Open mike 03/02/2025

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, February 3rd, 2025 - 107 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

107 comments on “Open mike 03/02/2025 ”

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  1. KJT 1
    3 February 2025 at 7:29 am

    The Coalition of Cockups, plan for our health system.

    Most health insurance covers birth control — but hers cost more than $14,000 – Alternet.org

    Easy to see why. Someone will make billions.

  2. Muttonbird 2
    3 February 2025 at 7:54 am

    The elephant in the room.

    Paul Spoonley just about directly addresses it, Jamie Ensor is a little uncomfortable but determined not to blink:

    Spoonley said there were also some “particular circumstances” for New Zealand at the time that would have inflamed the threats.

    “One of the things that really escalated very rapidly and became a significant characteristic was misogyny. Not only was Ardern the target because she was doing things as [the head of a] government, which upset parts of the community, but the fact she was a woman seemed to add to the vitriol.”

    Spoonley said misogyny “has not disappeared” – he argued it’s now directed towards Māori female politicians – but it “lacks a lightning rod with a conservative male PM”.

    Fact is, the main reason threats against MPs have drop since the change in government is RW people are unhinged and violent, racist, misogynists:

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/number-of-threats-against-politicians-nosedives-in-coalition-governments-first-year-so-whats-changed/YCVR2DLM25EAFHA37AFS4W6INM/

  3. Dennis Frank 3
    3 February 2025 at 9:12 am

    The trade war likely to end neoliberalism starts tomorrow:

    In three executive orders, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and most Canadian imports and 10% on goods from China, starting on Tuesday.

    He vowed to keep the duties in place until what he described as a national emergency over fentanyl, a deadly opioid, and illegal immigration to the U.S. ends. https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-readies-order-steep-tariffs-goods-mexico-canada-china-2025-02-01/

    Although Trump has made it conditional on compliance – so that it cannot be seen as ideological – it will switch the mind-set of all traders & dealers in the capitalist system.

    The effect on cost structures will be immediate, the effect on economic planning will be medium-term, the effect on sheeple will be long-term. The most amusing part will be watching commentators & analysts compete to pretend that they will maintain faith in neoliberalism – although the linguistic framing they use will seem so unconvincing to others that their pretence will likely only persist for several weeks.

    • SPC 3.1
      3 February 2025 at 9:22 am

      Although Trump has made it conditional on compliance – so that it cannot be seen as ideological

      You're the one taking what he says seriously.

      He also says that the US subsidises Canada by trading with it. And if they do not have the trade they cannot survive, so they will have to become part of America.

      Apparently he does want to subsidise Canada even more than they do by trade, by making it part of America.

      I suspect Canada values its health care system and some other stuff as more important.

      • Visubversa 3.1.1
        3 February 2025 at 9:59 am

        Canada is certainly valuing its domestic production. Canadian websites have lit up with people proudly showing their shopping hauls of "Made in Canada" products.

        Canada does have its problems – a housing affordability crisis being a major one, but they seem to be pretty happy that they are not Americans.

        • SPC 3.1.1.1
          3 February 2025 at 10:10 am

          I remember making the case that those in North America were all Americans, but the Canadian visitors here remained insistent that there was a difference. By remaining polite they placed an exclamation mark on their point of view. And have taken that worldwide. Ably assisted by Americans, both domestic and abroad.

        • tWig 3.1.1.2
          3 February 2025 at 12:01 pm

          The US also has a housing affordability crisis: half of renters cannot afford their rents.

    • Descendant Of Smith 3.2
      3 February 2025 at 9:35 am

      43 pounds seized in a year less the 10.8 going the other way. Seems like a big problem.

      https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2025/01/31/tariff-on-canada-not-justified-by-us-immigration-and-drug-claims/

      In Fiscal Year 2024, USCBP seized 21,148 pounds of fentanyl at the southwest border, mostly smuggled from Mexico. In contrast, only 43 pounds were intercepted at the northern border. This means that less than 1% of all fentanyl seizures occurred at the U.S.-Canada border.

      Furthermore, drug flows are not a one-way street. In 2024, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) seized approximately 10.8 pounds of fentanyl coming into Canada from the United States.

    • Jenny 3.3
      3 February 2025 at 3:19 pm

      How embarrassing – From being a valued junior partner to US imperialism, reaping some of the benefits of that relationship, to now find yourself possibly being reduced to a subservient neo-colony of the US global hegemon next door.

      US imperialism is something baked in from the beginning:

      How the U.S. could in fact make Canada an American territory

      Published: January 10, 2025 5.36am NZDT

      Many pundits dismiss Trump’s bellicose rhetoric as hot-headed bargaining. It’s just tough talk, they say. Some have argued his bluster is simply part of his favoured “art of the deal” negotiating tactics.

      That’s the wrong reading. How Trump could make good on the threat can be found in the U.S. Constitution. There is both potential and precedent for the U.S. to acquire territory through cession or subjugation…..

      ….The American origin story of a country born in revolution only applies to a small piece of the country. The rest of the place came to exist through annexation. The U.S. expanded to 50 states and 14 overseas territories through a mix of cession, occupation and purchase…..

      …..the belief that the expansion of the U.S. throughout the Americas was both justified and inevitable, is built into the spine of the U.S. Constitution….

      [Can the Canadians talk their way out of it?]

