Duck and Cover

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, April 16th, 2017 - 89 comments
Categories: afghanistan, International, us politics, war - Tags: , , , ,

During the 1980s when another madman was in control of the Whitehouse I always had a foreboding of the future in a Terminator sort of way. The prospects of nuclear war seemed so likely. The Americans and the Russians had armed themselves to the teeth and their relationship was poor. And it all seemed so insane.  As David Lange famously said all the super powers were doing was refining an existing capacity to make the rubble bounce and bounce.

Lange and the fourth Labour Government played their part by declaring that New Zealand would be nuclear weapon free. Twenty two years later and this declaration holds firm despite National’s private wish to see it gone by lunchtime.

And the Soviet Union’s economic implosion meant that the arms race was called off. One of the many criticisms of the arms race, that it would bankrupt us all, proved to be correct at least in part.

But the world has recently tripped into a terrible state again where if anything a nuclear exchange seems to be even more likely than it was in the dark years of the 1980s.

There is a madman in the White House, someone displaying the control and sensitivity of a 12 year old boy who has forgotten to take his daily dose of Ritalin. He has the nuclear launch codes under his control. And he has been flashing them around like a brand new golf driver that he has recently bought.

North Korea is Trump’s bogeyman just as the Soviet Union was Ronald Regan’s. But the differences are considerable. North Korea is a tiny failing state run by a dictator with a marginal nuclear presence, perhaps five Hiroshima quality bombs whereas the Soviet Union was a major state able to compete with the United States on its own terms.

North Korea is a perfect test case to allow the United Nations to exercise powers under the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. There should be a collective response based on the international rule of law.

Trump’s recent testosterone driven dropping of the mother of all bombs on a cave structure in Afghanistan shows what he is capable of. Weirdly the caves are the same ones used by the US backed Mujahideen who successfully fought the Soviets in the 1970s and 1980s (corrected).  The United States ought to realise that undermining a local society even if purportedly based on good intentions can have disastrous effects.

And the tension is rising. From the Guardian:

China has urged the US and North Korea to step back from the brink of a potentially catastrophic conflict after Pyongyang warned it would not “keep its arms crossed” in the event of a pre-emptive strike.

Speaking in Beijing on Friday, the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, told reporters the region faced a “precarious situation” in which “one has the feeling that a conflict could break out at any moment”.

He made his plea before an anticipated sixth North Korean nuclear test on Saturday to mark the birth of the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung.

“We call on all parties to refrain from provoking and threatening each other, whether in words or actions, and not to let the situation get to an irreversible and unmanageable stage,” Wang said, according to Xinhua, China’s official news agency.

“If a war occurs, the result is a situation in which everybody loses and there can be no winner. It is not the one who espouses harsher rhetoric or raises a bigger fist that will win.”

North Korea despite its puny status is not holding back.  Paradoxically the threat of taking out its nuclear capability may make its use of its weapons more likely.

North Korea’s vice-foreign minister, Han Song-ryol, earlier warned it would not “keep its arms crossed” in the event of a pre-emptive US strike and would conduct a nuclear test when it saw fit.

Han told the Associated Press in an interview in Pyongyang that Donald Trump’s “aggressive” tweets aimed at the regime were “causing trouble”, adding that the mounting crisis on the peninsula was locked in a “vicious cycle”.

And it could be happening soon.

Experts believe Pyongyang could defy Trump by carrying out a missile launch or nuclear test to coincide with the so-called Day of the Sun on 15 April, commemorating the birth of the country’s founder. Satellite imagery has revealed signs of preparations for a possible nuclear test in a new tunnel complex at the Punggye-ri military site.

Trump needs to hold back and breathe through his nose. There are multiple more peaceful ways of dealing with North Korea. A preemptive strike that may tip it over into attacking Seoul and maybe even Tokyo is not the thing a wise leader of the United States.

This should almost make everyone nostalgic for Hillary. At least she was sane …

89 comments on “Duck and Cover ”

  1. weka 1

    Pretty sure Tr*mp doesn’t give a shit about Seoul or Tokyo. The people behind him want the Armageddon.

    Good post. Are the rest of the nation stated going to sit on their hands?

    I’m just remembering all those conversations where people were saying DT wouldn’t go to war because he said so and I was asking why do you believe him? This looks entirely predictable.

