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-29-06-2022/#comment-1897907
….that does not mean the rest of us have to be denied them.
Who is trying to deny anyone the Pfizer jab?
Rosemary – at risk of sounding indelicate, the young woman revealed, at her post arrest return to Parliament grounds and a chance to take up the microphone, that she was in fact doing something to the police et al that she had been taught to do by bold (Maori women) protesters, involving a part of her anatomy that isn't usually deployed in such circumstances. If you review her address to the crowd, and the video of her arrest, you'll perhaps see what I mean.
Robert. I am not quite sure what you are saying. Can I assume that since the woman deliberately chose this method of protest and resistance, and she was not surprised at the actions of the police…that dragging her by her hair, smothering her with a blanket and kneeling on her head were acceptable? Bearing in mind she was not committing any acts of violence and was very obviously a threat to no one. By design.
You're ok with these tactics….the heavy duty pepper spray, the LRAD, the sponge bullets, the extremely violent arrest and restraint methods deployed by the police (especially on February 10th) to be used on any and all protestors that out stay their welcome? Bearing in mind these people were not being violent…they were resisting attempts by the police to forcibly move them out. By design.
If the police employed the same methods on persistent climate change or environmental protestors would you also take the 'they are asking for it' line?
I recognise that you are not quite sure what I am saying, Rosemary. Feel free to consider my comments no further.
You ask, can you assume..?
I would suggest that you don't, as your assumptions have no connection with my position on this matter.
I don't know anyone who experienced side effects such as chest discomfort from the Pfizer product, but I do know people going about their lives who were treated like shit by arsehole arrogant protestors.
I do know people who had their freedom and choice taken away from them by people who were wielding signs about people's right for freedom and choice.
“Paymasters” ?I dont know what “Horizon” you see? As you are so far down the rabbit hole….you’re in the depths of the warren. Sad that. I just really hope you arent influencing any Vulnerable people.. Particularly Maori and their Tamariki.
NZ Doctors Stand up for Vaccination
https://www.doctors-stand-up-for-vaccination.com/
While I detest, anti-science, anti-public health, anti-enlightenment, anti-vax, anti-govt. covid denier sentiments of these fanatics.
I support the right to protest.
Speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard, history of violence and confrontational way of handling these right wing protesters made a violent confrontation inevitable.
In my opinion Mallard has set a very bad precedent.
Trevor Mallard's orders and ham fisted approach and direction to the police which led to the violence has made all protesters vulnerable to harsher policing.
If the Left wing protesters who occupied Rugby Park in Hamilton in 1981 had suffered the same sort of heavy handed policing to clear them off the field. What would have been the result?
Thank goodness cooler heads prevailed.
But as I said, going forward a very bad precedent has been set.
I know for instance that before the last lockdown Extinction Rebellion had been planning to blockade parliament with a Hands Around the Beehive protest occupation.. If they continue with their plan, Mallard's precedent leaves little doubt that the XR protesters will be dealt with possibly even harsher than the Right Wing anti-vaxxers.
Cops were heavy handed with the anti tour protesters. I knew many with injuries including an over seventies Presbyterian Minister who couldn't be threatening if he tried. Watched one of the squad batton charges, myself. Similarly with student protesters in Auckland.
They were, in reality, much more patient and gentle, with the pro plague fools. After weeks of them harrassing and attacking the public. Something Extinction rebellion, Anti TPPA protesters and Gen X do NOT do.
The anti-apartheid protesters have been vindicated and proven to be on the right side of history.
"Cops were heavy handed with the anti tour protesters. I knew many with injuries including an over seventies Presbyterian Minister who couldn't be threatening if he tried." KJT
Of course you are right, KJT. However, it is my opinion, that the failure of the heavy handed policing of anti-racism protesters during the 1981 Springbok tour. Plus the later vindication of their stand by the people of South Africa expressed personally to the protesters by President Nelson Mandela when he visited this country, led to a reappraisal by the police of these sorts of tough anti-protester methods. Which in my opinion was to the betterment and strengthening of our democracy.