      Opening lines of communication

      It seems hard to fathom that discussions about U.S. annexation efforts against Canada are actually unfolding. Alarming indeed, but it would be a mistake to ignore history, overlook the U.S. Constitution and try to outwit the art of the deal.

      Canadian politicians at federal, provincial and even municipal levels need to open lines of communication with Congress, especially in economically strategic states.

      Congressional representatives need to view annexing Canada as a ridiculous burden, both politically and financially, rather than as a prize.

      https://theconversation.com/how-the-u-s-could-in-fact-make-canada-an-american-territory-246877

      …

      .

      • Dennis Frank 3.3.1
        3 February 2025 at 4:18 pm

        smiley From your source I get this key bit:

        Article II, Section 2 of the constitution:

        “He [The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur…”.

        Treaties are the tools the U.S. uses to take “nothing by conquest” after the Senate ratifies those treaties by a two-thirds majority.

        So the USA can feasibly make Canada a state if 2 conditions are fulfilled as specified. First, Canada signs a treaty agreeing to the proposal. Second, enough Senators agree its a good idea & ratify it on a bipartisan basis. Your source is Robert Huish, Associate Professor in International Development Studies, Dalhousie University. He hasn't gone so far as to outline how Canada can develop under this scenario, in accord with his domain of expertise.

        In fact, I got the distinct impression that he was unwilling to even consider such a future for Canada. Too bad, could have been fun! Rightist Canadian politicians will perhaps be musing the prospect of bribes emanating from T – the Canadian election looms & the right seem likely to win power again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2025_Canadian_federal_election

        The amiable-looking dude likely to become Canada's PM soon is aspirational:

        On February 5, 2022, Poilievre implicitly declared his intention to run in the leadership election, stating "I'm running for Prime Minister". Political commentators and journalists described Poilievre as the frontrunner in the leadership race. Poilievre's campaign was described as being centred on freedom and reducing the cost of living. He stated his desire to make Canada the "freest country in the world". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Poilievre

        Free of Trump! https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/federal-conservative-leader-responds-to-unjustified-us-tariffs-in-vancouver/

        “Canada will never be the 51st state.”

        His wife is from Venezuela. The election is scheduled for October but could happen earlier if the Liberal govt decides to bring it forward. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Canadian_federal_election

  4. Morrissey 4
    3 February 2025 at 10:22 am

    How many of these criminals are hitchhiking around our country right now?

    https://x.com/MarRob10114233/status/1886156762476122258

    • David 4.1
      3 February 2025 at 1:00 pm

      There is a possibility that there maybe one or two, but it is highly unlikely.

      I know for certain we have a number of people who have beaten toddlers to death, and they have yet to be charged. It’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black

      • Morrissey 4.1.1
        3 February 2025 at 2:49 pm

        There is a possibility that there maybe one or two, but it is highly unlikely.

        If there are IOF personnel here, they are almost certain to have committed, or passively assented, to the horrors that that "soldier" is attesting to.

        I know for certain we have a number of people who have beaten toddlers to death, and they have yet to be charged.

        We have no one, let alone "a number of people", that has inflicted the horrors that that IOF fellow owns up to in that disgusting video,

        It’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black

        ??? There is no equivalence between isolated instances child abuse, however terrible they are, and a state which instructs its forces to carry out a genocide.

        • Belladonna 4.1.1.1
          3 February 2025 at 3:37 pm

          There is, however, an absolute equivalent between an individual who murders a child – under the circumstances that you're referring to in the IDF video ; and the individuals who are NZ citizens who have systematically tortured and murdered children in their care – and/or covered up for those who did. The long list of shameful child-murder in NZ gives us nothing to be proud about.

          • Morrissey 4.1.1.1.1
            3 February 2025 at 4:23 pm

            There is a world of difference. How many children are deliberately and systematically killed in New Zealand? Can you point to one instance of a New Zealand government minister dehumanising a race of people and sending agents of the state to kill them and their families, and raze their homes and communities?

            • Populuxe 4.1.1.1.1.1
              3 February 2025 at 4:33 pm

              It's easier to just neglect them to death, in which case just about every National Party minister appointed a Welfare portfolio in the last 40 years, with a dishonourable mention for the fourth Labour Government when Rogernomics got into full swing.

            • Belladonna 4.1.1.1.1.2
              3 February 2025 at 4:47 pm

              Sorry, I regard the systematic torture, abuse and murder of children by the people who are supposed to be their primary caregivers and protectors as considerably worse.

              And the crimes are regularly reported in the papers. As is the failure of their murderers to be brought to justice.

              But, hey, you do you.

          • Nic the NZer 4.1.1.1.2
            3 February 2025 at 9:31 pm

            You are drawing an equivalence in that the NZ govt is apparently prosecuting neither class of child killers (even despite its legal obligations to do so in both cases).

            • Belladonna 4.1.1.1.2.1
              3 February 2025 at 10:02 pm

              I don't believe that NZ has the legal right or responsibility to prosecute IDF soldiers, at all. They are not NZ citizens, nor were any of the killings committed here, nor have they actually been convicted or indicted for any crimes at all (if they had, then we may be liable to return them to face justice – but given the pace of our legal system, then they might be here for decades, cf Dotcom!).

              Nor does NZ have the legal right or responsibility to prosecute Sudanese, Russian or Syrian soldiers, for crimes committed in those wars.

              We do have the legal right and responsibility to prosecute NZ child murderers. But our current legal system seems to be more concerned with the rights of the criminals, than those of the victims.

