Horrifying read about the billionaire preppers. Basically they want to invent the tech to get away from the rest of us, some even want to cause the apocalypse. Though some want to 'befriend' us, so we don't turn against them.
As a major reader of both history and post-apocalyptic SF – the reality is that these Tech guys won't end up on top in a disaster. The skill-sets they have aren't valuable ones in the event of a true catastrophe. And the resources they've accumulated will be used by others.
There is one word superfluous in the article- at the end of this quote…..
"We judge that this, combined with individuals’ personal grievances, increases the likelihood that individuals will be radicalised and inspired to mobilise to violence, which could happen with little or no intelligence forewarning."
Whats his policy on dead rats? Swallow and bury or decapitate and leave as presents? Second is more honest but generally out of favour with the public.
"Look at what I have brought home for you! And I have even unpacked it and laid out the bits you might want to eat first. No – don't thank me, it was the least I could do".
Emeritus Prof Sir Alan Mark said a resource consent issued by Environment Southland last year should have been publicly notified given the pollution he predicted would occur to the upper Waiau River and therefore to Lake Manapouri.
He wrote to the council asking it to reconsider its decision.
I, along with many others, have great Respect for Sir Alan Mark. He has truly been a Guardian of NZ ecosystems. Fantastic he is putting himself into this !
The GOP strategy for the Congressional elections was outlined for Fathers Day in the USA by Tucker Carlson on Fox News.
1. GOP candidates win school board elections campaigning against race and gender issues being in schools and so this should be the case for Congress.
2. Stress the importance of compliance with law and order (as civil rights are rolled back) under the direction of the new Supreme Court.
3. Border security for the USA (opposing illegal migration) not supporting foreign nations like Ukraine.
4. Linking womens right feminism with childless careers serving corporations
5. Promoting the GOP as one with the cause and service to family
6. Associating families headed by a sole mother with fatherlessness, poverty and crime
To which the Democrats should simply ask would any of the GOP candidates for Congress support a tax credit for families? And of course propose that the tax credit provided during the pandemic and which lowered child poverty be made permanent – thus only be possible with a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.
An issue, the 2005 election was fought over here (Brash attacked the then PM for placing a career before family – the classic Jehu defenestration of a woman in power move). Key of course accepted the WFF tax credit to win power in 2008.
Exactly how to deal with ridiculous comments like “We can’t predict the future. So let’s just not try.” Exactly the bollocks we heard on Brexit. “We don’t know what will happen. Ignore experts. Just believe.”
Vladimir PUT OPTION,catches Europe by big short and the energy markets will contagion into financials as markets open,and analysts start to see a huge risk unwinding (1998 revisited) as governments impose both subsidy for consumers funded by windfall tax's on Generators,who in turn need to be bailed out by governments to meet margin calls,
Default is not an option,as it is intertwined in the financial markets ,a single position of say 100 million,may have been hedged and swaped into 20 different financial commodities with a gross risk of > 1 billion.
There needs to be a substantive untangling of positions to align the physical trades with the real demand.
In the UK both contenders for the PM have withdrawn from lines in the sand statements as the ill wind blows and the BOE whispered in a few ears ( with the pound at risk of parity with the $)
Default is always a possibility,especially with energy trades without physical positions,as with so called electrical retailers in the UK.
With the eurozone and UK there are further risks with currency depreciation ( euro just going under 99c US) for imported commodity's ,the correction maybe for the ECB to hit .75 points on Thursday to stop capital flight.
The positions are always risky as some will be very creative,but always add up exponentially such as LTCM with 4 billion in capital levered into 120 billion in debt through swaps etc.
Truss has painted herself into a corner with tax cuts and NHS reversals,leaving little room for energy (with UK providers in margin calls as well) she became a one trick pony (like the nats) with only a tax cut card platform.
The BOE forecast 13.3% inflation by jan,citicorp reckons 22% the 70's show revisited when the IMF comes for NY dinner.
Now if only the model of car had been posted it would be possible to verify the factual nature of that post. Fortunately no specific electric car companies were hurt in the making of this news item by breitbart media.
Less to do with the plastic nature of the vehicle and challenges in fitting tow points, and more to do with the way the EV has no 'neutral' and the wheels connect to the motor.
Flat-bed tow truck is the only recommended-by-the-manufacturers solution.
"What about towing a depleted EV to the nearest charger? This shouldn’t be done, as most manufacturers recommend against towing electric cars, even when in neutral, due to how the motors are attached to the wheels and their lack of a true neutral gear. To avoid damaging the car, it’ll have to be loaded onto a flat-bed truck instead of being towed by the patrol van of a breakdown company."
Doing a more limited number of things well might just be better than failing at many things simultaneously.
That old classic. With this the wealthy entrench their privilege by ensuring no social progress is possible because, they say, it is impossible to do well.
Talk about small thinking. What if the private sector thought that way? No-one would try anything!