  2. Ad 2

    +1000

    All their weapons should be melted into spoons.

  3. Andre 3

    The argument that North Korea needs to be reined in somehow. Before all the rest of the world’s nasty tinpot dictators take the lesson that all they need is a few nukes and they’re untouchable.

    http://www.salon.com/2017/04/15/making-nukes-mandatory-a-lesson-for-dictators/

  4. I was surprised trump didn’t take them all out while the big parade was on.

    • Rightly or Wrongly 4.1

      It is quite likely that most of those missiles were made from plywood and paint.

      There was some mention that one of the missile tips was wobbling around while going through the parade.

      The biggest risk I feel if a shooting war starts are the people of Seoul.

      If (Glorious Leader) Kim decides to do a Saddam Hussein and take everyone down with him, Seoul could be in for a battering.

      Ideally the best thing that would happen is for a few in the NK military (who haven’t been executed) to depose Glorious Leader and then reach out for dialog.

      If that doesn’t happen, the ego of the great one may tempt him to strike Seoul.

  5. RedBaronCV 5

    The comment yesterday on open mike about the HMNZS Endeavour refueling- “The Arleigh Burke-class, guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem is “conducting routine operations” in the South China Sea,” from a US navy press release.

    It appears the USS Stethem is part of the fleet that Trump has pushed into the south China sea – to ratchet up a bit more tension? but as far as I can see our newspapers haven’t mentioned this at all.

    Now personally I’d like New Zealand to keep as far away for this as possible- not be hanging around holding hands with the US Pacific Fleet – so could Bill English kindly tell us just what is going on and could the MSM actually ask?

    • weka 5.1

      Didn’t quite follow that. The Stethem is in the South China Sea and the Endeavour is where?

      • RedBaronCV 5.1.1

        Somewhere close by.
        Why is the MSM not discussing this as they discussed the Iraq deployments?
        Did the Navy think to tell the Defence minister?

    • Carolyn_nth 5.2

      It’s in a press release from the US Navy published 14 April 2017:

      The Arleigh Burke-class, guided-missile destroyer USS STETHEM (DDG 63) forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, is conducting routine operations in the South China Sea.

      While in the area, Stethem completed a refueling at sea with Her Majesty’s New Zealand Ship (HMNZS) Endeavour (A 11).

      The United States is committed to the security of the Indo-Asia- Pacific. The U.S. Navy routinely conducts naval operations in oceans and seas worldwide. Our allies and partners value enduring U.S. Navy presence throughout the Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) area of operations.

      It’s mainly the Russian press that has picked up on USS Stethem’s current operations.

      The only NZ report of it I can see is on Selwyn Manning’s Foreign Affairs website, published in the last half hour.

      • The Chairman 5.2.1

        “I have great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea. If they are unable to do so, the U.S., with its allies, will! U.S.A.” – Donald J. Trump.

        Seeing as we are refueling their ships, one wonders if that includes NZ and will that make us a potential target?

        • RedBaronCV 5.2.1.1

          I’d think hanging anywhere close to the USA would make us a target and Trump is somewhat unstable.

          Not to mention we are trading with China whilst refueling a US pacific fleet in the South China sea which is there in part because China is trying to use their man made bases in the sea on the hotly disputed islands to claim it all as an exclusive economic zone.

          So would Nact care to explain why they have this hanging onto the yanks foreign policy??

        • The Chairman 5.2.1.2

          I see Corin Dann put this question to Brownlee today, not long after North Korea warned Australia of a nuclear strike over their foreign minister’s comments.
          http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/state-our-defence-force-minister-gerry-brownlee-video-6522804

      • dukeofurl 5.2.2

        “BERSAMA LIMA and BERSAMA SHIELD are military exercises held each year with forces from New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and the United Kingdom. These countries signed the Five Power Defence Arrangement in 1971 as a commitment to defence co-operation and regional stability in South East Asia.

        The BERSAMA exercises are usually based out of Singapore and take place in the South China Sea and around the Malaysian Peninsular. The frigates TE KAHA and TE MANA are regular participants in the exercises and are supported by the Fleet Tanker ENDEAVOUR.
        http://www.navy.mil.nz/oae/ex/bs/bersama-series.htm

        Its roughly 4000km from the sea around peninsular Malysia to Seoul. Its 10,000km from seoul to Auckland.