The Right have even accused our police force of being 'too woke'.
woke
/wəʊk/
If that is woke, then I can't get enough of it. Unfortunately my fear is that the actions of these Right Wing anti-vax protesters, aligned as they were to violent far-right neo nazis, and anti-government conspiracy theorists, have set back the latter more tolerant police approach to protest action.
Coster dialing back the overzealous disregard for the law, of a significant proportion of our police, is a plus in my book. And makes police more effective in getting community co-operation and consequently reducing crime in the community.
Of course the "tough on crime" "small dicks" will object, even though evidence shows they are counterproductive.
The response to the many vandels, in the pro plague demonstrations, is restrained compared to responses to way less law breaking demonstrations.
Jenny – you say, "… I detest, anti-science, anti-public health, anti-enlightenment, anti-vax, anti-govt. covid denier sentiments of these fanatics".
Fair enough. Others detest them also.
Maybe Trevor Mallard shares your sentiment..
If so, his music-sharing and clothes-laundering response ought not seem too foreign, nor extreme to you and others of your ilk.
More than a few paying ticket holders and fans at the recent 2022 European Cup final were treated to tear gas and riot control measures, this was mostly due to local authorities not really being prepared to run the event. Some of them have even suggested this has put them off attending live football in future.
And in NZ were complaining about sprinklers getting protesters wet just before they were drenched by a significant storm.
https://twitter.com/wekatweets/status/1542025339450232834
I don't agree with his words, but to be fair I believe he was in Christchurch Airport about to head to Singapore so his surroundings were probably limited. 😉
lol. He's on a hiding to nothing. Needs to go watch some Mick Lynch videos.
Or put on Barry White and get the LadyLerrrrve goin on.
Looks like an undertaker's ad on here.
He's pandering. I didn't see him try to give me a tax cut from his man cave even once.
He looks like a nightclub bouncer!
At a funeral
Is Luxton saying women are not New Zealanders?
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/06/29/national-a-party-for-women-christopher-luxon/
Deeper and deeper. "By their words will we know them…."
Him indoors said "Lack of sleep? or Hungover?" I say gimlet eyes.
"Beware the slithy toves do gyre and gimble in the wabe". Apologies to Lewis Carroll.
Quite funny exert of a longer CGTN program called The Heat .In this abbreviated version two panelists voice their diametrically opposed opinions on Ukraine .An analysis from the Ukrainian who is apparently an adviser to Zelensky's gov would have done Goebbels himself proud so distorted is his view of reality , he doesnt fool many of the 150 or so commenters under the vid though .
This is the full version of the above news piece and covers the G7 meeting in full .Watch the
clownsgreat leaders caper and fawn for the cameras against the backdrop of the Bavarian alps while they dream up more silly schemes to squander vast sums of taxpayers money !! For MSM this is actually pretty good and produces lots of facts from a fairly lively panel .Once again the commenters below ar'nt fooled by any bullshit !!For those who want to stay/become informed about Ukraine etc Brian Berletic of The New Atlas is well worth a look in this his latest he goes over some of the recent msm stories that have been pretty much been regularly regurgitated every week since the start of the conflict .He's on a par with Alexander Mercouris i think and can fill in some of the technical aspects of the war and the fact he's an ex marine gives him a bit of extra credibility not that he needs it imo at least he's right on the money !
Update for the Russian missile attack on the 'Shopping Centre " .According to Defense Politics Asia the shopping center had been closed for some months and had apparently been used for 'other' purposes which mite account for it burning so fiercely ?.Anyway its very unlikely there were one thousand shoppers or indeed any shoppers in the building .Ive read other similar accounts to DPA's but we'll prob have to wait for the dust to settle to know what really happened .
What, no report from your favourite sex tourist?
