One of the political catchcries of the past few years has been about 'defunding the police.' Naturally there is enough wriggle room in those actual words to turn them into anything anyone wants. Like turning Jan 6 into a 'tourist visit.'
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has done many fine impressions of a cretin, wants to pare back staff in the IRS. Recently they weren't staffed well enough to do their core job:
"The IRS did not even begin auditing Trump’s taxes until 2019, on the same day the committee began asking the agency about them. This is outrageous, and it must be investigated…
So what happened here? It’s possible that the IRS was aware of all the controversy around Trump’s taxes and simply didn’t want any part of it. That’s inexcusable, but it’s not nefarious.
A more troubling explanation is possible—even likely: that Trump used the levers of government to shield himself from scrutiny."
My pick is that any cuts to staffing in that department will be more than taken up with person power she wants utilised to turn Hunter Biden into a criminal.
I always remember from way back the fact that one B52 bomber cost twice the Peace Corps budget
I have met quite a few wonderful American PC people in my travels working wonders for poor third orld people and much enhancing Americas reputation. If only they had canned a couple of dozen B52’s and diverted the cash into more PC work…..
China is marking its first Lunar New Year since 2020 without Covid-19 domestic travel restrictions and more than 2 billion people are expected to travel over the next 40 days.
But the abrupt changes have exposed many of China's 1.4 billion population to the virus for the first time, triggering a wave of infections that is overwhelming some hospitals, emptying pharmacy shelves of medicines and causing long lines to form at crematoriums.
Trump is taking over the House of Representatives right now so he can thwart oversight against him. He is stealing the government to protect himself from inciting an attack on the government to try to steal it two years ago to the day. He is never going to stop until he’s stopped
Going to be hearing a lot this Congress about the Linder letter, which set out DOJ’s longstanding refusal in this area, citing previous administrations of both parties and since upheld by administrations of both parties. https://t.co/dt74LKYTSU
It's all good, two days in and they've learnt how to govern.
When asked by reporters how he can govern after this long voting process,Kevin McCarthy says, "See, this is the great part. Because it took this long, now we learned how to govern. So now we'll be able to get the job done."
Editor's Note: Republicans now control the House. It's time to investigate the Biden family and Democrats and hold them accountable for their corruption.
I think you are confusing riot with "coup"…maybe go ask all your new pals in the US security state what a coup actually looks like….I would list US backed coup’s but the list would be too long more like …”chickens coming home to roost” as once said….
"coup d’état, also called coup, the sudden, violent overthrow of an existing government by a small group. The chief prerequisite for a coup is control of all or part of the armed forces, the police, and other military elements.'
"riot, in criminal law, a violent offense against public order involving three or more people. Like an unlawful assembly, a riot involves a gathering of persons for an illegal purpose. In contrast to an unlawful assembly, however, a riot involves violence."
See joe…here is an actually coup, going on today, right now, one that will actually badly effect the poor and working class….guess it just wasn't part of your twitter feed……
"The US ambassador in Peru, Lisa Kenna, worked for the CIA for 9 years, as well as the Pentagon. One day before the coup against elected left-wing President Pedro Castillo, Kenna met with Peru’s defense minister, who then ordered the military to turn against Castillo."
Marjorie Taylor Greene former intern, Milo Yiannopoulos: “Matt Schlapp tried to touch me, too, at his offices in 2016/17 when we were negotiating my headliner spot at CPAC.” pic.twitter.com/lOmR4PhQ3F
Longtime Republican activist Matt Schlapp is facing backlash after a new report alleged that the chair of the American Conservative Union (ACU) groped a male staffer working on Herschel Walker's Senate campaign.
Following Thursday's report in The Daily Beast, social media users took to Twitter to criticize Schlapp, the lead organizer of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), for anti-gay views that he's helped promote and spotlight over the years at the world's largest and most influential gathering of conservatives.
"This story is rock solid," journalist Michelangelo Signorile tweeted on Thursday. "Schlapp has allowed the most horrific anti-LGBTQ bile at CPAC. Another GOP hypocrite."
So the sad result of the GOP speaker action this week is that it has now become clear that certain elements within the GOP are more anti-war than anybody within the Democratic party…this is how far to the Right the Liberal (left) has become.
"The emerging deal Kevin McCarthy is discussing to make him speaker of the House could make agreements on new defense spending impossible next year"
Imagine the Squad pushing for real progressive change and holding power to ransom to get it??…but of course we all know that would never happen, nope just a bunch of boot lickers, who as it turns out, really seem to appeal to other knee bending book licking Liberals…yuk.
Oh look, the only socialist in the village thinks a corrupt petro-state with nukes bolted on should be allowed unopposed and with impunity, to revert to it's cruel, imperialist expansionism and invade it's sovereign neighbour, commit war crimes, impose a brutal and barbaric rule of occupation on civilian populations, engage in the indiscriminate killing of those they can't subjugate, loot the place and then demolish what's left.
I have absolutely no idea why you think that the left should be "anti-war" when all of the historical evidence is that they are not.
After all the USSR that purportably leftish federation invaded Poland and Finland without any cause apart from naked imperialistic greed. Our second world war government was Labour. The US was run by
What has been clear, the USSR aside (it seems to always been more imperialistic and authoritarian than left and (as someone of polish descent) was also impossible to distinguish from czarism, is that left governed states are not interested in imperialistic wars. Where imperialism is defined as annexing territory or setting up protectorates.
Left governments are very resistent to imperialist attacks. They tend to follow previous treaties that they have signed.
Historically imperialistic states like the Russian Federation or the USSR or Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy ignore the treaties, invade and annex.