  6. Marco 6

    Old Trumpy should act a bit more like Nev Chamberlain back in the ’30s. That worked out well.

    • Skeptic 6.1

      Whoooooa – do I detect a teeny tiny bit of sarc there

    • dukeofurl 6.2

      North Korea has taken neighbouring territories like Hitler did with Austria, Sudenland in the late 30s then ?

      You should look at a map sometimes. It shows NK surrounded by China, Russia, Japan.
      They are the ones more like little Czechoslovakia ?

  7. Antoine 7

    I worry for the people I know in Seoul

  8. mauī 8

    John Pilger calls it the festival of war as like minded parties like CNN and Clinton cheer him on and in some cases predict what he’ll do before it happens.

  9. rocco siffred 9

    “North Korea is a perfect test case to allow the United Nations to exercise powers under the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. There should be a collective response based on the international rule of law.”

    I wish you luck with this. Your going to need it.

    • mickysavage 9.1

      International law is what the world decided would be the best way to handle tensions between countries after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuked. Do you think there is a better way?

      • garibaldi 9.1.1

        The sad fact is that American exceptualism overrides international law.

      • rocco siffred 9.1.2

        International law has no meaning without the will and power to enforce it. North Korea has been in violation for decades and until both China and US decide to deal with it, that will continue.

        The UN has zero ability to do a thing other than pass more meaningless resolutions.

        • aom 9.1.2.1

          North Korea was a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty but withdrew in 2003, blaming the aggression of the USA. Clearly, it, like Israel which never was a signatory, is not subject to the provisions of the treaty, so any attack on its weapons infrastructure would be an ‘act of war’. That aside, have the largest nuclear states ever met their obligations? Not likely!

          • Draco T Bastard 9.1.2.1.1

            Clearly, it, like Israel which never was a signatory, is not subject to the provisions of the treaty, so any attack on its weapons infrastructure would be an ‘act of war’.

            Yep. International law only applies if the nation agrees to the law. If it doesn’t then that international law doesn’t apply. Like the US not being part of the ICC. China claiming all those artificial islands as territory is actually in breach of those laws and they even agreed to them – until they got in the way of their geopolitical ambitions.

            This is a serious weakness of international law.

            That aside, have the largest nuclear states ever met their obligations? Not likely!

            The largest nuclear states were very careful to ensure that the NNPT would never apply them.

    • Hanswurst 9.2

      Don’t know whether you’re “Siffredi” or “Siffred”, but I’m not sure how wise it would be to take advice from someone who can’t even spell their own name consistently.

  10. Bill 10

    There’s an argument that runs along the lines that N.Korea only continues to exist because it has a nuclear deterrent. The accompanying argument is that chemical weapons are the ‘poor man’s’ nuclear deterrent. Some people might want to join some dots on that one.

    As for Clinton’s supposed sanity…yeah, nah. Yes, on N.Korea. I’m guessing she’d just have continued the US policy of containment and non-confrontation – and that would have been a good thing. But there are other regions in the world where her ideas and notions are just bat-shit crazy, dangerously wrongheaded and utterly misanthropic.

    But that said, I think we’d do well to move away from analysis based on singular personalities that would then tend to lead us to a position of lending support to one or another individual (eg Trump or Clinton).

    No US president acts in glorious isolation. Their policies reflect general sentiments or factions within the broader US political establishment. And they all resist or cave to given factions.

    So, Obama for example, did quite well in resisting the hawks when it came to the ME. (Brokered a deal with Iran, held back on Libya…). Clinton on the other hand, would have been leading a disastrous charge in the ME from the front. Trump it seems, is in the process of caving to the hawks on every identifiable front in terms of that nebulous and all encompassing notion of US National Security.

    But it’s not Trump and it’s not Clinton and it’s not Obama per se – they are responding, or would have responded, or did respond to deep seated and often long standing pressures within the US political establishment.

    The craziness (if we want to use that term) runs much, much deeper than Presidential figure-heads.

    • Anne 10.1

      The craziness (if we want to use that term) runs much, much deeper than Presidential figure-heads.

      Indeed it does!!