The discredited Business Round Table NZ Initiative risking their dubious reputation to sledge Labour instead of prepping an entrepreneurial solution? How unprofessional.
Pre-emptively, the Government needs to announce what the new levy (or application of the existing levy to a previously exempt income stream) will be used for.
If they're wise, they'll be looking at added tourism support funding from the AirBnB stream (e.g. public toilets in tourist popular, but low population, areas). The uber stream might go to funding public transport subsidies. [You could also look at offsetting GST on PT – but they've been reluctant to look at exemptions in the past]
I believe that Kiwis are more likely to support a new 'tax' if they can see the proceeds going to a relevant area. Certainly for the next couple of years.
They're less likely to gain support if the funding just goes into general revenue.
Yes, some good ideas there on how to sell a policy to the public.
As for "relevant area" for proceeds of GST on AirBnB at source, you couldn't look further than support for renters rights! Government has complained that policing healthy homes standards and policing illegal landlord eviction behaviour is too costly and the burden shall remain with the lowly tenant.
There are fears that the reopening of New Zealand’s borders could lead to a flood of landlords taking their properties off the long-term rental market and offering them to tourists instead.
Short-term rental platforms, such as Airbnb, stand accused of contributing to housing shortages and driving up rents in cities around the world.
In Wellington advocates say a crackdown on unregulated Airbnb-style accommodation could free up hundreds of homes for the under-pressure rental market.
But the prospect of making extra cash by providing Airbnb-style accommodation is attractive to many property owners, particularly given the rising cost of living.
Short precis; seven different property agents acknowledge AirBnB is major influencing problem in the rental sector. Aus/NZ AirBnB rep says, 'nothing to see here, let them eat cake, etc'.
AirBnB and Uber need a good, swift kick in the nuts imo, and I am so proud David Parker is taking the worldwide lead on this.
Chile heavily defeats progressive constitution reform,and retains Pinochet 41 yr old constitution.
A large work of art at 388 pages the over complex tome was to big to succeed.
The 388-article proposed charter sought to put a focus on social issues and gender parity, enshrined rights for the country's Indigenous population and put the environment and climate change centre stage in a country that is the world's top copper producer….
The new constitution would have established autonomous Indigenous territories and recognized a parallel justice system in those areas, although lawmakers would decide how far-reaching that would be.
Britain once risked a reputation as the weak link in the trilateral AUKUS partnership. But now the appointment of an empowered senior official to drive the project forward and a new burst of British parliamentary ...
Australia’s ability to produce basic metals, including copper, lead, zinc, nickel and construction steel, is in jeopardy, with ageing plants struggling against Chinese competition. The multinational commodities company Trafigura has put its Australian operations under ...
There have been recent PPP debacles, both in New Zealand (think Transmission Gully) and globally, with numerous examples across both Australia and Britain of failed projects and extensive litigation by government agencies seeking redress for the failures.Rob Campbell is one of New Zealand’s sharpest critics of PPPs noting that; "There ...
On Twitter on Saturday I indicated that there had been a mistake in my post from last Thursday in which I attempted to step through the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement issues. Making mistakes (there are two) is annoying and I don’t fully understand how I did it (probably too much ...
Indonesia’s armed forces still have a lot of work to do in making proper use of drones. Two major challenges are pilot training and achieving interoperability between the services. Another is overcoming a predilection for ...
The StrategistBy Sandy Juda Pratama, Curie Maharani and Gautama Adi Kusuma
As a living breathing human being, you’ve likely seen the heart-wrenching images from Gaza...homes reduced to rubble, children burnt to cinders, families displaced, and a death toll that’s beyond comprehension. What is going on in Gaza is most definitely a genocide, the suffering is real, and it’s easy to feel ...
Donald Trump, who has called the Chair of the Federal Reserve “a major loser”. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories shortest from our political economy on Tuesday, April 22:US markets slump after Donald Trump threatens the Fed’s independence. China warns its trading partners not to side with the US. Trump says some ...
Last night, the news came through that Pope Francis had passed away at 7:35 am in Rome on Monday, the 21st of April, following a reported stroke and heart failure. Pope Francis. Photo: AP.Despite his obvious ill health, it still came as a shock, following so soon after the Easter ...
The 2024 Independent Intelligence Review found the NIC to be highly capable and performing well. So, it is not a surprise that most of the 67 recommendations are incremental adjustments and small but nevertheless important ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkThe world has made real progress toward tacking climate change in recent years, with spending on clean energy technologies skyrocketing from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars globally over the past decade, and global CO2 emissions plateauing.This has contributed to a reassessment of ...
Hi,I’ve been having a peaceful month of what I’d call “existential dread”, even more aware than usual that — at some point — this all ends.It was very specifically triggered by watching Pantheon, an animated sci-fi show that I’m filing away with all-time greats like Six Feet Under, Watchmen and ...