              • Nic the NZer …
                3 February 2025 at 11:08 pm

                NZ has the same obligation to prosecute criminals of foreign armies as other countries have. Thats, for example, one of the obligations of NZ being a member of the ICC.

                • Belladonna …
                  4 February 2025 at 9:42 am

                  Point is that members of the IDF are not criminals. They haven't been charged in any court (ICC or otherwise), let alone convicted.

                  Suggest you stop putting the cart before the horse.

                  • weka …
                    4 February 2025 at 11:25 am

                    the degree to which lefties are willing to dispense with convention is a problem.

                    • PsyclingLeft.Always …
                      4 February 2025 at 11:41 am

                      the degree to which lefties are willing to dispense with convention is a problem.

                      lefties. As in all lefties? Some lefties? How many?

                    • weka []
                      4 February 2025 at 3:10 pm

                      two on TS in the past day or so. Muttonbird was the other, arguing that NZ should refuse visas to Israeli citizens on the basis of them being in the military, and the inference that border control could just do this as a moral action.

                      The Palestinian group that wants people to help hunt down Israeli citizens in NZ on the basis of them being in the military would be another example.

                      The motivation is understandable. Throwing out principles isn’t.

                  • Nic the NZer …
                    6 February 2025 at 5:48 pm

                    You're the only one getting ahead of things here. Yes, NZ has an obligation to try IDF soldiers who arrive here where there is reasonable evidence they have committed war crimes. That doesn't merely include those directly on the arrest list of the Hague.

                    For some reason you want to get ahead of that and just not prosecute them.

                    • Belladonna …
                      10 February 2025 at 9:46 am

                      I think that you're the one getting ahead of yourself. There is no 'reasonable evidence' that any individual Israeli soldier has committed war crimes, when they apply for a NZ visa, and visit this country as a tourist.
                      It would require an in-depth investigation off-shore to establish individual guilt (or, innocence). Quite frankly, I think our NZ police have better things to do.

                • Belladonna …
                  4 February 2025 at 9:44 am

                  Evidence that individual members of the IDF, who have not yet been charged, let alone convicted of any crime, are currently covered under any of the provisions of this act?

                  I won't hold my breath….

                  • Populuxe …
                    4 February 2025 at 10:07 am

                    The ICC has declared war crimes to have been committed in Palestine and issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. If individuals enter our jurisdiction that the authorities have reasonable suspicion of having been directly involved in those events, our own laws, independently of the ICC itself, come into play.
                    This would apply equally to Hamas.

                    • Belladonna …
                      4 February 2025 at 11:04 am

                      I'm sure that if Netanyahu or Gallant come to NZ – that the provisions you're referring to may well come into play.

                      However, that is not the case. You're proposing that all IDF soldiers should be treated as war criminals. And how do you define 'reasonable suspicion'? Do you propose that the NZ police carry out an extensive overseas investigation in every case? Or simply adopt your 'tarred by association' definition?

                      In any case, the number of potential criminals who also choose to visit NZ is tiny. Personally, I'd rather police and legislative effort went into dealing with our home-grown murderers.

                    • Populuxe …
                      4 February 2025 at 11:11 am

                      No, I'm proposing that if there is reason for suspicion they should be investigated and then, if appropriate, arrested.

                    • Belladonna …
                      10 February 2025 at 9:49 am

                      Your 'reason for suspicion' appears to be that they are (or have been) IDF personnel. Anything else would require an in-depth investigation – which is way outside the remit of our police force.

                      It's simply another way to attempt to ban Israelis from visiting NZ. If that is your goal, be up-front – and just propose this.

                    • Populuxe …
                      10 February 2025 at 11:08 am

                      Well duh. If any military force, paramilitary force, or political party has been extensively documented as having committed a multiple human rights abuses and war crimes, one would generally take a closer look at its individual members, or am I being hopelessly naive?

        • Drowsy M. Kram 4.1.1.2
          3 February 2025 at 4:09 pm

          ??? There is no equivalence between isolated instances child abuse, however terrible they are, and a state which instructs its forces to carry out a genocide.

          Imho, it's the scale of state-sanctioned killing of Gazan infants that sets IDF actions apart from the few NZ citizens who have killed children. Child abuse, otoh, is much more widespread.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Jago#Sexual_abuse_conviction

          For me, this report continues to be difficult to forget, or minimise.

          The bloodiest face of its genocide: Israel has killed 2,100 Palestinian infants and toddlers in Gaza [14 Aug 2024]

          • Morrissey 4.1.1.2.1
            3 February 2025 at 4:26 pm

            Imho, it's the scale of state-sanctioned killing of Gazan infants that sets IDF actions apart…

            It's the scale and the intent. When a child is killed in New Zealand, it is not the result of our government sending people in to that child's community to destroy it.

            • Belladonna 4.1.1.2.1.1
              3 February 2025 at 4:55 pm

              No, it's the result of the child's own family and/or caregivers deliberately abusing, torturing and murdering them.

              Sorry. I don't expect that the State will actively care about each individual. I do expect that their own family, will.

              Yes. It's tragic that children have been killed in Gaza. It's tragic that children have been killed in Ukraine. It's tragic that children have been killed in Sudan. These are wars. People die. The 'other side' in this kind of internecine conflict have little interest in the human rights of their opponents.

            • gsays 4.1.1.2.1.2
              3 February 2025 at 5:25 pm

              C'mon Mozza, it is beyond denial the horrific actions of the IDF, the Israeli government and their US government enablers.