    • Draco T Bastard 10.2

      The craziness (if we want to use that term) runs much, much deeper than Presidential figure-heads.

      The craziness is embedded within the entire capitalist system.

    • Bang on the money , there Bill.

      Though as someone has said here , chances are those paraded missiles were a mock up for effect. Of course, – that doesn’t mean the real weapons don’t exist. I would suspect that the airfield in Syria was a mock up as well ,- and that those missile strikes were pre agreed upon by the various party’s concerned. Classic political /military diversions.

      I would suspect that the real reasons for those missile strikes was to coincide with the Chinese President and Trumps meeting. It is rather suspicious that they occurred at the same time. It seems like it was done for effect to convince China to exert pressure on North Korea.

      We see now there was a presumed ‘ failed’ missile test. Trust no one. For all we know even that could have been staged to create a foil against western speculation of just how far along North Korea is in its nuclear ICBM program.

      Smoke and mirrors , bluster and bullshit.

      That’s geopolitics for ya.

    • keepcalmcarryon 10.4

      Agree with most of what you’ve written Bill especially re insanity in the US polical establishment -but surely the “measly” handful of Hiroshima power nukes isnt really a deterrant to a superpower. On the other hand North Koreas main ally- China- including its probable 200-300 nukes is the actual deterrant.
      Its an important distinction to make because in this context, China telling both sides to just simmer down tells us that we probably arent that close to nuclear war at all.

      • Bill 10.4.1

        I’m guessing the idea would be to lob a couple of warheads into S. Korea. What’s the flight time/chances to intercept? And if they are intercepted/shot down, then what? (Do they explode/not explode?)

        Throw in the capacity to hit US bases in Japan just for the sheer hell of it and tell everyone to leave you the fuck alone.

        It’s kinda worked (the last bit being a recent addition) and if nothing else provides an extra level of insurance should China step back and away (unlikely as that might be).

      • WILD KATIPO 10.4.2

        Pretty much. But eventually the USA will be taken out by China. Almost definitely not in this round with NK , but over the middle east. It seems likely it will be the USA West Coast that gets it. Sad but true.

        Not sure how presently the USA will resolve this with NK , but any pressure put on China will have to be some sort of trade sanctions in the future. And that will hurt China. That they will not like.

        …………………………………
        John Pilgers ‘ The coming war with China’ … is an interesting look – see…

        The Coming War On China – YouTube
        Video for john pilgers the coming war with china you tube▶ 28:06
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6StL-AJLDwY
        ………………………………….

        Chris Trotter did a very interesting post on The Daily Blog site about ‘ Battle for the Heartland’ … on an older geopolitical theory that seems to have dominated US foreign policy post world war two.

        ” That, at least, was the contention of Sir Halford Mackinder, the nineteenth century British geographer and founder of what came to be known as “geopolitics”. Mackinder’s ideas would inspire imperialists the world over. They inspired Adolf Hitler and, following Germany’s defeat in 1945, captured the imaginations of the elite advisers to the new kid on the imperial block – the United States.”

        ………………………………….

        But it wont be until the remaining states of the E U are embroiled with Israel and the emerging Muslim 10 nation Caliphate ( Erdogan has continually expressed his desire that Turkey is the seat of this Caliphate … ) that we will see full scale nuclear war… and China suffering from continued trade sanctions that they will grab at world power ( or what remains of it ) and move westwards.

        That’s when you can expect the shit to hit the fan. For all concerned.

        • keepcalmcarryon 10.4.2.1

          Yes, I read Mr Trotters piece the other day, it was very interersting to see modern US strategy through that historical perspective.

          Human history tells us at some point the most powerful nations will bang heads, Lets hope a) its not for a long time yet and b) future conflicts are non nuclear.
          We have had tensions and arms races before and it didnt end in overt war, it doesnt have to this time.

          Best quote from your also very interesting video:
          “The west struggles to understand China because the west doesnt have a free media”

  11. Anne 11

    Permit me to be off topic… but when I saw the headline “Duck and Cover” I thought it was a sequel to “Hit and Run”.

    Seriously, thanks for an informative post mickysavage .

    My heartfelt wish: would someone please destroy the Orange maniac – and his coterie of maniac underlings – before they destroy us. Don’t care how they do it… just do it.