Once the formalities of honouring the late Pope wrap up in two to three weeks time, the conclave of Cardinals will go into seclusion. Some 253 of the current College of Cardinals can take part in the debate over choosing the next Pope, but only 138 of them are below ...
The National Party government is doubling down on a grim, regressive vision for the future: more prisons, more prisoners, and a society fractured by policies that punish rather than heal. This isn’t just a misstep; it’s a deliberate lurch toward a dystopian future where incarceration is the answer to every ...
The audacity of Don Brash never ceases to amaze. The former National Party and Hobson’s Pledge mouthpiece has now sunk his claws into NZME, the media giant behind the New Zealand Herald and half of our commercial radio stations. Don Brash has snapped up shares in NZME, aligning himself with ...
A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 13, 2025 thru Sat, April 19, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
“What I’d say to you is…” our Prime Minister might typically begin a sentence, when he’s about to obfuscate and attempt to derail the question you really, really want him to answer properly (even once would be okay, Christopher). Questions such as “Why is a literal election promise over ...
Ruth IrwinExponential Economic growth is the driver of Ecological degradation. It is driven by CO2 greenhouse gas emissions through fossil fuel extraction and burning for the plethora of polluting industries. Extreme weather disasters and Climate change will continue to get worse because governments subscribe to the current global economic system, ...
A man on telly tries to tell me what is realBut it's alright, I like the way that feelsAnd everybody singsWe are evolving from night to morningAnd I wanna believe in somethingWriter: Adam Duritz.The world is changing rapidly, over the last year or so, it has been out with the ...
MFB Co-Founder Cecilia Robinson runs Tend HealthcareSummary:Kieran McAnulty calls out National on healthcare lies and says Health Minister Simeon Brown is “dishonest and disingenuous”(video below)McAnulty says negotiation with doctors is standard practice, but this level of disrespect is not, especially when we need and want our valued doctors.National’s $20bn ...
Chris Luxon’s tenure as New Zealand’s Prime Minister has been a masterclass in incompetence, marked by coalition chaos, economic lethargy, verbal gaffes, and a moral compass that seems to point wherever political expediency lies. The former Air New Zealand CEO (how could we forget?) was sold as a steady hand, ...
Has anybody else noticed Cameron Slater still obsessing over Jacinda Ardern? The disgraced Whale Oil blogger seems to have made it his life’s mission to shadow the former Prime Minister of New Zealand like some unhinged stalker lurking in the digital bushes.The man’s obsession with Ardern isn't just unhealthy...it’s downright ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is climate change a net benefit for society? Human-caused climate change has been a net detriment to society as measured by loss of ...
When the National Party hastily announced its “Local Water Done Well” policy, they touted it as the great saviour of New Zealand’s crumbling water infrastructure. But as time goes by it's looking more and more like a planning and fiscal lame duck...and one that’s going to cost ratepayers far more ...
Donald Trump, the orange-hued oligarch, is back at it again, wielding tariffs like a mob boss swinging a lead pipe. His latest economic edict; slapping hefty tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, has the stench of a protectionist shakedown, cooked up in the fevered minds of his sycophantic ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
One pill makes you largerAnd one pill makes you smallAnd the ones that mother gives youDon't do anything at allGo ask AliceWhen she's ten feet tallSongwriter: Grace Wing Slick.Morena, all, and a happy Bicycle Day to you.Today is an unofficial celebration of the dawning of the psychedelic era, commemorating the ...
It’s only been a few months since the Hollywood fires tore through Los Angeles, leaving a trail of devastation, numerous deaths, over 10,000 homes reduced to rubble, and a once glorious film industry on its knees. The Palisades and Eaton fires, fueled by climate-driven dry winds, didn’t just burn houses; ...
Four eighty-year-old books which are still vitally relevant today. Between 1942 and 1945, four refugees from Vienna each published a ground-breaking – seminal – book.* They left their country after Austria was taken over by fascists in 1934 and by Nazi Germany in 1938. Previously they had lived in ‘Red ...
Good Friday, 18th April, 2025: I can at last unveil the Secret Non-Fiction Project. The first complete Latin-to-English translation of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s twelve-book Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem (Disputations Against Divinatory Astrology). Amounting to some 174,000 words, total. Some context is probably in order. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) ...
National MP Hamish Campbell's pathetic attempt to downplay his deep ties to and involvement in the Two by Twos...a secretive religious sect under FBI and NZ Police investigation for child sexual abuse...isn’t just a misstep; it’s a calculated lie that insults the intelligence of every Kiwi voter.Campbell’s claim of being ...
New Zealand First’s Shane Jones has long styled himself as the “Prince of the Provinces,” a champion of regional development and economic growth. But beneath the bluster lies a troubling pattern of behaviour that reeks of cronyism and corruption, undermining the very democracy he claims to serve. Recent revelations and ...
Give me one reason to stay hereAnd I'll turn right back aroundGive me one reason to stay hereAnd I'll turn right back aroundSaid I don't want to leave you lonelyYou got to make me change my mindSongwriters: Tracy Chapman.Morena, and Happy Easter, whether that means to you. Hot cross buns, ...