Conservative right states are generally notable for tending to be isolationist.and often run down military capabilities
So the US and UK are signatories to a treaty guaranteeing Ukrainian security support Ukraine act in support. Other signatories like the China do what is in their equivalent guarantees.
Whereas Russia violated their guarantees of Ukrainian security going so far as to start implicitly waving nukes in their pronouncements. Plus of course they attempted to annex parts of Ukraine.
I think that you are confusing leftist with being a a dumbarse pacifist. Which in my view just makes you the village idiot incapable of seeing anything except your rather strange ideas that is totally divorced from reality.
The best defence against bullies is not to roll over, suck your damn thumb and hope it all goes away. It is to ally with like minded and deal with the ambitions of brutes collectively.
No one who knows me has ever accused me of being, or even supporting pacificism as an ideology (though I do in principle, and in a perfect world of course) …no, I am all for armed revolutions and national defence in the right circumstances.
The problem with you, is that you are so wrapped up in your one dimensional western world view, that it is you and not I who obviously believe we live in a perfect world, well you must do, because that is exactly the world view you are presenting ….a mythical world where Superpowers will just shrug their shoulders in regards to their perceived boarder security…except it is not a perfect world iprent, so no matter how long and how loud Russia and the most serious geo-political, Russia and Ukrainian experts from all sides and from all around the world (including Bidens own CIA director Williams Burns) have been saying that NATO expansion to Ukraine was Russia’s Red Line (rightly or wrongly), and they have all have been ignored for decades…with devastating but predicted results.
This war could have been easily avoided had there been serious negotiations around the Minsk accords which as Merkle has made quite clear, were never under serious consideration, but only used to buy time to arm and train Ukraine (by NATO as a NATO fighting force)….now you tell me, if China were arming and training the Mexican army, do you think America would stand by…or France/UK or any other Superpower in the world who were in the same circumstances?
The other major problem with you and so many other here on TS, is you don’t seem to get the idea that to understand is not to condone.
Lastly, if you really think the US or the UK give even one single shit about the Ukraine or the lives of Ukrainians then you have even less geo-political insight than I thought…they are merely geo-political pawns to the West because of their position on a map and nothing more…that is the tragedy.
BTW, I agree with most of the first part of you comment about the Left/Right…not all, but we’ll leave that to another time.
"The best defence against bullies is not to roll over, suck your damn thumb and hope it all goes away. It is to ally with like minded and deal with the ambitions of brutes collectively."
It looks more like pig-shit on an oyster shell to me; Francesca. But at least better than the unformed excrement of the initial comment (@ 6.0). "Yuk" indeed.
Temp ORary..Argue my points if you can…but I suspect you’re far too lazy…if that is the case then maybe don’t bother commenting at all until you have something interesting or constructive or funny to add…it might be interesting to see if any of those three are within your reach…probably not.
Adrian Thornton, as far as I can discern from your original comment (@ 6.0) you are annoyed at "the Squad" for not preventing USA military aid to Ukraine. I didn't click on the link you provided, (because it was munged and I don't trust you) but the phrase seems to refer to a paywalled Bloomberg article by Tiron et al. What is not evident is what 8 of 435 USA congress members particularly have to do with that. It's not like their attempt to hold the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act ransom to the passage of the Build Back Better Act wasn't defeated by more Republicans crossing the floor.
But moving on to your reply to lprent (@ 6.2.1). Again – lots of munged links that I am not disposed to click through. But your argument seems to rest on the perception of Russia being a superpower – which it just isn't. The USSR back last century; sure, but not the present-day Russian Federation. Very dangerous and possessing nuclear weapons; yes, but lacking global influence. In a similar way that the British Empire was once a superpower, but the 2020's UK really isn't (let alone France!) – despite its nuclear armed military and pretensions to the contrary.
All I can say to your contribution is that at least Adrian does attempt to come up with an argument . Better than someone like you who found that being specialised as a dumb critic suited you.
Putin just says anything to justify his imperialist invasion. Nato? Also justified with anti-satanism, restoring claimed historic lands, denazification, defending speakers of the Russian language…?
Can you show anywhere NATO interest in invading Russia? While Russia has invaded and brutally oppressed multiple neighbours, creating the interest in joining NATO by many former Russian colonies.
Are you actually being serious?…NATO’s primary objective has always been one of antagonism toward Russia…and remember here that Russia had seriously tried to get NATO membership in 1954 a year after Stains death and before the formation of the Warsaw Pact, but of course they were turned down…now I wonder who was behind that refusal?…could it be having an enemy is better for business than having a friend?
Anyway, as I explained, Russia is acting exactly as predicted by most serious observers…and exactly as how every other Superpower would have reacted..now I will also state yet again, that me pointing out this undeniable fact does not mean I condone Russia's actions…just understand cause and effect in geo-politics…something that obviously seems to escape you.
Can you show anywhere NATO interest in invading Russia?
Reading your reply, seems your answer is no.
Exploration of a plan in 1945 by Churchill to fight the soviet conquest of central Europe is not NATO planning to invade Russia (wasn't NATO, and that plan didn't seem to involve invading Russia, only non-Russian territories that Russia had claimed conquest of – and where Russia subsequently spent decades oppressing and murdering the locals).
Molotov being denied membership of NATO in 1954…is not NATO showing interest in invading Russia either.
Countries join NATO by signing a voluntary agreement. Countries joined the USSR by being invaded by Russia.
Glad you don't condone Russia's actions in relation to Ukraine.
If Ukraine joined NATO and the latter then installed missiles on Russia's border one can understand Russia seeing this as a hostile act. Compare this with 1962, when Kruschev attempted to install missiles on Cuban soil, and note Kennedy's reaction to that.