    • mickysavage 11.1

      Thanks Anne

      It is what they used to tell kids in case of a nuclear attack. The advice was completely hapless and totally illogical, a bit like nuclear war itself.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_and_cover

      • weka 11.1.1

        I think it works when you are further out.

        I remember being taught at high school what would happen to various parts of the country if a nuclear bomb was dropped on Christchurch (I lived in the SI). There was this diagram that had these concentric circles radiating out across the SI. It showed who would be killed immediately, who would die from radiation over days, who would be blinded if they were looking in the direction of the blast, who would get hit by the wind etc. Sobering stuff. I joined the peace movement when I was 17. I don’t know what they teach now, but that was in the early 80s, so all kudos to the teachers that did that.

        • mickysavage 11.1.1.1

          Yep the only piece of sound advice I have heard is …

          In case of the start of nuclear war …

          Put your head between your knees …

          And kiss your arse goodbye …

          • WILD KATIPO 11.1.1.1.1

            Well that may /will deal with significant populations of human beings unfortunately ,… but the wildlife after Chernobyl seems to be flourishing once human beings were out of the picture ! So , 30 years after… the animals are finding all those cozy buildings just peachy .

            🙂

            Of course, that was a nuclear reactor meltdown – and not an all out nuclear war.

          • cyclone 11.1.1.1.2

            Weirdest thing I ever saw on New Zealand and nuclear war was a NZ Planning Council booklet published at the height of the cold war entitled “Can New Zealand Survive a Nuclear War?”
            It was reported here: http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/17/world/new-zealand-ponders-a-nuclear-survival-kit.html
            Conclusions were that we were likely to survive the direct effects and fall out but run out of manufactured goods and medicines. There was also a big question about our ability to cope with waves of refugees.
            Still worth a read if you can find a copy.

    • One Two 11.2

      Were you being ironic, Anne?

      Destruction, to prevent destruction..

      In any event the ‘real power’ exists above POTUS, not at that level or below

      The underlings you refer to are the interchangeable and dispensible ‘useful idiots’

      As dispensible as anything which is in the path of the ‘real power’

      What/who is the ‘real power’..

      That’s a more intreaguing discussion than pots shots the string puppets who carry out the insructions

      • Anne 11.2.1

        That’s a more intreaguing discussion than pots shots the string puppets who carry out the insructions

        Do learn to spell and type properly.

  12. For those that are not aware of the Cold War significance of Duck and Cover, Duck and Cover is a 1951 Civil Defense film from the United States about what to do in a nuclear attack.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60

    Before a 1965 film called “The War Game”. Before the American nuclear holocaust movie “The Day after” or the B.B.C. docudrama “Threads”.

    And try this one from Britain (1964):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgqhaZmPFRg

    Notice how both films seem to think that normal life will somehow resume and that it will be safe to go back outside shortly afterwards.

  13. johnm 13

    The Reagan period turned out to be one of the most hopeful ever for arms limitation and control and restraint and cooperation.

    ” Ronald Reagan came to the presidency as a long-time critic of arms control and detente with the Soviet Union, the preeminent U.S. strategic adversary during his eight years in office. Throughout the 1970s, Reagan had argued that the United States was falling behind the Soviets in the nuclear competition and that U.S. long-range ballistic missiles were becoming increasingly vulnerable to Soviet attack. During his 1980 election campaign against President Jimmy Carter, Reagan contended that the unratified Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II (SALT II) was “fatally flawed.” As president, Reagan accelerated strategic nuclear modernization plans and launched modern efforts to build a national missile defense system through his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), raising tensions with the Soviet Union and prompting widespread public concern about the possibility of war between world’s two major nuclear superpowers.

    Yet, Reagan’s early opposition to U.S.-Soviet arms control negotiations gradually gave way to a more conciliatory approach that was consistent with his growing concern about the threat of mutual assured destruction. By the time he had left office, Reagan had overcome the reluctance of many of his closest advisers to engage with the Soviets and had forged an enduring diplomatic partnership with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. That partnership, combined with strong U.S. and European public pressure for nuclear restraint, led to some of the most sweeping arms control proposals in history and helped usher in a new age in U.S.-Russian relations.