New Zealand’s housing crisis is a sad indictment on the failures of right wing neoliberalism, and the National Party, under Chris Luxon’s shaky leadership, is trying to simply ignore it. The numbers don’t lie: Census data from 2023 revealed 112,496 Kiwis were severely housing deprived...couch-surfing, car-sleeping, or roughing it on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on a global survey of over 3,000 economists and scientists showing a significant divide in views on green growth; and ...
Simeon Brown, the National Party’s poster child for hubris, consistently over-promises and under-delivers. His track record...marked by policy flip-flops and a dismissive attitude toward expert advice, reveals a politician driven by personal ambition rather than evidence. From transport to health, Brown’s focus seems fixed on protecting National's image, not addressing ...
Open access notables Recent intensified riverine CO2 emission across the Northern Hemisphere permafrost region, Mu et al., Nature Communications:Global warming causes permafrost thawing, transferring large amounts of soil carbon into rivers, which inevitably accelerates riverine CO2 release. However, temporally and spatially explicit variations of riverine CO2 emissions remain unclear, limiting the ...
Once a venomous thorn in New Zealand’s blogosphere, Cathy Odgers, aka Cactus Kate, has slunk into the shadows, her once-sharp quills dulled by the fallout of Dirty Politics.The dishonest attack-blogger, alongside her vile accomplices such as Cameron Slater, were key players in the National Party’s sordid smear campaigns, exposed by Nicky ...
Once upon a time, not so long ago, those who talked of Australian sovereign capability, especially in the technology sector, were generally considered an amusing group of eccentrics. After all, technology ecosystems are global and ...
The ACT Party leader’s latest pet project is bleeding taxpayers dry, with $10 million funneled into seven charter schools for just 215 students. That’s a jaw-dropping $46,500 per student, compared to roughly $9,000 per head in state schools.You’d think Seymour would’ve learned from the last charter school fiasco, but apparently, ...
India navigated relations with the United States quite skilfully during the first Trump administration, better than many other US allies did. Doing so a second time will be more difficult, but India’s strategic awareness and ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi is concerned for low-income workers given new data released by Stats NZ that shows inflation was 2.5% for the year to March 2025, rising from 2.2% in December last year. “The prices of things that people can’t avoid are rising – meaning inflation is rising ...
Last week, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment recommended that forestry be removed from the Emissions Trading Scheme. Its an unfortunate but necessary move, required to prevent the ETS's total collapse in a decade or so. So naturally, National has told him to fuck off, and that they won't be ...
China’s recent naval circumnavigation of Australia has highlighted a pressing need to defend Australia’s air and sea approaches more effectively. Potent as nuclear submarines are, the first Australian boats under AUKUS are at least seven ...
In yesterday’s post I tried to present the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement for 2025-30, as approved by the Minister of Finance and the Bank’s Board, in the context of the previous agreement, and the variation to that agreement signed up to by Grant Robertson a few weeks before the last ...
Australia’s bid to co-host the 31st international climate negotiations (COP31) with Pacific island countries in late 2026 is directly in our national interest. But success will require consultation with the Pacific. For that reason, no ...
Old and outdated buildings being demolished at Wellington Hospital in 2018. The new infrastructure being funded today will not be sufficient for future population size and some will not be built by 2035. File photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from our political economy on Thursday, April 17:Simeon Brown has unveiled ...
The introduction of AI in workplaces can create significant health and safety risks for workers (such as intensification of work, and extreme surveillance) which can significantly impact workers’ mental and physical wellbeing. It is critical that unions and workers are involved in any decision to introduce AI so that ...
Donald Trump’s return to the White House and aggressive posturing is undermining global diplomacy, and New Zealand must stand firm in rejecting his reckless, fascist-driven policies that are dragging the world toward chaos.As a nation with a proud history of peacekeeping and principled foreign policy, we should limit our role ...
Sunday marks three months since Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president. What a ride: the style rude, language raucous, and the results rogue. Beyond manners, rudeness matters because tone signals intent as well as personality. ...
There are any number of reasons why anyone thinking of heading to the United States for a holiday should think twice. They would be giving their money to a totalitarian state where political dissenters are being rounded up and imprisoned here and here, where universities are having their funds for ...
Taiwan has an inadvertent, rarely acknowledged role in global affairs: it’s a kind of sponge, soaking up much of China’s political, military and diplomatic efforts. Taiwan soaks up Chinese power of persuasion and coercion that ...
The Ukraine war has been called the bloodiest conflict since World War II. As of July 2024, 10,000 women were serving in frontline combat roles. Try telling them—from the safety of an Australian lounge room—they ...
Following Canadian authorities’ discovery of a Chinese information operation targeting their country’s election, Australians, too, should beware such risks. In fact, there are already signs that Beijing is interfering in campaigning for the Australian election ...