              I get the point you are trying to make about soldiers and visas.

              At the same time, we live in a country that has a heart breakingly high youth suicide rate and we are world leaders in abuse, neglect and murder of our children.

              What really shreds my undies is we have senior public officials, sitting MPs and ministers of the crown who actively denied, covered up and used all the state's powers to deny justice to the thousands that had the misfortune to end up in state care. Solicitor General and Attorney General to name two.

              From the outside, they appear to have gotten away with it, scot free.

              For me, that is more outrageous.

              But it is ok coz Luxon apologised.

        • David 4.1.1.3
          3 February 2025 at 5:28 pm

          Morrissey, here in NZ, there are most likely far more child abusers wandering around, who have not been brought to justice, than tourists from Israel who have visited NZ over the past few years. Of those Israelis who have visited NZ, there is a possibility that one or two may have in some way been involved in war crimes, but it’s probably highly unlikely. Not far from where my parents live, a toddler was beaten to death, the people who know what happened are still not cooperating with the police, no one has been held to account. This is probably a far more pressing issue, than harassment of tourists who may look like an Israeli

    • Psycho Milt 4.2
      3 February 2025 at 5:51 pm

      If only we still had The Disinformation Project to debunk the stories that the simple-minded take from Facebook, imagining it's news.

  5. SPC 5
    3 February 2025 at 10:29 am

    The business talk is that we have been risk averse.

    Sure we have allowed people invest in the sure thing the property market for untaxed CG.

    Do they have any plans, to change this?

    Landlords write the tenancy terms (removing those who ask questions). Landlords do not get checked for compliance with standards. They can claim their interest cost against rent income. The bright-line test is back at 2 years. Any less and they would be investigated for being professional "doing uppers".

    So no.

    The current narrative.

    After spending the past two years talking a lot about getting New Zealand back on track, the Government has realised in doing so, it forgot to mention the track needs to be a growth one.Now it's making up for lost time, rolling out economy-related announcements – no matter how tenuously linked they may be to long-term economic growth.But if the Government is serious about growth, it must, at the very least, lead a conversation about something NZ is not very good at talking about: risk. Culturally, NZ is too risk-averse.

    Earthquake standards, building in a flood zone – tell it to insurance companies.

    https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/economy/risk-is-a-four-letter-word-in-nz-new-zealand-incs-fear-of-failure

  6. alwyn 6
    3 February 2025 at 10:30 am

    What on earth is going on at the Stats Department?

    On Friday they announced that the report on activities at the Manurewa Marae during the Census would be released today. Then, just two and a half hours later they said that that would not happen and that the new date would be announced within the coming weeks. That isn't the date for the release of the report. It is just the date on which they propose to tell us the date.

    Are they just trying to put the whole affair of until we are past the demo season at Waitangi?

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/540693/manurewa-marae-inquiry-report-delayed-again

    • Chris 6.1
      3 February 2025 at 11:06 am

      They probably found nothing to report so yes, they wouldn't be wanting to release anything pro-Maori this week.

    • bwaghorn 6.2
      3 February 2025 at 11:06 am

      Must have the same lawyer as the pedo protecting act party. !!!

      Sarc/

      • David 6.2.1
        3 February 2025 at 1:06 pm

        I find it hard to believe that any political party would protect pedophiles. Name suppression is a matter for the courts, not politicians or political parties.

        • joe90 6.2.1.1
          3 February 2025 at 1:20 pm

          I find it hard to believe that any political party would protect pedophiles.

          A former young act VP has stated publicly that it was known in 2020 that the party had a pedophile problem.

          • Belladonna 6.2.1.1.1
            3 February 2025 at 3:40 pm

            And did this person take any action? Talk to the police? Explicitly raise the issue in a documented way with party leadership? Or are they personally complicit in the silence. And, if so, what reparation to the victims are they, personally, making?

        • Populuxe 6.2.1.2
          3 February 2025 at 1:37 pm

          I find it hard to believe that any political party would protect pedophiles.

          History and beltway watercooler talk would beg to differ.

          • David 6.2.1.2.1
            3 February 2025 at 1:55 pm

            I’ve heard plenty of rumours around the water cooler, and outside of work, few of them have been true. If you have evidence of any organisation or person protecting a pedophile, or any other criminal, I suggest that you contact the police, posting on social media suggests that you are more interested in spreading rumours than actually doing something

            • Populuxe 6.2.1.2.1.1
              3 February 2025 at 4:19 pm

              And how, pray, does one spread rumours when one doesn't mention names, political parties, or even countries?

              • David …
                3 February 2025 at 9:04 pm

                Outside of government departments or city councils. gossip and rumours are about the latest series on Netflix, sports, or whatever one got up on the weekend. Occasionally there maybe something juicy but generally harmless, like Sharon in accounts is dating Brad from sales

                • Populuxe …
                  3 February 2025 at 9:17 pm

                  Hence the reference to "beltway" but as I really have no interest in furthering this conversation, I'll leave it there.

          • alwyn 6.2.1.2.2
            3 February 2025 at 6:54 pm

            "beltway"? "watercooler"?

            Where do you live? The only beltway I am aware of is a ring road around Washington DC (I 495) and I've never seen a watercooler other than in an office in the USA.

    • Matiri 6.3
      3 February 2025 at 11:32 am

      New minister is Shane Reti after his demotion from Health ….