    Reagan and Gorbachev eventually concluded the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) agreement and established the foundation for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which was concluded in 1991. Nevertheless, the full promise of Reagan’s and Gorbachev’s proposals for radical nuclear weapon reductions remain unfulfilled. U.S. and Russian nuclear forces, although smaller, still confront each other, and many of the strategic weapons systems promoted by Reagan remain in place or have been revived. ”

    https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2004_07-08/Reagan

    • Two of the most terrifying films ever came out during Reagan’s time in office. Both were in response to a growing public concern that World War 3 might start without prior warning.

      One was the American movie called “The Day After”, which was deliberately made with B-grade actors. It had U.S. military co-operation in terms of making it as realistic as possible whilst still being a movie. When Reagan watched it in the White House, he apparently cried and was depressed for awhile afterwards.

      The other was the British docudrama “Threads”, based on an east-west exchange involving 3000 megatons with 210 megatons falling on Britain. 9 million die initially. By the time the film ends 95% of Britain’s pre nuclear exchange population has died. The sunlight is only just starting to come back and society is effectively dark age in nature.

      I have watched both. Very good given their subject matter. But very very depressing.

  14. The Chairman 14

    I asked these questions below yesterday in Open Mike to no avail, but this thread seems to be more appropriate, so here they are again.

    Trumps posturing will entice North Korea to intensify their nuclear capability, hence can’t envision them canceling nuclear tests now.

    Therefore, how will this play out?

    Is Trump backing himself into a corner, thus will have no choice but to act or look weak?

    • Graeme 15.1

      Or was it “failed” by an outside influence?

      They aren’t having a good run of late. Could also be the the pressure within NK has ramped up past the point where everything goes to shit

      • The Chairman 15.1.1

        “Or was it “failed” by an outside influence? “

        At this stage, one can only wonder.

        The question is, how will Trump respond to the launching?

        • WILD KATIPO 15.1.1.1

          I would suspect it was a deliberate ‘ failure’. NK ‘s leader may be a nutcase but he isn’t stupid – or at least , his adviser’s are not. What better way to convince western intelligence their ICBM systems have a bit more to go before completely operational ?

          A nice way to induce a lulled sense of ‘false alarm’….

          For a ‘ hermit state’,… they sure seem to be getting the cashflow from somewhere ,… perhaps China could answer that question… as China does not want to lose a satellite nation… this could go a long way to explain the reason for the missile strikes in Syria coinciding with Trumps entertaining of the Chinese President and the timing of those strikes…

  15. Skeptic 16

    I think the problem here is in the penultimate sentence Mickey used – ” There are multiple more peaceful ways of dealing with North Korea. ”

    The problem being that these more peaceful ways have allowed NK to go from a state without nuke to one with both nukes and IR missiles – that is bluntly speaking – they’ve failed big time and we are very much worse of for it.

    Those who forget or ignore their history are condemned – yes – condemned – to repeat it. Appeasement did not work with Adolf – and it will not work Kim Il Un. If there are any “peaceful methods” that will achieve the desired goal of eliminating NK nukes and missiles – I have yet to hear them.

    That being said, I have no desire to be see northern east Asia turned into a nuclear parking lot – and if the weapons were launched that’s exactly what would happen, despite the presence of US THAAD missiles and Aegis destroyers.

    If trump lives up to his bombast, and if KIU decides to celebrate his grandfather’s birthday or whatever with a missile launch, I fear such a confrontation is inevitable.

    If all 12 of NK missiles are launched at once, does the USN have enough THAADs to take them all out? If they don’t, the probability of mushroom clouds again overshadowing an Asian country looms large.

    • Apparently China is supposed to be signatory to an agreement to stop its banks doing business in North Korea.

      But it is not holding up its end of the bargain. So there might be leverage to get out of that.

  16. Sabine 17

    we grew up with these

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aXpU2FCVXo

    i never quite understood why the heck they would want to warn the civilian population that they will use any of the ABC weapons. Much better just to use the weapons and let god sort them out.

  17. Liberal Realist 18

    Weirdly the caves are the same ones used by the US backed Mujahideen who successfully fought the Soviets in the 1990s and early 2000s.

    Micky, I think you mean late 1970’s and 1980’s?