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). From "founder" of Tesla and the OG rocket man with SpaceX, and rebranding twitter as X, Musk has ...
Back in February 2024, a rat infestation attracted a fair few headlines in the South Dunedin Countdown supermarket. Today, the rats struck again. They took out the Otago-Southland region’s internet connection. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360656230/internet-outage-hits-otago-and-southland Strictly, it was just a coincidence – rats decided to gnaw through one fibre cable, while some hapless ...
I came in this morning after doing some chores and looked quickly at Twitter before unpacking the groceries. Someone was retweeting a Radio NZ story with the headline “Reserve Bank’s budget to be slashed by 25%”. Wow, I thought, the Minister of Finance has really delivered this time. And then ...
So, having teased it last week, Andrew Little has announced he will run for mayor of Wellington. On RNZ, he's saying its all about services - "fixing the pipes, making public transport cheaper, investing in parks, swimming pools and libraries, and developing more housing". Meanwhile, to the readers of the ...
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming, 1921ALL OVER THE WORLD, devout Christians will be reaching for their bibles, reading and re-reading Revelation 13:16-17. For the benefit of all you non-Christians out there, these are the verses describing ...
Give me what I want, what I really, really want: And what India really wants from New Zealand isn’t butter or cheese, but a radical relaxation of the rules controlling Indian immigration.WHAT DOES INDIA WANT from New Zealand? Not our dairy products, that’s for sure, it’s got plenty of those. ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Yesterday, 5,500 senior doctors across Aotearoa New Zealand voted overwhelmingly to strike for a day.This is the first time in New Zealand ASMS members have taken strike action for 24 hours.They are asking the government tofund them and account for resource shortfalls.Vacancies are critical - 45-50% in some regions.The ...
For years and years and years, David Seymour and his posse of deluded neoliberals have been preaching their “tough on crime” gospel to voters. Harsher sentences! More police! Lock ‘em up! Throw away the key. But when it comes to their own, namely former Act Party president Tim Jago, a ...
Judith Collins is a seasoned master at political hypocrisy. As New Zealand’s Defence Minister, she's recently been banging the war drum, announcing a jaw-dropping $12 billion boost to the defence budget over the next four years, all while the coalition of chaos cries poor over housing, health, and education.Apparently, there’s ...
I’m on the London Overground watching what the phones people are holding are doing to their faces: The man-bun guy who could not be less impressed by what he's seeing but cannot stop reading; the woman who's impatient for a response; the one who’s frowning; the one who’s puzzled; the ...
You don't have no prescriptionYou don't have to take no pillsYou don't have no prescriptionAnd baby don't have to take no pillsIf you come to see meDoctor Brown will cure your ills.Songwriters: Waymon Glasco.Dr Luxon. Image: David and Grok.First, they came for the Bottom FeedersAnd I did not speak outBecause ...
The Health Minister says the striking doctors already “well remunerated,” and are “walking away from” and “hurting” their patients. File photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from our political economy on Wednesday, April 16:Simeon Brown has attacked1 doctors striking for more than a 1.5% pay rise as already “well remunerated,” even ...
The time is ripe for Australia and South Korea to strengthen cooperation in space, through embarking on joint projects and initiatives that offer practical outcomes for both countries. This is the finding of a new ...
Hi,When Trump raised tariffs against China to 145%, he destined many small businesses to annihilation. The Daily podcast captured the mass chaos by zooming in and talking to one person, Beth Benike, a small-business owner who will likely lose her home very soon.She pointed out that no, she wasn’t surprised ...
National’s handling of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis is an utter shambles and a gutless betrayal of every Kiwi scraping by. The Coalition of Chaos Ministers strut around preaching about how effective their policies are, but really all they're doing is perpetuating a cruel and sick joke of undelivered promises, ...
Most people wouldn't have heard of a little worm like Rhys Williams, a so-called businessman and former NZ First member, who has recently been unmasked as the venomous troll behind a relentless online campaign targeting Green Party MP Benjamin Doyle.According to reports, Williams has been slinging mud at Doyle under ...
Illustration credit: Jonathan McHugh (New Statesman)The other day, a subscriber said they were unsubscribing because they needed “some good news”.I empathised. Don’t we all.I skimmed a NZME article about the impacts of tariffs this morning with analysis from Kiwibank’s Jarrod Kerr. Kerr, their Chief Economist, suggested another recession is the ...
Let’s assume, as prudence demands we assume, that the United States will not at any predictable time go back to being its old, reliable self. This means its allies must be prepared indefinitely to lean ...
Over the last three rather tumultuous US trade policy weeks, I’ve read these four books. I started with Irwin (whose book had sat on my pile for years, consulted from time to time but not read) in a week of lots of flights and hanging around airports/hotels, and then one ...
Indonesia could do without an increase in military spending that the Ministry of Defence is proposing. The country has more pressing issues, including public welfare and human rights. Moreover, the transparency and accountability to justify ...