    • Muttonbird 6.4
      3 February 2025 at 11:40 am

      Government aligned and appointed, Sir Brian Roche, fails at the first hurdle. My guess is he tried to force the release of the report after a word in the ear from someone in government, but the agencies told him stuff off.

      • Shanreagh 6.4.1
        3 February 2025 at 2:14 pm

        I clicked on the link MB and was confronted with this as the first sentence….

        'Sir Brian Roche said the public service engaged in too many meetings, had too many management layers and didn’t focus enough on outcomes.'

        I didn't read any further as I cannot beat the relevance of the Mandy Rice Davies quote in the Profumo case

        'Well he would say that wouldn't he'

        Disclaimer: I worked with Brian Roche a couple of times in the past and he was always a breath of fresh air and competent in his specialist fields, charming and very able to effect compromises etc. I think what has happened is that he has perhaps been promoted beyond his competency, that competence in a specialist field has been mistaken for competence in across management in the PS. They do not universally follow. As a long term PS I have seen it happen often.

        I am becoming more in favour of following the guidance set out in Kenny Rogers' The Gambler as a way to manage/get ahead/assess options ….

  7. Dennis Frank 7
    3 February 2025 at 10:44 am

    The empire strikes back: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/02/business/trump-economy-tariff-mexico-canada-china/index.html

    “This may be the biggest own-goal yet,” Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told CNN in a phone interview. “This is a huge gamble. It’s a recipe for slowing down the economy and increasing inflation.”

    The Wall Street Journal went a step further, publishing a scathing op-ed on Saturday titled: “The Dumbest Trade War in History.” The op-ed argued that Trump’s justification for an “economic assault” on Canada and Mexico “makes no sense” and warned the strategy could end in disaster.

    Trump will need to placate the imperial globalists on Wall St, so he must trot out a public intellectual from the ivy league to make sense of his policy. He & his advisors may not be aware of this tactical necessity. They may see his Republican base as main street, biased against Wall St. If so, they will deem the market a sideshow – an error of judgment which could eventually prove senior fellow Mary right in assuming it will become an own-goal. Spooking market reef fish often gets them into escape mode real fast: a fraction of a second, a blink, and they're gone.

  8. Muttonbird 8
    3 February 2025 at 11:53 am

    The voting down of David Seymour's racist principles bill later this year can be seen as a vote of no confidence in Seymour and ACT. 91% of MPs will be voting against his divisive bill which is an almost unanimous rejection of his dangerous and unpopular ideas.

    Should he resign, or be pressured to resign?

    • tWig 8.1
      3 February 2025 at 11:58 am

      I thought the Bill would be denied a second reading. Therefore, no vote. His plan is to force it via a referendum.

      • Muttonbird 8.1.1
        3 February 2025 at 1:19 pm

        I believe it either passes or fails when it's returned to parliament for the second reading??? That's the "denied" part.

        I don’t think it’s a conscience vote because Luxon then risks losing the confidence of the house and it’s a political issue, not one of conscience.

        So, 91% of the country via the house of representatives oppose this cancerous bill and I think Rimmer should have to resign.

    • Ad 8.2
      3 February 2025 at 11:59 am

      He will happily sit on 15-18% polling and his supporters will be delighted.

    • Rolling-on-Gravel 8.3
      3 February 2025 at 4:32 pm

      Yes, Seymour should resign.

      I have had gutsful of him and what he is doing. He and his wretched party positively absolutely should go. Before yesterday.

      They are actively harming us all in New Zealand.

  9. Dennis Frank 9
    3 February 2025 at 11:56 am

    Took about a day for Musk agents to discover naughty behaviour by deep state agents:

    "The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once," Musk, the chair of DOGE, posted early Saturday morning to X. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/musk-rips-fraudulent-treasury-payments-reports-mount-doge-has-access-federal-payment-system

    In accord with legal tradition we must therefore wait many years until those culpable are prosecuted. White collar, you know. Privileged.

    • Populuxe 9.1
      3 February 2025 at 12:53 pm

      The only people in that scenario in need of prosecution are Musk and his flunkies who, having no Congressional oversight, have no authority to access those files.

      • Dennis Frank 9.1.1
        3 February 2025 at 1:14 pm

        You really believe the US president lacks the authority to investigate govt systems?? If so, you could prove the point by citing relevant laws. If you find any, do let us know. If T & M are indeed operating illegally, the Dems may notice. They could then ask one of those leftist tech bro billionaires to fund a prosecution of the two.

        The case would proceed to the Supreme Court eventually, to judgment on the president's executive authority. That could prove you right!

        • Populuxe 9.1.1.1
          3 February 2025 at 1:34 pm

          The US President can appoint advisory commissions. Doge is, at best, one of those. It is not a Federal Executive Department, which can only be created by Congress, and therefor has no authority to interfere with genuine Federal Executive Departments because that would be the President unilaterally constraining the authority of Congress, which is unconstitutional. So no, the US President lacks the authority to investigate government systems. That is the purview of Congress.

          • Dennis Frank 9.1.1.1.1
            3 February 2025 at 2:17 pm

            That's interesting, thanks. It does raise the question of what T's legal advisor is smoking, huh? Not to mention viability of any consequent prosecutions of state agents. I'll watch this space awhile to get a sense of the unreality…

          • SPC 9.1.1.1.2
            3 February 2025 at 6:28 pm

            If the GOP has bent the knee to POTUS, then Congress will just rubber stamp the executive orders and SCOTUS will cite the supremacy of POTUS if there is legal challenge.