  18. The Chairman 19

    Will the US try to denuclearise North Korea by force? – Inside Story
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-cBxMA1yvs

  19. adam 20

    I said weeks ago this was a frightening period in relation to nuclear weapons, and we are closer to nuclear war anytime since the Cuban crisis.

    trump and the whole corporate elect are mad. Mad! As in they have actually lost it. Our government is no better.

    Here the kicker though, when you support the system, you support this madness. The system is fundamentally flawed – the right have a solution for that – kill off all the undesirables and start again.

    How are you going to respond?

    • Incognito 21.1

      Sticky clock dial/hand? It should have jumped forward last November. Perhaps it is more like a barometer where you have to tick the glass a few times to get the actual reading … In fact, I think the current situation has more in common with ACC than with time as such.

  20. Poission 22

    The most important lobby group of the cold war was the Pugwash conferences.

    Set up following the Russell-Einstein manifesto of 1955 it allowed some of the greatest scientists of the era to debate across party lines on the ramifications of global conflict.

    https://pugwash.org/history/#jp-carousel-1740

    The above participants from 1958 with all its laureates, the strength of the soviet scientific attendees is remarkable.

    https://pugwash.org/

    Nice statement on the Chilcot report suggests it is as relevant today.

    https://pugwash.org/2016/07/12/statement-on-the-chilcot-report/

  21. DS 23

    North Korea obeys the rules of MAD (they use their nuclear deterrent to keep the regime in power, and to wheedle food parcels). Trump does not obey the rules of MAD.

  22. One Two 24

    More boogie man script writing as if on cue

    ‘Amazing’ that these boogie men exist in geographically ‘helpful’ locations

    Helpful to?….

  23. Carolyn_nth 25

    Oh dear, oh dear. TV1 news tonight was very pro-Trump and US forces in the area to take it to Nth Korea. So much dangerous, one sided bias! One report from a US journo who seems to be embedded with US ships in the area, and another from the UK.

    They presented Trump in heroic terms, as some kind of keeper of world stability!

    • Then there’s the other side of things,.. if China is using NK as a kind of ‘pitbull’ and a proxy threat against USA belligerence in the South China seas…

      I tend to believe John Pilger when push comes to shove… and if we cant get over ourselves and admit when even a small time bit player like John Key in an insignificant country in the south Pacific so easily pulled the wool over this country’s populations eyes, – what hope in hell do we have in realising just how deceptive geopolitics are with the big boys ?

      The USA wants to goad China for economic reasons .

      And Putin and Trump are pissing their pants laughing about the rest of us believing that instead of having a love in together, their now having a hate fest. What better way to get the heat off inquiry’s about Russian involvement in USA elections?

      Coronation Street does just as many TV plots full of intrigue.

      Face it.

      They are all bullshit artists and manipulators.

  24. Sanctuary 26

    North Korea is trying to design and build a nuclear armed SLBM (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile) that if deployed could destroy not just a US city but Auckland or Sydney with little to no warning if launched.

    Remember, this is a country that has no governmental checks and balances, has a government that thinks nothing of lawlessly bombing airliners and carrying out assassinations on foreign soil, which attacked and destroyed a South Korean warship without warning in 2010, which routinely kidnaps and abducts foreign nationals to suit it’s perceived needs and brutally suppresses its own population, using anti-aircraft guns and artillery to execute senior members of the regime.

    So think about that. Do we really want a country like that equipped with SLBMs able to wipe out any NZ city at any moment should Kim Jong-un take umbrage at something we have said or done?

    SLBMs are a step to far. Better one bunch of smoking ruins in North Korea than a heap of them all around the Pacific, and better any number of smoking, ruined cities in North Korea than any one of ours.

    • Indeed.

      Just one well placed bullet can ease all the tension. But that then still leaves all the rest of the fanatics, unfortunately.

    • One Two 26.2

      Sanctury, you’ve expressed the same sentiment towards other nations, and ‘turning them to smoking ruins’

      Don’t be cowed into a fear response by the script writers…

    • marty mars 26.3

      riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight so if we (your proxy US) did to him what he has done to others and potentially could do to us, then we are the greater morally speaking – nah fool – we just become like him – ffs

      • WILD KATIPO 26.3.1

        I can see Sanctuary’s line of thinking , and it certainly will be being considered – after all there were several attempts on Hitlers life – mind you , that was after a war had actually started, this nutjob in NK is just beating his fists on his chest atm… like the knuckledragger he is.