Former Hutt City councillor Chris Milne has slithered back into the spotlight, not as a principled dissenter, but as a vindictive puppeteer of digital venom. The revelations from a recent court case paint a damning portrait of a man whose departure from Hutt City Council in 2022 was merely the ...
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fernanda Peñaloza, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Studies, University of Sydney Pope Francis’ journey from the streets of Flores, a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to the Vatican, is a remarkable tale. Born in 1936, Jorge Bergoglio was raised in a ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist In recent weeks, Bougainville has taken the initiative, boldly stating that it expects to be independent by 1 September 2027. It also expects the PNG Parliament to quickly ratify the 2019 referendum, in which an overwhelming majority of Bougainvilleans supported independence. In a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor (Practice), Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University For most of this federal election campaign, politicians have said very little about violence against women and children. Now in the fourth week of the five-week campaign, Labor has released ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne Lee Charlie/Shutterstock Last week, the federal government announced a $10 million commitment to make Medicare more inclusive for LGBTQIA+ Australians. It aims to improve their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Macdonald, Policy Director, Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute and Adjunct Principal Research Fellow, RMIT University Lordn/Shutterstock The Fair Work Commission has found award pay rates in five industrial awards covering a range of female-dominated occupations and industries ...
Greenpeace spokesperson Amanda Larsson says, "There comes a time when we have to stand up to the forces that conspire to put life on Earth at risk, and this is one of those moments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthis Auger, Research Associate in Physical Oceanography, University of Tasmania NASA ICE via Flickr, CC BY Beneath the surface of the Southern Ocean, vast volumes of cold, dense water plunge off the Antarctic continental shelf, cascading down underwater cliffs to the ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone Pope Francis has died after using his Easter Sunday address to call for peace in Gaza. I don’t know who the cardinals will pick to replace him, but I do know with absolute certainty that there ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Carr, Associate Professor, Strategy and Australian Defence Policy, Australian National University In 2024, the National Defence Strategy made deterrence Australia’s “primary strategic defence objective”. With writing now underway for the 2026 National Defence Strategy, can Australia actually deter threats to ...
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 22, 2025. How will a new pope be chosen? An expert explains the conclaveSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic University Following the death of Pope Francis, we’ll ...
New Zealand First is pushing for the term "woman" to be defined in law as "an adult human biological female" as the party vows to fight "cancerous social engineering" and "woke ideology". ...
The What is a woman? campaign last year called for ‘woman’ to be defined as ‘an adult human female’ in all our laws, public policies and regulations and was signed by more than 23,500 people and presented to Parliament last August. We are still ...
We break down the smorgasbord of streaming services available in Aotearoa. We’re spoiled for choice when it comes to streaming services in New Zealand, but as more and more services put their subscription prices up, it’s easy to wonder: who deserves my hard earned dollar? Which platform has the best ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic University Following the death of Pope Francis, we’ll soon be seeing a new leader in the Vatican. The conclave – a strictly confidential gathering of Roman Catholic cardinals – is due to meet in a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic O’Sullivan, Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University and Adjunct Professor Stout Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington and Auckland University of Technology., Charles Sturt University Te Pāti Māori’s Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke lead a haka with Eru Kapa-Kingi outside ...
John Minto says the United Nations has repeatedly said there are no safe places in Gaza for Palestinian civilians, where even so-called “safe zones” are systematically attacked as Israel terrorises the population to flee from the territory. ...
The bill’s primary objective was to stoke racial divisions as a means of diverting social anger in the working class over the government’s escalating attacks on living standards and public services. ...
The New Zealand Flag should be flown at half-mast all day on Tuesday 22 April and again on Wednesday 23 April 2025. The Flag should be returned to full mast at 5pm Wednesday 23 April 2025. ...
The discovery that thousands of British women were brought out to Aotearoa as servants – considered ‘surplus’ to the empire’s requirements at home – propelled journalist Michelle Duff’s new short fiction collection, which explores how women’s bodies are valued.MilkIt is the month after I have my first baby. ...
The occupation follows a five-day protest camp of over 70 people, including tamariki and kaumātua, on the Denniston Plateau, the site of Bathurst’s proposed coal expansion. ...
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After Easter, an obscure kind of resurrection. West Virginia University Press has announced the reissue of a book they claim is “the earliest known work of urban apocalyptic fiction”, The Doom of the Great City (1860), by British author William Delisle Hay, set in…New Zealand.The narrator tells ofthe destruction ...
A close friend and business associate of Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, has gone from being an unpaid volunteer in the mayoral office, to a contractor paid more than $300,000 a year.Chris Mathews had managed Brown’s successful 2022 election campaign, and is now employed via his own company, to provide “specialist ...