If Ukraine joined NATO and the latter then installed missiles on Russia's border one can understand Russia seeing this as a hostile act.
If..And…Sounds like a reason to have diplomacy and discussion with Ukraine (and try this – better relations), not a reason to launch an unprovoked pre-emptive bloody war. While you justify with "cos NATO" – Russia also justifies with naked empire building, fake "denazification", "desatanisation", and anti-LGBT.
Perhaps if Russia stopped invading all her neighbours, former Russian colonies would be less keen to join a defensive alliance?
If it happens it will probably then be too late for Russia to do anything, because it will not just be Ukraine that they will have to fight but the whole of NATO, so a pre-emptive strike is justified.
Basically that is a completely bullshit rationalisation for a pre-emptive invasion. Not to mention demonstrating that you are a gormless lazy fool who sucks up propaganda and doesn't research – yet again. Perhaps you'd actually do some study for a change. So I'll provide the some basic links for your education.
Have you ever actually looked at the process to join NATO? It has a lot of conditions, requirements and processes to go through.
This is political in that any exiting member state can veto. The downside is that getting obnoxious without a reasonable cause could cause the recalcitrant member to be evicted (you'd should look at the history with Turkey and Greece inside NATO).
But more importantly, in military terms. The aspirational member has to be able to work within the NATO military frameworks and doctrines. That is a hard and often long process.
The process usually takes decades and involves a lot of work. Aspirations to join simply aren't enough, and Ukraine hadn't demonstrated that it was ready in either a political (relatively unstable) or military (not doctrine compatible) way to do so.
In 1994 both Russia and Ukraine joined a help program Partnership for Peace which is about establishing trust between NATO and other countries. That was currently the only formal precursor to NATO members that Ukraine was involved in.
If that is your apparent only criteria for readiness for acceptance into NATO – then the Russian Federation should try invading itself.
At the time that Russia invaded, Ukraine had long held aspirations to join NATO. In 2002, Ukraine has applied for a precursor for aspirants to membership – MAP. However it withdrew from that in 2010 both for internal political issues in Ukraine and because they had problems with adjusting their force structures to something that could work within NATO.
However their military structure simply wasn't going to be accepted under the NATO Article 10 membership process. That was why they hadn't started any formal attempt to enter NATO.
In 2005, Ukraine joined a relatively informal process "Intensified Dialogue", which was a process that just looked at helping aspirants for NATO membership in how to adjust their armed forces to fit within the military mutual defence of NATO. In the 17 years since, there has been little progress in that process.
Even if Russia withdrew back to pre-2014 borders. It would still take a decades for Ukraine to be able to join NATO. It's current military structure even after all of the doctrine and weaponry updates under Russian military pressure still won't fit within a NATO military structure. It will take decades to achieve that.
Ukraine finally did formally request NATO membership in September 2022 – seven months after Russia invaded. The application was only accepted because
If memory serves me that was after Putin announced that Russia was going to unilaterally annex parts of Ukraine, and in a act of aggressive intent included parts that Russia wasn't even in control of. Which
By comparison Finland and Sweden were militarily compatible with NATO forces. Consequently their NATO membership application last year, triggered by Russian Federation imperialist aggression, are getting close to the point that acceptance may actually happen this decade.
Basically NATO is very picky about membership. Its biggest recruiter has been the behaviour of the Russian imperialism. Both you and the propagandists of the Russia Federation are essentially complaining that Ukraine was aspiring to join NATO. Not that NATO was actively trying to recruit Ukraine.
The only formal relationship that NATO had with Ukraine prior to the invasion by Russia, was the same as one that Russia also had with NATO.
If Ukraine joined NATO and the latter then installed missiles on Russia's border one can understand Russia seeing this as a hostile act.
Your argument is complete crap. There were no NATO missiles installed in Ukraine. There were no no formal military treaties like that between Cuba and the USSR in 1961 or Turkey's membership in NATO.
Any deeper military relationship between NATO and Ukraine was decades in the future. It would have required that Ukraine wanted to change its military forces to ones that would fit within the NATO military framework.
Sure there were some strong indications that was their intent after 2014 – like adding their intent into the Ukrainian constitution in 2019.
But that was after the Russian Federation had forsworn its guarantees from the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances and invaded and unilaterally annexed Crimea after a fake 'referendum'. It was probably pushed further by the Russian Federation fomenting and supplying a insurrection with equipment and 'off-duty' troops in a portion of eastern Ukraine. Russia was actively pushing Ukraine to any allies it could find against their neighbours agression.
Please educate yourself, and stop presenting the kind of psuedo intellectual self-mastubation that you seem to love on this topic.
Russia apparently has been moving military equipment towards the Finnish border, a development which seems to have stemmed from Finland's decision to join NATO.
Countries join NATO by signing a voluntary agreement. Countries joined the USSR by being invaded by Russia.
I think that you're kind of confused. Perhaps you should look at the extent of the Russian Empire in 1914 on the eve of World War I.
And the size of the USSR in 1922.
There wasn't much (if any) added territory from conquest. In fact I remember that the USSR lost territory to Poland and some other areas.
After WW2 the USSR gained some territory. But it wasn't much, and I believe that the successor states to the Soviet Socialist Republics that obtained those still retain them. But it wasn't large amounts of territory except in Finland and Poland (?).
The Soviet Union took over areas formerly controlled by Germany, Finland, Poland, and Japan.
UncookedSelachimorpha: I suspect that what you are trying to talk about were the nation states that joined the Warsaw Pact after that formed. In which case you should look closely at Albania, Romania, Mongolia and Yugoslavia and their history with the Warsaw Pact. It directly contradicts your assertion.
they are merely geo-political pawns to the West because of their position on a map and nothing more…that is the tragedy.