        But he is a liability. Rather than any nuclear exchange , – far cheaper for a $1.50 bullet well placed if possible. Then no one will have to sleep on a rubble mattress. And that is still being very nasty . If anything , that will probably be the final fate of the guy. And of course, no one will ever know who did it and there will be plausible deniability by all those concerned….

      • Sanctuary 26.3.2

        No need to get all biblical – morality doesn’t enter into it. People forget that when we expect our leaders, above all else, to manitain our national security they also take that responsibility seriously. Who wants to be the US politician or official whose lack of action led to the zero warning destruction of Los Angeles by a North Korean SLBM launched 1000km away in the Pacific? The same thinking applies to NZ – do we really want North Korean submarines armed with ballistic missiles cruising in the Coral sea? What action should Australia/NZ take if our ASW aircraft (directed by SOSUS) detected such a submarine within launch range of Auckland at a time of heightened tension for whatever reason?

        North Korea can only justify a nuclear weapons program on two grounds. Firstly, that the USA has them so it is simply imperialism in action that are not allowed to have them. Putting aside the troubling “two wrongs make a right” aspect of this argument, non-proliferation is surely the best guarantee for the non use of nuclear weapons, and it is a common sense observation that the fewer countries who have nuclear weapons the better. This is a very thin argument at very best.

        Secondly, especially in light of the 2003 Iraq invasion, is the argument they need nuclear weapons for self defense. Now, it seems to me that you are really playing with fire here. Nuclear war fighting doctrine in the cold war was based on MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction – no matter how many missiles the USA or USSR fired in a first strike, a second strike capability would destroy the attackers nation. But we no longer live in the cold war, and nuclear war fighting doctrine in the post-MAD era is now about overwhelming first use. In other words, if you suspect the DPRK has eight nukes at a possible 32 locations, you fire four nukes at each location (128) to be absolutely sure you get them all, and fire a couple of dozen more to be sure utterly destroy the North Korean state while you at it.

        Still, as long as your deterrent is just a very small number of low yield single warheads on a bunch of unreliable IRBMs that can just about wheeze their way to Tokyo at a pinch then you can make an argument they are simply to make an attack on the DPRK to unattractive to be worth it, so you can just about get away with having such a deterrent.

        Putting these missiles on a submarine transforms this situation. It puts 4 or so nuclear missiles within 10 minutes warning of launch or less of the entire US western seaboard, or indeed of Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland from the north Tasman/Coral sea. This is totally destablising. Without a doubt, the US nuclear submarine fleet will be able to easily detect and track the 2-3 North Korean submarines armed with these weapons. How would the USA/Australia/NZ react if one of these boats suddenly starts heading into the central Pacific or towards the Coral sea during a period of very high tension, given how unpredictable the DPRK regime is? The answer is the reaction would be with a hair trigger, and the moment the nuclear-armed sub was destroyed nuclear war fighting logic dictates an immediate all-out follow up nuclear attack on the DPRK, in order to prevent it launching retaliatory land based missile attacks.

        The above reasoning is why even the Israelis are not crazy enough to deploy SLBMs. North Korea, by trying to develop and deploy SLBMs, is really lowering the trigger threshold for a (justified) all out pre-emptive US nuclear attack on it.

  25. Philj 27

    Hey Sanctuary, you aren’t advising Trump on defence strategy are you?
    Lol. Nuke first and finish then off. Sounds insanely risky.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    50 mins ago
  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 hours ago
  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    11 hours ago
  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    15 hours ago
  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    15 hours ago
  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    16 hours ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    17 hours ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    18 hours ago
  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    18 hours ago
  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    19 hours ago
  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    21 hours ago
  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago
  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    1 day ago
  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago
  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    2 days ago
  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    2 days ago
  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    2 days ago
  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    3 days ago
  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    3 days ago
  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    3 days ago
  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    3 days ago
  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    4 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    4 days ago
  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    5 days ago
  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    6 days ago
  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago
  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    6 days ago
  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago
  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    7 days ago
  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    7 days ago
  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 week ago
  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-12-06T18:05:37+00:00