            There is nothing left of "Edmund Burke" in the GOP, the GOP is no longer in defence of the constitution, but the Jan 6 coup against it.

    • joe90 9.2
      3 February 2025 at 1:07 pm

      Or it could be just another Musk lie like the one he told about Biden supposedly sending $50 million in condoms to Gaza.

      //

      While Leavitt did not offer any evidence to support this claim, and was not pressed to by reporters, the idea that the United States government planned to spend $50m to send condoms to Gaza quickly went viral, with an assist from Musk himself.

      The Fox pundit Jesse Watters even claimed that the condoms were being used by Hamas militants as balloons to float explosives into Israel.

      A review of the available evidence, however, suggests that the claim is almost certainly not true.

      According to a comprehensive report issued in September by the US Agency for International Development (USAid), not a penny of the $60.8m in contraceptive and condom shipments funded by the US in the past year went to Gaza. In fact, the accounting shows, there were no condoms sent to any part of the Middle East, and just one small shipment, $45,680 in oral and injectable contraceptives, was sent to the region, all of it distributed to the government of Jordan.

      For the financial year 2023, the most recent for which data is available, only about $7m worth of condoms were distributed globally by USAid, and the vast majority of family-planning funds, 89%, were spent on programs in Africa.

      As Dan Evon of the non-profit News Literacy Project points out: “It’s also worth noting that this is not a Biden program. Trump, too, spent funds on sending contraceptives around the globe. In 2019, about $40m was spent on contraceptives by the Trump administration”

      https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/jan/28/donald-trump-executive-orders-transgender-troops-dei-covid-us-politics-live

      • Psycho Milt 9.2.1
        3 February 2025 at 2:23 pm

        That one was just egregious. No fact-checking really necessary on a claim the US govt sent tens of millions of condoms to a population of 2 million people who think babies are a blessing from God.

        • Jenny 9.2.1.1
          3 February 2025 at 6:43 pm

          '

          "….the US govt sent tens of millions of condoms to a population of 2 million people…."

          According to Hannah Arendt the point of propaganda is not to make you believe lies, the point of propaganda is to flood the information sphere with bullshit, so people don't know what to believe

        • Morrissey 9.2.1.2
          3 February 2025 at 6:54 pm

          "Condoms" in this case is clearly a euphemism for bullets.

  10. tWig 10
    3 February 2025 at 11:57 am

    I thought the Bill would be denied a second reading. Therefore, no vote.

  11. adam 11
    3 February 2025 at 12:24 pm

    Great rank about why working people are getting shafted in the US.

  12. Ad 12
    3 February 2025 at 2:24 pm

    So I'll confess to being a James Carville fan, and oboy he doesn't hold back on the failed Harris campaign and why the DEmocrats lost so hard. In particular that they should have had a primary and got someone a whole lot better.

    https://www.salon.com/2025/02/02/seventh-string-qb-carville-calls-harris-a-benchwarmer-trotted-out-for-super-bowl/

    And his solutions are pretty simple: stop being polite to the Republicans, go populist and put up popular motions that redefine the Democrats in the public mind, be expansive not defensive, and run the fuckers down.

    • Dennis Frank 12.1
      3 February 2025 at 2:37 pm

      Having a primary seems a no-brainer given Biden's series of performance failures. Inexplicably stupid of the Dems to have ruled one out!!

      That said, I do feel Biden did surprising well overall, even if only as a placeholder, although I'm sympathetic to the loathing some onsite here often express. Morality is such an immensely difficult thing for mainstreamers to grasp.

      • alwyn 12.1.1
        3 February 2025 at 6:47 pm

        It was too late to hold a primary of any kind. Biden didn't stand down until 21 July, when the election itself was underway. He only got forced out then because of his dreadful performance in the debate with Donald Trump on 27 June.

        Even after that fiasco of a debate it took him another month to quit. He should have announced, in January 2023 say, that he was going to be a single term President and would not run in 2024. That would have given his party a chance to come up with a decent candidate and not get stuck at the end with the hapless Harris.

        One should remember that Harris had been such an appalling candidate in 2020 that she had quit the race on December 3 2019.

        It was far to late to try and run a whole string of state primaries by the time that Biden quit. After all in 2020 all the primaries were held by very early July and Biden in fact had won the nomination by June 6 when he went over half the delegate count.

        • Dennis Frank 12.1.1.1
          3 February 2025 at 7:55 pm

          Well, you may indeed be simulating their state of mind accurately but I'm the guy who raps a knuckle on their forehead & asks "Anybody home?"

          I mean, even if a geriatric comes across lucid most of the time, you still got a geriatric. Falling down at random moments tends to remind viewers of that.

          Now if I were a political consultant, I'd give the buggers free advice: People want faith in the future. You don't get it by fronting someone almost dead.

        • Belladonna 12.1.1.2
          3 February 2025 at 9:24 pm

          I believe there was also the issue of the campaign chest – which was overwhelmingly promised to the Biden campaign. Some of that money was for the Democratic campaign as a whole – but an awful lot was personal to the Biden/Harris ticket.

          The legal opinion was that Harris could use this (since she was on the Biden ticket), but another candidate would have had to begin fundraising from scratch. : Note: the right for Harris to use the money, at all, was vigorously contested by Trump.

          https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/can-harris-use-bidens-campaign-money

    • Michael Scott 12.2
      3 February 2025 at 2:40 pm

      I don't think there is any way back for the Democrats if Trump retains the working class vote. And he will if his policies grow jobs and make their lives better.