Just for you joe Graham phillips filming in donestk about a week ago while Ukraine was busy shelling the civilians that live there ….again
[lprent: For the benefit of anyone who wants to know what is in the video, it appears to be a gormless dickhead walking and talking, displaying pretty minor damage and a burning building (cause unclear). It isn’t a scene of shelling, and most of it apart from the burning building appears to be pretty old (and possibly staged in the case of broken van). The burning building isn’t displayed enough to indicate eitehr shelling or a legitimate military target. This appears to be just stupid deliberately produced propaganda for the weak-minded. ]
Now do the execrable video the vatnik simp posted of himself crashing a POW swap to abuse and torment a visibly distressed, maimed and disfigured Ukrainian soldier who had been blinded, badly burned, and had lost both arms.
Why dont you post a link joe should be easy for a dirt digging ferret who cant seem to put togeather any sort of reasonable argument himself but has to copy an paste every one else's ….
Dude, you've repeatedly posting the vile propaganda of an alleged war criminal and confirmed hebephile, and regurgitated terror state lies and dezinformatsiya as commentary on a genocidal war.
Do fuck off with your every one else's ….bleat.
/
The Russian Federation is commanding the grunting Donetsk separatists and their impressed conscript slaves to attack Ukrainian civilians with the assistance of the atrocity war criminals of the Wagner mercenary, you find this surprising?
Not to mention that the gutless cowards of the Russia Federation forces stand back and fire missiles at Ukrainian schools and shopping malls because they can’t accurately target anything.
(You see, it is easy to add hyperbole – doesn’t help any rational argument that much. weston – could you possibly be a little less of a mindless raving fuckwit. Your comments are getting pathetic.)
For the benefit of anyone who wants to know what is in the video, it appears to be a gormless dickhead walking and talking, displaying pretty minor damage and a burning building (cause unclear).
Trying to compare it with the shelling scenes from places like (to take an arbitary city) Kherson. Well that goes from beyond pathetic, and more into the realms of weston being somewhat divergent from reality.
Brian Berletic is a joke, a true tankie in love with authoritarian regimes. His rabid defense of the Thai coup makers and the murderous king demonsrtates his unsuitability as a source.
https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Brian_Berletic
Strange your link contains nothing but a rather good compendium of Brian Berletic's rather excellent work exposing false narratives , the joke is you !!
Really : The report cites a Reuters article [15] in which a Facebook spokesman is quoted as saying that this and other account deletions were for "coordinated inauthentic behavior". It is a detailed account of the methods being employed by the Fake news campaign to censor platforms that effectively challenge western official narratives.
'BANGKOK — The anonymous blogger known for his prolific anti-Western conspiracy theories and unfounded accusations against the pro-democracy movements in Thailand is no longer anonymous.'
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2020/11/04/conspiracy-blogger-tony-cartalucci-reveals-his-identity/
Well if Brian Berlitic's work exposes fake western narratives then i salute him for it .Ive no idea what's happening in Thailand and neither am i interested a.t.m. there's only so much world politics i can wrap my head around !!
If you dont like the man bruce stick with BBC an CNN im sure its much easier .
Hey Minister Mahuta, if you want to be taken seriously in efforts to prize China out of the Pacific, you can now only do it by paying their debts off:
China insists Tonga loans come with ‘no political strings attached’ | Tonga | The Guardian
Speaking of China watch lying snake Mike Pompeo field questions from a brain dead fox news presstitute and then read the comments he's obviously not fooling the american public at least !!
[lprent: Having just spent time to read over your comments over the last few days, you don’t appear to be adding anything to a robust debate. You appear to just be dumping shit comments without bothering to engage in a robust debate.
Linking to pretty stupid propaganda and attacking other commentators when they point it out isn’t debate – it is just acting like a troll. If you don’t stop acting like a internet fuckwit, I will simply ban you until after peace settlement is reached.
Fix your behaviour and start acting like someone engaged in robust debate pronto. This is your only warning. ]
see my mod note.