I guess that you have absolutely no truck with the idea that a nation state or its citizens have any opinions of their own. Which when you look through your response is essentially your only working argument.
You really are such a sycophantic apologist for imperialism aren't you?
It may be Russia's red line, however the demand to join NATO hasn't been initiated by Russia or the US. That is simply geopolitical gobbledegook almost entirely from practitioners of that ancient imperial intellectual tradition. Most of them have been concentrating on the tug of war between super-powers and, like you, seldom deign to look at why actual nations join military alliances.
Nation states have been wanting to join it for mutual military security. Usually pushing really hard for it. There are states who haven't wanted it like Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and others for various reasons. But what you clearly don’t understand is that it is quite hard for states to join because of Article 10 and the military interoperability and doctrine requirements. There have been some seriously long wait periods between application and agreement to join. It is expensive as hell to get ready to join. It constrains the budgets of applicants to get up to standard and usually does some nasty things to the career prospects of military officers and staff.
But none-the-less states keep persisting on trying to join and going to great effort to join. Usually against the advice of many if not most policy makers in the US. That is because the US is a major partner in NATO, but not the only one. NATO itself has had a explicit open door policy since 1991 after requests from states exiting the USSR, but also that was how it formed originally.
In my view, geo-politics is pretty simply an excuse for simpletons to ignore the wishes and the intent of the states to determine their own destiny and their citizens to chart their own course. Basically it is an excuse for snobs to avoid looking at then little people… Does that sound like you? It does to me.
You haven't mentioned once anywhere that I am aware of, any reason why Ukraine, or Estonia or Kosovo or any of the other current of previous applicants have endured the trauma of applying for and pushing through to membership of NATO. All you ever talk about is Russia, USA, occasionally deign to mention Germany and the UK, and infinitesimal political or military groupings inside Ukraine.
Coming to think of it – that is also what you do for local politics as well. You really do sound like a aristocratic intellectual snob.
if China were arming and training the Mexican army, do you think America would stand by…or France/UK or any other Superpower in the world who were in the same circumstances?
Of course they do just stand by. That literally happens all of the time. You should just look at where the sales of arms actually happens, and the degree to which armed forces training happens between militarises. The problem with you is that you assume that the nations only sell arms and only train in places that are very friendly to them or with whom they have treaties. That isn't the case. It just happens more frequently. But if you look at what happens on the ground, you'll find military cooperation and the sale of arms has some pretty weird combinations amongst countries that are not in direct conflict with each other.
This war could have been easily avoided had there been serious negotiations around the Minsk accords which as Merkle has made quite clear, were never under serious consideration,…
Peter Schwarz in your link about Merkle is a idiot.. The timeline literally walks the time line backwards from a completely unsupported assertion that the US instigated a coup in Kyiv in 2014. Now I understand that this assertion is a a religious article of faith amongst the geo-politically unhinged. But I have seen no credible evidence of it.
Nor have I seen a single instance of you or any of your idiotic religious brethren who has even managed to advance explanation about why it is rational for the US or even any significant faction in the US to have wanted it. All I see are waffling assertions and Russia propaganda directed internally. I can understand why Russia wants to con their citizens…
However all of the historical evidence indicates that it was Russia who was trying to instigate a presidential coup over the intentions and without the support of parliament. That can be summed up with this. Note the timeline. The parliament had overwhelmingly approved in early 2013, Russia put pressure on to not approve an agreement with the EU, the president didn't approve later in 2013. Then public protests against the decision of the president broke out. Russia then invaded.
n January and February 2014, clashes in Kyiv between protesters and Berkut special riot police resulted in the deaths of 108 protesters and 13 police officers,[20] and the wounding of many others. The first protesters were killed in fierce clashes with police on Hrushevskoho Street on 19–22 January. Following this, protesters occupied government buildings throughout the country. The deadliest clashes were on 18–20 February, which saw the most severe violence in Ukraine since it regained independence.[31] Thousands of protesters advanced towards parliament, led by activists with shields and helmets, and were fired on by police snipers.[20] On 21 February, an agreement between President Yanukovych and the leaders of the parliamentary opposition was signed that called for the formation of an interim unity government, constitutional reforms and early elections.[32] The following day, police withdrew from central Kyiv, which came under effective control of the protesters. Yanukovych fled the city.[33] That day, the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove Yanukovych from office by 328 to 0 (72.8% of the parliament's 450 members).[34][35][36][32]
Yanukovych alleged that this vote was illegal and possibly coerced, and asked Russia for help.[37] Russia considered the overthrow of Yanukovych to be an illegal coup, and did not recognize the interim government.
The only countries that supported Yanukovych were Russia, who invaded Crimea and possibly Belorussia. There were assertions of CIA influence – almost entirely from Russian sources. But the evidence is flimsy at best. What has been released or stated tends to show Washington foreign policy dithering
Prior to the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine used to buy from Russia, most of their new military equipment and spares and do a lot of training with Russia. They also brought from NATO countries and did training with NATO.
That I can see of your paywalled link about NATO exercises refers to a exercise held last year – hardly relevant. Why did you bring it up? As a stupid distraction or because you couldn't find anything more relevant? But lets ignore that…
But that Ukraine was buying more hardware from NATO and doing more of their training with NATO forces since 2014 is a direct result of having Russia invade and annex Crimea, plus supporting both the DPR and LPR secessionist republics with military hardware and 'volunteers' from the RF military.
Are you trying to say that that Ukraine should have been buying weapons and having exercises with a country that had just invaded and annexed part of their territory and was actively promoting a two secessionist micro-states? Are you insane?