      He will demolish the first pillar of neoliberalism (free trade) if he implements the tarrifs and put a serious dent in globalisation.

      Who would have thought that a right wing populist would be the one to dismantle the neolib orthodoxy.

      I envisaged the left wing populists Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren as more likely.

      • SPC 12.2.1
        3 February 2025 at 6:35 pm

        We think these concerns reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of America’s electorate. Most conversations about the “working class” rely on disparate definitions of this group — the lack of a four-year college degree, union membership, a blue-collar or manufacturing job. Although each of these criteria represents a reasonable demarcation of the working class, the problem with using them interchangeably is that they refer to distinct groups of voters who face different challenges and even have conflicting interests.

        https://thehill.com/opinion/4969356-class-voters-swing-states/

        • Michael Scott 12.2.1.1
          3 February 2025 at 7:33 pm

          In 2018 31% of people in the US described themselves as working class according to Wikipedia.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_class_in_the_United_States#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20class%20model,described%20themselves%20as%20working%20class.

          But even if only 10% continue to support the GOP (along with their current supporters) they retain power.

          My point is that if Trump continues with tariffs this will be the first serious disruption to neoliberalism and globalism since its introduction. And it comes from the right.

          Maybe their is an alternative.

          • weka 12.2.1.1.1
            3 February 2025 at 7:39 pm

            it's a similar dynamic as Brexit. Superficially, it looks like a move away from neoliberalism. But in the US, the move is towards authoritarianism. As much as I want to see an end to neoliberalism, tbis ain't it.

            Also worth remembering, the right couldn't get and maintain enough power under neoliberal democracies. NZ is on a similar path, we still have time to stop and turn in a different direction.

          • Descendant Of Smith 12.2.1.1.2
            3 February 2025 at 11:29 pm

            I remember when John Key made the first decent lift in sole parent benefits for a long time.

            Labour couldn't even implement WEAG.

        • Belladonna 12.2.1.2
          3 February 2025 at 9:28 pm

          They may indeed have different (or even conflicting) interests – but I don't think that any of them sees themselves represented by the Democrats. Which is rather the point.

          I don't know if Trump (or whoever is the Republican nominee in the next election) – can hold these working class voters. I'd say the jury is out on whether they feel that they'll be better off under Trump than Biden. But the issue is that they don't see the Dems as a viable alternative.

    • Belladonna 12.3
      3 February 2025 at 9:41 pm

      Do you think that their election of Ken Martin indicates that they're changing strategies?
      On the one hand, he's talking about going low, and directly attacking Trump. On the other, he's an absolute member of the party machine. And, on the gripping hand, the big donors wanted a different party leader.

      https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/01/ken-martin-dnc-democrats-00201955

  13. Matiri 13
    3 February 2025 at 3:45 pm

    Just watched three RNZAF Hercules fly over my small South Island town on their final journey before retirement. Big beautiful noisy beasts!

    • gsays 13.1
      3 February 2025 at 5:35 pm

      As a youngster fresh out of school and in my first year in the Army, we did a 10 day jungle exercise in F1J1 (as we learned to call it).

      Transport was by C130. Ear muffs were handed out and we were told that depending on the height we attain, it may rain in the hold.

    • tWig 13.2
      3 February 2025 at 6:25 pm

      Ooh, heard them in my supermarket round 2.15.

    • SPC 13.3
      3 February 2025 at 6:31 pm

      This government cannot even afford to convert one into a fire fighting plane.

      • Scud 13.3.1
        3 February 2025 at 8:31 pm

        The old RNZAF Super E's Or H Model C-130's are rooted, as all 5 basically nearly at the end of their designed Flying Hour's.

        Basically Lockheed & RNZAF can't actually guarantee how long they will flying or literally fall out of the Sky pass their designed flying hrs as the RNZAF have literally flogged them like a dead horse because every NZG since the 90's, Treasury & Taxpayers didn't want to pay for their replacement!

        According to Ron Mark through various channels, has said that Robbo was only prepared to buy 3 new J Model's until Ronnie threatened to resign from Government! Even though there is 2-3 papers by the RNZAF & MoD stating the RNZAF actually needs 8-9 C130's too cover all its Specific & Implied mandated NZG Tasks since the retirement of the old Andover Fleet in the 90's!

        I actually agree with your suggestion that the RNZAF, MoD along with Fire, CD & DoC buy 3 RORO Fire Bomber modules for the C130 J.

        But they would also need to buy an additional 3-5 J Model's IOT extend the Flying Hrs/ Airframe Fatigue life across the C-130 J Fleet to make it viable in order for the Taxpayer to get a long term return on their money as anything less is pissing money up the wall like a Baggie on post deployment leave LoL.

  14. Jenny 14
    3 February 2025 at 4:10 pm

    The modern version of the The White Rose


    • Morrissey 14.1
      3 February 2025 at 9:25 pm

      Thanks Jenny. In New Zealand and Australia, too, Jews with a commitment to human rights are speaking out, and no doubt being abused for their activism,,,,

      Why Is Israel’s Head Of Infantry Doctrine Addressing A Jewish Community Leadership Gathering?