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Horrifying read about the billionaire preppers. Basically they want to invent the tech to get away from the rest of us, some even want to cause the apocalypse. Though some want to 'befriend' us, so we don't turn against them.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff
Including our very own.. "citizen"
Grrrrr




As a major reader of both history and post-apocalyptic SF – the reality is that these Tech guys won't end up on top in a disaster. The skill-sets they have aren't valuable ones in the event of a true catastrophe. And the resources they've accumulated will be used by others.
The odd are getting odder. And more dangerous.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/spies-extremist-citizens-arrests-could-end-in-violence?utm_source=Friends+of+the+Newsroom&utm_campaign=1a8227bd3b-Daily_Briefing+05.09.2022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-1a8227bd3b-47886425
There is one word superfluous in the article- at the end of this quote…..
"We judge that this, combined with individuals’ personal grievances, increases the likelihood that individuals will be radicalised and inspired to mobilise to violence, which could happen with little or no intelligence
forewarning."Now Larry I could vote for!
No lying in No 10 – unless it's on a comfy sofa, and a responsible hiss-cal policy.
What's not to like.
I'd like to see the evidence that cats don't lie
Whats his policy on dead rats? Swallow and bury or decapitate and leave as presents? Second is more honest but generally out of favour with the public.
well my cat has dead rats for breakfast, so no worries there.
All dead rats – as purr the cat nap manual are to lie under the table. As any cat knows, tales of dead rats can be given in evidence.
"Look at what I have brought home for you! And I have even unpacked it and laid out the bits you might want to eat first. No – don't thank me, it was the least I could do".
If you are referring to that minor indiscretion in the corner behind the chair – it wasn't meow!
https://twitter.com/wekatweets/status/1566552057787473920
He's head and shoulders above the other two.
I, along with many others, have great Respect for Sir Alan Mark. He has truly been a Guardian of NZ ecosystems. Fantastic he is putting himself into this !
Sir Alan Mark cares about NZ and its future. Others could nae give a tinker's cuss.
thanks for that. I put up a post.
.https://thestandard.org.nz/voting-for-our-lives-protecting-the-environment-from-the-late-capitalism-death-cult/
Oh that is very cool. Thankyou : )
The not so secret handshake.
https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/inside-the-tent-how-power-really-works-with-cameron-murray/
The GOP strategy for the Congressional elections was outlined for Fathers Day in the USA by Tucker Carlson on Fox News.
1. GOP candidates win school board elections campaigning against race and gender issues being in schools and so this should be the case for Congress.
2. Stress the importance of compliance with law and order (as civil rights are rolled back) under the direction of the new Supreme Court.
3. Border security for the USA (opposing illegal migration) not supporting foreign nations like Ukraine.
4. Linking womens right feminism with childless careers serving corporations
5. Promoting the GOP as one with the cause and service to family
6. Associating families headed by a sole mother with fatherlessness, poverty and crime
To which the Democrats should simply ask would any of the GOP candidates for Congress support a tax credit for families? And of course propose that the tax credit provided during the pandemic and which lowered child poverty be made permanent – thus only be possible with a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.
An issue, the 2005 election was fought over here (Brash attacked the then PM for placing a career before family – the classic Jehu defenestration of a woman in power move). Key of course accepted the WFF tax credit to win power in 2008.
Stress the importance of compliance with law and order. Cute eh?
So someone allegedly breaks all sorts of laws and you threaten the officials whose job it is to investigate. Is that how it works?
How to outflank a right-wing host who would otherwise intervene ideologically
https://twitter.com/BeardedGenius/status/1566349321750171648
lol, for a minute there I thought The Great British Sewing Bee was ruined.
My God, what a class act! Love the replies eg:
We've got our fair share of such idiots too.
That. Was brilliant.
An article on Christianity in US politics.
https://wapo.st/3AR9JA4
Vladimir PUT OPTION,catches Europe by big short and the energy markets will contagion into financials as markets open,and analysts start to see a huge risk unwinding (1998 revisited) as governments impose both subsidy for consumers funded by windfall tax's on Generators,who in turn need to be bailed out by governments to meet margin calls,
https://twitter.com/JavierBlas/status/1566471702489534467?cxt=HHwWhsC4mdjtnL0rAAAA
Germany around another 100 billion Euro for generators,as well as 100 billion Euro for consumers.( With gross positions around 2-5 trillion euro)
Finland calls a Lehman moment ,although it is more LTCM (which was Russian default forced)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-Term_Capital_Management
https://twitter.com/OilSheppard/status/1566497575175442433?cxt=HHwWgsC-3dbPqL0rAAAA
What to do….
Default and lose preferred access to financial markets (assuming they continue to exist) or burden taxpayers (current and future) the costs.
No good options
Default is not an option,as it is intertwined in the financial markets ,a single position of say 100 million,may have been hedged and swaped into 20 different financial commodities with a gross risk of > 1 billion.
There needs to be a substantive untangling of positions to align the physical trades with the real demand.
In the UK both contenders for the PM have withdrawn from lines in the sand statements as the ill wind blows and the BOE whispered in a few ears ( with the pound at risk of parity with the $)
Default remains a possibility….and nobody knows the potential related positions.