The Minsk agreements were attempts to get a ceasefire in place. A ceasefire is literally a conflict frozen in place. I guess that Peter Schwarz doesn't understand what the word means or what a agreement to have a ceasefire means and why that is in the first point of the agreement.
Sure, Minsk II had some provisions for having working towards some kind of peaceful resolution. However the prerequisite of having a working ceasefire never happened.
Neither the Minsk I or Minsk II resulted in a ceasefire. Minsk I just resulted in the conflict heating up.
There was a slowing of conflict after Minsk II. But there were numerous reported violations initiated from both sides with claims from both sides and independent observers but there was never a cessation of fire. Nor claims by both sides and independent observers of violations of the ceasefire parts of both.
This was unlike any ceasefire agreement that ever actually succeeded in working its way to a a peace agreement or a long-term freeze in hostilities like the intra Korean border. Consequently neither side stood down forces, nor stopped improving their military position.
I really wish that you'd make some kind of effort to mount a coherent argument. I only have limited time to write answers.
As you can see, I had to break my quotations of points from your comment up to answer your points. I also note that you only designed to answer exactly one point from my comment. The breakup was because you don't separate your points. The ones worth dealing with are all dropped into a unwieldy paragraphs with lots of crap links all jumbled together. Generally without a connecting argument.
Could you please try to do better. It is exhausting dealing with an argument as confused as you are giving.
In a democracy the normal way of getting rid of an unwanted president is through the ballot box. Although, as you rightly point out, an early election was offered but never held – what were the protesters afraid of; that Yanukovych might be re-elected? Fleeing Kyiv was not a reason for dismissal so his dismissal was clearly unconstitutional.
In WW1, Germany invaded Belgium, not because they had any particular beef with the Belgians, but because they needed to pass through Belgium in order to attack France. Belgium declined a German request to allow its army passage; hence the invasion. I think that as WWII approached, Russia, observing the rise of Nazi Germany, thought that Germany’s armies might "pass through" either Poland or Finland, with or without the permissions of those countries, to attack Russia. One might argue that this does not justify Russian invasions of Poland and/or Finland, but that is largely a matter of opinion, and Russia obviously thinks otherwise, particularly as it sees itself as surrounded by inimical states in any case.
This Stuff article on contemporary and historical polyamory in Aotearoa is quite interesting. Especially in the references to pre-colonial Māori relationship patterns (with the caveat that, as always, this depended on; time, place, iwi & hapū):
…Dr Byron Rangiwai, an associate professor of healthcare and social practice at Unitec.
“Monogamy was of course an imported concept that came with Christianity,” he says.
“There are examples of Māori, particularly rangatira, having multiple partners. The term rangatira also included women, particularly in iwi such as Ngāti Porou.”
Tāwhiri*, a tikanga scholar and “novice in polyamory”… feels the stakes are higher in disclosing his polyamorous relationship. As someone trying to create systemic hapū-wide change, “if I get caught up in a scandal or something then all of my goals that existed, and collective upliftment are jeopardised”, he says.
“The irony is that that’s sort of an indication of how colonised we have become because it’s harder for Māori to practise our own relationship tikanga.”
However, it does omit to mention those who are unable to be in a relationship with the nature of a marriage, for bureaucratic purposes. Work and Income can be harsh with solo parents, and others, in committed heterosexual monogamous relationships – even retrospectively cutting benefits, and saddling the poorest with unexpected debt on a reduced income.
Where a; Couple with 1 or more children, gets $283/ week (each after tax before accommodation, or other, supplements – $566 total), a; Sole Parent, gets $440.96, and a; Single Jobseeker, $315 ($536 total for jobseeker couple without children – the extra $30/ week doesn't far towards meeting child costs!).
However eagle-eyed the system may be in detecting and designating monogamous heterosexual couples as de facto marriages (unless they can be proved not so – which isn't the easiest), it is strangely myopic when it comes to; homosexual, bisexual and polyamorous relationships. Thus solo parents have a (presumably unintended) incentive to form polyamorous relationship clusters. The 3 nights together a week "rule" is widely understood to be a threshold for a relationship for WINZ purposes, though I don't know what legislation or regulations back that up. It certainly seems to run counter to section 21 (prohibited grounds of discrimination) of the NZ HRA, though there is always section 21B:
To avoid doubt, an act or omission of any person or body is not unlawful under this Part if that act or omission is authorised or required by an enactment or otherwise by law.
Ngā Atua (eg Ranginui) weren't exactly gods in the European sense – or at least no one expected them to answer prayers. More like anchors to oral histories that varied by iwi. Ngā Tipua (eg Taniwha) were more like personifications of the environment, but were given offerings to appease them in some situations, say when passing through their land.
But anyway; "swap", is a bit too simple and intentional for how the religious/ political/ military colonization of Aotearoa happened. The hundred years between the Marsden mission in 1814 and WWI were complex, and while there hasn't been as much open warfare in the last century – that was differently complex. Too much to get into now.
While some Māori did end up embracing the new god (eg the Rātana and Ringatū churches; to which maybe 10% of Māori belong), many stopped having any committed religion at all. Tagata Pasifika are more likely to be churchgoing than Tangata Whenua in my experience. Though it may have been expedient in the past to profess adherence to Christianity, there were a lot of bad experiences with church authorities abusing their positions that produced disenchantment with such confidence men. Though my whānau may be more decidedly atheist than most. Plus there are the new American evangelicals and Destiny that seem to be gathering adherents (and their money).
Unless you mean that the new god was money? In which case, it'd be hard to disagree; Joe90.
One wonders what influence Key has on Luxon when it comes to foreign policy.