      Friday, 31 January 2025, 3:20 pm
      Press Release: Alternative Jewish Voices

      Why is Israel’s head of infantry doctrine addressing a Union for Progressive Judaism (UPJ) leadership gathering? With genocide charges pending in international court, why is the UPJ’s 2025 fundraising campaign being led by an IDF major general?

      The Union for Progressive Judaism (UPJ) is the Australian-based umbrella for New Zealand and Australian synagogues in the Progressive stream of Jewish religion. Over the past 15 months, the UPJ has folded an uncritical militarism into its vision of the Israel which it supports.

      Alternative Jewish Voices (AJV), a collective of anti-Zionist New Zealand Jews, is voicing their alarm.

      In January 2025, the UPJ advertised a leadership forum for emerging Jewish community leaders. Among the featured speakers was Colonel Yaron Simsolo, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) head of infantry doctrine, pictured in his uniform. After some internal resistance, the event was re-branded in warm yellows as a “Shabbat gathering – a weekend with the UPJ”. Colonel Yaron’s image was removed, although he remains part of the event. The current UPJ newsletter also announces that an IDF major general will spearhead its 2025 fundraising appeal for Israel. …

      https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2501/S00096/why-is-israels-head-of-infantry-doctrine-addressing-a-jewish-community-leadership-gathering.htm

  15. Psycho Milt 15
    3 February 2025 at 6:23 pm

    Marama Davidson back on the job, sporting a fine looking crewcut. It would be nice if the crewcut were a hairdressing choice rather than a medical necessity, but it's great to see she's back and looking well.

    https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/02/01/marama-davidson-announces-her-return-to-politics/

    • weka 15.1
      3 February 2025 at 10:18 pm

      here's hoping the Greens get a straight run for a bit.

    • Obtrectator 15.2
      3 February 2025 at 10:58 pm

      I thought Marama looked terrific with that 'do, and the picture of health all round. Fingers crossed that it's not just on the surface. Amen to Weka's comment as well.

  16. joe90 16
    3 February 2025 at 7:00 pm

    but her emails…

    //

    Elon Musk’s takeover of federal government infrastructure is ongoing, and at the center of things is a coterie of engineers who are barely out of—and in at least one case, purportedly still in—college. Most have connections to Musk, and at least two have connections to Musk’s longtime associate Peter Thiel, a cofounder and chair of the analytics firm and government contractor Palantir who has long expressed opposition to democracy.

    WIRED has identified six young men—all apparently between the ages of 19 and 24, according to public databases, their online presences, and other records—who have little to no government experience and are now playing critical roles in Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project, tasked by executive order with “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” The engineers all hold nebulous job titles within DOGE, and at least one appears to be working as a volunteer.

    The engineers are Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran. None have responded to requests for comment from WIRED. Representatives from OPM, GSA, and DOGE did not respond to requests for comment.

    https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-government-young-engineers/

    • joe90 16.1
      3 February 2025 at 7:09 pm

      Gavin Kliger,

      Charming character.

      /

      Josh Marshall

      ‪@joshtpm.bsky.social‬

      With Musk's operatives now controlling key nodes of federal govt power, to know who we're dealing with, here's a substack post from one of them describing how the Deep State prevented Matt Gaetz from becoming AG substack.com/home/post/p-…

      https://bsky.app/profile/joshtpm.bsky.social/post/3lha4u3sawc2j

      The Trap: How to Frame a Congressman

      The deep state's first move was textbook: open a federal sex trafficking investigation based solely on Greenberg's manufactured evidence and coached testimony. But the DOJ knew what they had would never survive real scrutiny in a courtroom – Greenberg's manipulation of official records had poisoned any chance of prosecution. They needed more, and they needed it fast. Their solution was a classic deep state tactic: cast a wider net, target the family, and go fishing for anything that might stick.

      The opening gambit wasn't a rogue operation by opportunists, but rather a carefully crafted deep state ploy leveraging their own buried failures. Bob Kent, a former Air Force intelligence officer who had mysteriously learned of the confidential DOJ investigation, approached Matt's father Don Gaetz—former President of the Florida Senate—with an astounding proposition: $25 million for a last-ditch rescue mission for Bob Levinson (whom the deep state knew was long dead), in exchange for a guaranteed presidential pardon for Matt.

      https://weeklybyte.substack.com/p/the-curious-case-of-matt-gaetz-how

      • Muttonbird 16.1.1
        3 February 2025 at 8:38 pm

        • Jenny 16.1.1.1
          4 February 2025 at 9:04 am

          Mussolini, and Hirohito's image. could be just as easily photo shopped onto the image of Musk to give the same warning.

          The corporate State was not solely a German thing:

          The Corporate State was an economic and political system established by Benito Mussolini in Fascist Italy during the 1920s and 1930s…….

          ……During the 1930s, Japan established close ties with the fascist governments of Germany and Italy, aligning themselves to prepare for a new global order….

          https://edukemy.com/blog/corporate-state-under-benito-mussolini-upsc-world-history-notes/

          Corporate statism, state corporatism, or simply corporatism, is a political culture and a form of corporatism the proponents of which claim or believe that corporate groups should form the basis of society and the state.

          Corporate statism – Wikipedia

        • Jenny 16.1.1.2
          4 February 2025 at 9:37 am

          If politics is concentrated economics, and imperialism is concentrated politics.

          What does it mean for us, if the US threatens its Western allies economies through 'America First' US imposed tariffs

          Makes me wonder; Will our security and military services continue to give their unquestioning, unflinching support to US imperialism?