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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
….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.
“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
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
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
??? 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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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?
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.
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?
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
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
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.
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.
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 ….
“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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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…
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.
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”
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.
"….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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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. …
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.
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.
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.
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-…
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.
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….
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.
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and 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). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Stone, Principal Research Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Having dense breasts is a clear risk factor for breast cancer. It can also make cancers hard to spot on mammograms. Yet you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The National Anti-Corruption Commission will finally investigate whether six people referred to it by the royal commission into Robodebt engaged in corrupt conduct. This follows an independent reconsideration by former High Court judge Geoffrey ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University Last week in Europe, the United States sent some very strong messages it is prepared to upend the established global order. US Vice President JD Vance warned a stunned Munich ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank cut official interest rates on Tuesday, the first decrease in four years, saying inflationary pressures are easing “a little more quickly than expected”. However, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Allan Fels, Professor Allan Fels, Professor of Law, Economics and Business at the University of Melbourne and Monash University., The University of Melbourne Australia is creeping towards adding a divestiture power to its Competition and Consumer Act. Under such a law, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arjen Vaartjes, PhD Student, Quantum Physics, UNSW Sydney Dmitriy Rybin / Shutterstock What makes something quantum? This question has kept a small but dedicated fraction of the world’s population – most of them quantum physicists – up at night for decades. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Anne Kenny, Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University Australia’s minister for home affairs announced on Sunday that the federal government has struck a deal with Nauru to “resettle” three non-citizens from what’s come to be known as the “NZYQ cohort”. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Fitzpatrick, Professor in International History, Flinders University (From left to right): Neville Chamberlain, Édouard Daladier, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano before signing the Munich Agreement, which gave the Sudetenland to Germany.German Federal Archives/Wikimedia Commons Ukraine ...
The purpose was to establish the facts and provide an independent assessment of government agency activity in relation to allegations that personal data may have been misused during the 2023 General Election. ...
Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster said he is carefully reviewing the referrals raised in the two reports. That work will be done in the context the Privacy Act and the need to ensure individuals’ rights to privacy is protected and respected. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bhavna Middha, ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University The average Australian household size has decreased from 4.5 people per household in 1911 to 2.5 people in 2024. At the same time, the average house size has increased, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Page Jeffery, Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Sydney suriyachan/Shutterstock When the Australian government passed legislation in November last year banning young people under 16 from social media, it included exemptions for platforms “that are primarily for the purposes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leslie Roberson, Postdoctoral research fellow, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland If you’ve ever been stopped by quarantine officers at the airport, you might think Australia’s international border is locked down like a fortress. But when it comes ...
Duncan Sarkies’ latest novel, Star Gazers, is about the collapse of democracy in a society of alpaca breeders. Here are some things his intensive research revealed. 1 How greed works, psychologicallyYes, I guess I already understood greed, but I could never understand why people who already have everything they ...
The proposed cuts would see only two full time Telehealth data and digital roles, and one Planning, Funding and Outcomes (PFO) role remain, reduced from 17 Telehealth support roles (including vacant roles). Roles proposed to be cut include Telehealth ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling for Ministers to end funding for Te Kurahuna programmes and workshop grifters that have received millions in taxpayer funding, despite the Government’s supposed focus on cutting costs. ...
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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.
The defence rests.
In Luigi Mangione's trial.
The elephant in the room.
Paul Spoonley just about directly addresses it, Jamie Ensor is a little uncomfortable but determined not to blink:
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/
The trade war likely to end neoliberalism starts tomorrow:
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.
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.
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.
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.
The US also has a housing affordability crisis: half of renters cannot afford their rents.
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.
Only a fentamyl problem in the US because of the US company that pushed oxytocin.
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:
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:
Free of Trump! https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/federal-conservative-leader-responds-to-unjustified-us-tariffs-in-vancouver/
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
How many of these criminals are hitchhiking around our country right now?
https://x.com/MarRob10114233/status/1886156762476122258
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
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
the degree to which lefties are willing to dispense with convention is a problem.
lefties. As in all lefties? Some lefties? How many?
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.
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.
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.
Wanna bet?
I give you The International Crimes and International Criminal Court Act 2000
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….
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.
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.
No, I'm proposing that if there is reason for suspicion they should be investigated and then, if appropriate, arrested.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
If only we still had The Disinformation Project to debunk the stories that the simple-minded take from Facebook, imagining it's news.
Twisty BD, placing the 4th Labour govt economic reforms as equivalent to wholesale ethnic cleansing footing by Netanyahu's Israel.
As a surgeon in Gaza, I witnessed hell visited on children.
Footing above a typo.
So you think that IOF fellow was lying, do you?
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.
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
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
They probably found nothing to report so yes, they wouldn't be wanting to release anything pro-Maori this week.
Must have the same lawyer as the pedo protecting act party. !!!
Sarc/
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.
A former young act VP has stated publicly that it was known in 2020 that the party had a pedophile problem.
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?
History and beltway watercooler talk would beg to differ.
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
And how, pray, does one spread rumours when one doesn't mention names, political parties, or even countries?
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
Hence the reference to "beltway" but as I really have no interest in furthering this conversation, I'll leave it there.
"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.
You need to hang out with policy wonks and journalists more.
New minister is Shane Reti after his demotion from Health ….
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.
I clicked on the link MB and was confronted with this as the first sentence….
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 ….
The empire strikes back: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/02/business/trump-economy-tariff-mexico-canada-china/index.html
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.
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?
I thought the Bill would be denied a second reading. Therefore, no vote. His plan is to force it via a referendum.
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.
He will happily sit on 15-18% polling and his supporters will be delighted.
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.
Took about a day for Musk agents to discover naughty behaviour by deep state agents:
In accord with legal tradition we must therefore wait many years until those culpable are prosecuted. White collar, you know. Privileged.
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.
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!
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.
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…
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.
All the more reason for the Dems to pull their thumbs out of their arses.
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
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.
'
"….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
"Condoms" in this case is clearly a euphemism for bullets.
I thought the Bill would be denied a second reading. Therefore, no vote.
Great rank about why working people are getting shafted in the US.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
https://thehill.com/opinion/4969356-class-voters-swing-states/
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.
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.
I remember when John Key made the first decent lift in sole parent benefits for a long time.
Labour couldn't even implement WEAG.
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.
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
Just watched three RNZAF Hercules fly over my small South Island town on their final journey before retirement. Big beautiful noisy beasts!
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.
Ooh, heard them in my supermarket round 2.15.
This government cannot even afford to convert one into a fire fighting plane.
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.
The modern version of the The White Rose
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,,,,
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/
here's hoping the Greens get a straight run for a bit.
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.
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/
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
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:
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
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?