Default is always a possibility,especially with energy trades without physical positions,as with so called electrical retailers in the UK.
With the eurozone and UK there are further risks with currency depreciation ( euro just going under 99c US) for imported commodity's ,the correction maybe for the ECB to hit .75 points on Thursday to stop capital flight.
The positions are always risky as some will be very creative,but always add up exponentially such as LTCM with 4 billion in capital levered into 120 billion in debt through swaps etc.
( europe stock futures down 3.3% b4 open )
Truss is making extravagant promises on energy as well.
Plenty of UK pensioners bundled in single rooms.
Winter's coming.
Truss has painted herself into a corner with tax cuts and NHS reversals,leaving little room for energy (with UK providers in margin calls as well) she became a one trick pony (like the nats) with only a tax cut card platform.
The BOE forecast 13.3% inflation by jan,citicorp reckons 22% the 70's show revisited when the IMF comes for NY dinner.
Blasphemy? On RNZ?!! Although gold was Melchior's gift to the Son.
This is quite ironic.
https://www.breitbart.com/local/2022/09/04/stranded-tourist-dead-electric-car-helped-west-virginia-coal-miners/
No more or less ironic than if it had run out of petrol.
Bring back coal powered steam engines I say.
What I found …. strange … if true, was that there is apparently nowhere for a tow-cable to be attached – since the car is basically all plastic.
Sounds like a major design flaw. Even the best of cars break down.
Now if only the model of car had been posted it would be possible to verify the factual nature of that post. Fortunately no specific electric car companies were hurt in the making of this news item by breitbart media.
Had a quick look – and apparently it's true.
Less to do with the plastic nature of the vehicle and challenges in fitting tow points, and more to do with the way the EV has no 'neutral' and the wheels connect to the motor.
Flat-bed tow truck is the only recommended-by-the-manufacturers solution.
"What about towing a depleted EV to the nearest charger? This shouldn’t be done, as most manufacturers recommend against towing electric cars, even when in neutral, due to how the motors are attached to the wheels and their lack of a true neutral gear. To avoid damaging the car, it’ll have to be loaded onto a flat-bed truck instead of being towed by the patrol van of a breakdown company."
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/electric-vehicles-breakdown
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300678845/excessive-government-is-it-time-for-labour-to-rein-it-in#comments
I hope Danyl Mclauchlan get annoyed enough to respond.
That old classic. With this the wealthy entrench their privilege by ensuring no social progress is possible because, they say, it is impossible to do well.
Talk about small thinking. What if the private sector thought that way? No-one would try anything!
The discredited
Business Round TableNZ Initiative risking their dubious reputation to sledge Labour instead of prepping an entrepreneurial solution? How unprofessional.Wheeeeeee! But I suppose the RWNJs will call this a new tax too!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/129781645/nz-plan-to-levy-gst-on-uber-trips-and-airbnb-bookings-a-world-first
National focus groups are on it!
Pre-emptively, the Government needs to announce what the new levy (or application of the existing levy to a previously exempt income stream) will be used for.
If they're wise, they'll be looking at added tourism support funding from the AirBnB stream (e.g. public toilets in tourist popular, but low population, areas). The uber stream might go to funding public transport subsidies. [You could also look at offsetting GST on PT – but they've been reluctant to look at exemptions in the past]
I believe that Kiwis are more likely to support a new 'tax' if they can see the proceeds going to a relevant area. Certainly for the next couple of years.
They're less likely to gain support if the funding just goes into general revenue.
Yes, some good ideas there on how to sell a policy to the public.
As for "relevant area" for proceeds of GST on AirBnB at source, you couldn't look further than support for renters rights! Government has complained that policing healthy homes standards and policing illegal landlord eviction behaviour is too costly and the burden shall remain with the lowly tenant.
About time that changed, don't you think?
Here we go. Enjoy!
Short precis; seven different property agents acknowledge AirBnB is major influencing problem in the rental sector. Aus/NZ AirBnB rep says, 'nothing to see here, let them eat cake, etc'.
AirBnB and Uber need a good, swift kick in the nuts imo, and I am so proud David Parker is taking the worldwide lead on this.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/129712562/heres-what-airbnb-can-do-to-a-rental-market
That's one reason that there really isn't a decent alternative to building state houses.
Do you really think that imposing GST on AirBnB rentals will cause landlords to re-consider and offer them to long term tenants?
It seems unlikely to me.
Looking more and more likely that the Tiwai Point Smelter will remain open for a long time to come.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-04/energy-crisis-europe-s-aluminum-smelters-are-struggling-to-survive?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=business&utm_medium=social&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business
Chile heavily defeats progressive constitution reform,and retains Pinochet 41 yr old constitution.
A large work of art at 388 pages the over complex tome was to big to succeed.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/chile-constitution-vote-referendum-magna-carta-1.6572652