Damien Grant makes an interesting comparison between Neville Chamberlain and Key vis a vis Hitler and Xi.
”It is collectively accepted that Hitler deceived Chamberlain. The problem, Gladwell asserts, is that Chamberlain looked for clues in the body language and behaviour of the Nazi leader and when his words matched that behaviour Chamberlain assumed Hitler was being honest.”
Without reading, perhaps insistence on a journalism qualification? Or knowing how skewed anything written by a rampant Actoid like this guy might be? Any comms person would protect a party leader.
when simon dallow finally gets the push will his job be advertised or will another right wing hair and teeth job with a mystery career be shoe horned into place?
[You have been making attacks on Simon Dallow and asking for his resignation or being fired for at least 4.5 years now here. You provide no link nor reason and you make no political point whatsoever. You do this again and I’ll accept your resignation from TS’s commentariat. This is your warning – Incognito]
It's a nice quote; Sacha, but the link is to a twitter page that no longer exists. What is the context, and where is the evidence?
Going by the name, I imagine that it originates from a self-proclaimed media analyst in Australia – but that doesn't narrow it down much. Hope for the future seems overly optimistic to me, but certainly better than despair.
Iran shows it will kill anyone who stands against the regime.
The executions on Saturday of two young men in Iran, one a karate champion, the other a volunteer children’s coach, in connection with nationwide protests have sparked outrage around the world.
The total number of people now known to have been executed in connection with the protests that have swept the country since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody on September 16 has reached four.
You do know that having a CNN link to a story on the Iranian riots is about as useful as having an PressTV link on Jan 6th riots….why don't you try finding some serious news sources to link us too on these important stories, instead of this endless stream of US propaganda…that way we can all become better informed..it's would be a win win for everyone, including you.
Ok, there’s good news and bad news in this week’s inflation figures, but bad > good. Our inflation rate held steady but hey, at a level below the inflation rate in Australia. The main reason for the so/so result here? A fall in petrol prices of 7.2% offset the really ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Since her shock resignation announcement, Jacinda Ardern has been at pains to point out that she isn’t leaving because of the toxicity directed at her on social media and elsewhere, rebutting journalists who suggested misogyny and hate may have driven her from office. Yet ...
Since her shock resignation announcement, Jacinda Ardern has been at pains to point out that she isn’t leaving because of the toxicity directed at her on social media and elsewhere, rebutting journalists who suggested misogyny and hate may have driven her from office. Yet there have been dozens of columns ...
The Clinical Magus: Of particular relevance to New Zealanders struggling to come to terms with the sudden departure of their prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, is Jung’s concept of the anima. Much more than what others have called the feminine principle, the anima is what the human male has made out ...
The Select Committee, considering the proposed RNZ-TVNZ merger, has come back with a report conceding many of the criticisms that were made of the original legislation. In what is one of the most comprehensive demolitions of a Bill submitted to a Select Committee, the Economic Development, Science and Innovation ...
Such are the 2020s, the age when no-one, it seems, actually respects the basic underpinnings of democracy. Even in New Zealand. This week, I stumbled across a pair of lengthy and genuinely serious articles, that basically argue that Something is Rotten in the state of New Zealand democracy. One ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hurrah. Today we found something fresh on the Beehive website, Beehive.govt.nz, which claims to be the best place to find Government initiatives, policies and Ministerial information. It wasn’t from Finance Minister Grant Robertson, whose reaction to the latest inflation figures would have been appreciated. So, too, ...
Smiling And Waiving A Golden Opportunity: Chris Hipkins knew that the day at Ratana would be Jacinda’s day – her final opportunity to bask in the unalloyed love and support of her followers. He simply could not afford to be seen to overshadow this last chance for his former boss ...
Extremism Consumes Itself: The plot of “Act of Oblivion” concerns the relentless pursuit of the “regicides” Edward Whalley and William Goffe – two of the fifty-nine signatories to King Charles I’s death warrant. As with his many other works of historical fiction, Robert Harris’s novel brings to life a period ...
To challenge the Government’s promotion of co-governance, to share power between Maori and public authorities and agencies, is to invite accusations of racism. An example: this article by Martyn Bradbury on The Daily Blog headed Luxon’s race baiting hypocrisy at Ratana. The article was triggered by National leader Christopher Luxon, ...
A very informative video discussion: Are we getting the whole story about Ukraine? | Robert Wright & Ivan Katchanovski Getting objective information on the situation in Ukraine and the cause of this current war is not easy. There is the current censorship and blatant mainstream media bias – which ...
Yesterday the Herald ran an op-ed from Mayor Wayne Brown titled “The case for light rail is lighter than ever” and a few things stood out. However, it’s getting more and more tricky to make a strong economic case for spending up to $29 billion on a single route of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Samantha Harrington Imagine it’s a cold February night and your furnace breaks. You want to replace it with an electric heat pump because you’ve heard that tax credits will help pay for the switch. And you know that heat pumps can reduce ...
In 2005, then-National Party leader based his entire election campaign on racism, with his infamous racist Orewa speech and racist iwi/kiwi billboards. Now, Christopher Luxon seems to want to do it all again: Fresh off using his platform at this week's Rātana celebrations to criticise the government's approach to ...
Inflation is showing little sign of slowing down, posing a problem for freshly minted PM Chris Hipkins. According to that old campaigner Richard Prebble, Hipkins should call a snap election. If he waits till October, he risks being swept away. The dilemma for the new leader is that fighting an election ...
Buzz from the Beehive A great deal has happened since January 19. Among other things, a new Prime Minister and deputy have been sworn in and our leaders (past, present and aspiring) have delivered speeches at Ratana. Newshub reported that politicians of all stripes had descended upon Rātana for the ...
It’s a big day for New Zealand; our 41st Prime Minister has taken office and the new, “Chippy” era of politics is underway. Or, on the other hand, the Labour Party continues to govern with an overall majority and much the same leadership team in place. Life goes on and ...
New Zealand has another Prime Minister who does not have a basic grasp of the three articles of the Treaty of Waitangi. THOMAS CRANMER writes: It is simply astonishing that New Zealand’s next Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, is unable to give even a brief explanation of the three articles ...
A statue of a semi-naked Nick Smith puts the misogyny debate into perspective. GRAHAM ADAMS writes … In the wake of Ardern’s abrupt resignation, the mainstream media are determined to convince us she was hounded from office mainly because she is a woman and had to fall on her sword ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is ...
An editorial in the NZ Herald last week, titled “Nimbyism goes bananas as housing intensifies“, introduced Herald readers to a couple of acronyms that go along with the now-familiar NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard): “bananas” (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone) “cave” dwellers (citizens against virtually everything). The editorial ...
Back in the dark autumn of 2020, when the prospect of Covid was freaking the country out, Finance Minister Grant Robertson set himself and Treasury a series of questions about what a post-Covid economy might look like. Those were fearful days, and the questions in part reflected a series ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yet another day has passed without Ministers of the Crown posting something to show they are still working for us on the Beehive website. Nothing new has been posted since January 17. Perhaps the ministers are all engaged in the bemusing annual excursion ...
Incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has already indicated he intends making the tax system “fairer”. That points to the route a government facing an election could take to tilt the odds towards winning in its favour, given Labour’s support in the last months of the Ardern era had been ...
NewsHub has a poll on the cost-of-living crisis, which has an interesting finding: the vast majority of kiwis prefer wage rises to tax cuts: When asked whether income has kept up with the cost of living, 54.8 percent of people surveyed said no and according to 58.6 percent of ...
Labour has begun 2023 with the centre-left bloc behind in the polls and losing ground. That being so, did his colleagues choose Chris Hipkins as the replacement for Jacinda Ardern because they think he has a realistic shot at leading them to victory this year, or because he‘s the best ...
Two Flags, Two Masters? Just as it required a full-scale military effort to destroy the first attempt at Māori self-government in the 1850s and 60s (an effort that divided Maoridom itself into supporters and opponents of the Crown) any second attempt to establish tino rangatiratanga, based on the confiscatory policies ...
The first of Kiwirail’s big network shutdowns to fix the foundations on our tracks is now well underway with the Southern Line closed between Otahuhu and Newmarket. This is following on from the network wide Christmas/New Year shutdown, during which Kiwirail say that nearly 1,300 people working across 69 different ...
This is a re-post from the Citizens' Climate Lobby blogIn last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Congress included about $20 billion earmarked for natural climate solutions. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for deciding how those funds should be allocated to meet the climate ...
You’ve really got to wonder at the introspection, or lack thereof, from much of the mainstream media post Jacinda Ardern stepping down. Some so-called journalists haven’t even taken a breath before once again putting the boot in, which clearly shows their inherent bias and lack of any misgivings about fueling ...
Over the weekend I was interviewed by a media outlet about the threats that Jacinda Ardern and her family have received while she has been PM and what can be expected now that she has resigned. I noted that the level of threat she has been exposed to is unprecedented ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is able to steer ...
The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central towards the ...
Following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern last week, her replacement, Chis Hipkins, has said: Over the coming week, Cabinet will be making decisions on reining in some programs and projects that aren’t essential right now That messaging is similar to what Jacinda Ardern said late last year and as ...
Much of what will mark the early days of Chris Hipkins’ Prime Ministership would have happened anyway. By December, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister were making it clear the summer break and early days of this year were going to be spent on a reset of government policy. ...
Going to try to get into the blogging thing again (ha!) what with an election coming up and all that. So today I thought I'd start small and simple, by merely tackling the world's (second) richest man.I'm no fan of Elon Musk. You don't want to know why, but I'll ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 15, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 21, 2023. Story of the Week State of the climate: How the world warmed in 2022With a new year underway, most of the climate data for ...
Well, that was a disappointment. As of today, the New Zealand Labour Caucus opted for Chris Hipkins as our new Prime Minister, and I cannot help but let loose a cynical cackle. ...
Get ready for a major political reset once Chris Hipkins is sworn in as Prime Minister this week. Labour’s new leader is likely to push the Government to the right economically, and do his best to jettison the damaging perceptions that Labour has become “too woke” on social issues. Overall, ...
Things have gone sideways… and it’s only the third week of January? It was political earthquake time. For some the Prime Minister made a truly significant announcement. For others – did you have this on your bingo card? – a body double did so (sit tight, you’ll understand later, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Because our hard-working Ministers of the Crown are engaged in Labour Party caucus stuff in Napier, no doubt jockeying to ensure they keep their jobs or get a better one, Point of Order was not surprised to find no fresh news on the Beehive website this ...
By the end of 2019, Jacinda Ardern was a political superstar heading towards an election defeat. She was an icon, internationally beloved, on track to be an ex-prime minister before the age of forty. It was the year of the Christchurch terror attack when Ardern’s response to the atrocity saw ...
People complain about their jobs being meaningless. Does it matter?David Graeber, author of Bullshit Jobs: The Rise of Pointless Work and What We Can Do About It, would have smiled at Elon Musk’s sacking half the Twitter workforce. Musk seems to be confirming the main thesis of the book, that ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. ...
Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. So, although Ardern has named an ...
I warned about the trap of virtue signaling in my article Virtue signaling over Ukraine. This video is still relevant – but have we moved on since then? The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was universally condemned at the time. Or was it? Certainly, the political atmosphere ...
Earlier this week Point of Order carried a post by Geoffrey Miller on how Japan under a new security blueprint is doubling its defence spending. The plans see Japan buying up advanced weaponry – including long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US – and spending more on ...
Anyone else suffering back-to-work-blues? We’re battling, but still upright. Haere tonu! Today’s cover image is of sunset over Tirohanga Whānui Bridge, sourced from Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Jolisa pondered the fate of AT’s ‘Statements of Imagination’. Tuesday’s post was a guest post by Grady ...
Open access notables Bad news delivered by an all-star cast of familiar researchers: Another Year of Record Heat for the Oceans. From the abstract: In 2022, the world’s oceans, as given by OHC, were again the hottest in the historical record and exceeded the previous 2021 record maximum. According to IAP/CAS data, ...
The resignation of Jacinda Ardern has already made more global headlines than you might expect for that of the PM of a small commonwealth nation like say Sierra Leone (population 6.5 million) or Singapore (population 5.5 million). But international observers might not be too surprised by Ardern’s announcement that ...
One of my earliest political memories is the resignation of Prime Minister David Lange in August 1989. I remember this because of a brown felt-tipped pen drawing I did of the Beehive, the building that houses the Executive of the New Zealand Government. More than thirty years later, we ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hard on the heels of our Buzz from the Beehive earlier today, the PM has made two announcements – the 2023 general election will be held on Saturday 14 October and she will not be campaigning to win a third term as Prime Minister. She will ...
Jacinda Ardern had an outsized impact on New Zealand’s international relations. While all Prime Ministers travel internationally, Ardern’s calendar was fuller than most. Ardern’s first major foreign trip came within weeks of her election in 2017, to the APEC summit in Vietnam. The meeting gave Ardern her first in-person encounter ...
She gave it her all. No New Zealand Prime Minister has ever dominated the political scene at home as she has done, or has established an international profile to match hers. No New Zealand Prime Minister has had to confront such a sequence of domestic and international catastrophes – from ...
Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation announcement today has left a lot of us with a lot of complicated feelings. In my case, while I've been highly critical of Ardern's government, I'm still sorry to see her go. We've had far too many terrible things happen during her term as Prime Minister ...
The decision by Jacinda Ardern to end her term as Prime Minister on February 7 has come as a stunning surprise. It turns the task of a centre-left government winning re-election this year from difficult to nigh on impossible. No-one else among the Labour caucus has Ardern’s ability to explain ...
Jacinda Ardern’s first press conference as Labour leader in August 2017 was a defining moment in the past decade of New Zealand politics. A young woman (by the standards of politics) who had long been tipped for higher office, she had underperformed as a minister and Andrew Little’s noble resignation ...
An Astonishing Rapport: Jacinda Ardern's "Politics of Kindness" raised so many progressive possibilities. Her own tragedy, and New Zealand's, is that so few of them were realised.MUCH WILL BE WRITTEN in the coming days about "The Ardern Years", some of it sympathetic and insightful, most of it spiteful and wrong.For ...
Buzz from the Beehive We drew another blank, when we checked the Beehive website this morning for ministerial announcements, pronouncements or denouncements. Nothing has been posted since January 16, when Damien O’Connor announced he was travelling to Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change ...
Kiwis returning to work after their summer breaks and scanning the economic horizon may find few encouraging signals. Even the agricultural sector, which proved to be the mainstay at the height of the Covid pandemic, is now having to navigate the inflation raging in the domestic sector. As well, ...
The Herald this morning reports on the rich's efforts to buy this year's election. And you'll never guess who their chosen vehicle is: The National Party may start election year with a $2.3 million war chest raised from 24 big donors in 2022, while Labour has declared just $150,000 ...
Here’s more from the “no news today” file. Under the heading Wellbeing of missing Marokopa children huge question mark – psychologist, RNZ reminds us that three children have been missing with their father for a year. Marokopa father Thomas Phillips and his three children Jayda, Maverick, and Ember have not ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Members of Parliament for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand have today written to Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Khamenei to condemn the ongoing violence and killing of women’s rights and democracy protesters, and to call on him to intervene immediately. ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
The Government is making an initial contribution of $150,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Tairāwhiti following ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “While Cyclone Hale has caused widespread heavy rain, flooding and high winds across many parts of the North Island, Tairāwhiti ...
Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor has classified this week’s Cyclone Hale that caused significant flood damage across the Tairāwhiti/Gisborne District as a medium-scale adverse event, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “We’re making up to $100,000 available to help coordinate efforts as farmers and growers recover from the heavy ...
A vaccine for people at risk of mpox (Monkeypox) will be available if prescribed by a medical practitioner to people who meet eligibility criteria from Monday 16 January, says Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. 5,000 vials of the vaccine have been obtained, enough for up to 20,000 ...
Finance minister Grant Robertson has opted to go list-only for the upcoming election, meaning he will not seek to be re-elected as MP for Wellington Central. It opens up the door for a swift exit from politics should Labour lose the election; without an electorate, no byelection would be triggered ...
Tory Whanau told The Spinoff’s When The Facts Change podcast that National’s transport spokesperson would push Wellington ‘backwards’ if he becomes transport minister.Wellington’s left-leaning mayor is worried her plans for the city could be scuppered by a new National-led government – and specifically by the party’s most likely candidate ...
Thousands of people are expected to flock to Auckland’s Western Springs on Monday for the triumphant return of the Laneway Festival. But with severe weather warnings in place, is it going to be reduced to a Splendour in the Grass-style “hellscape”? According to the organisers, no. In an email sent ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago A German Leopard 2 heavy battle tank of the type destined for Ukraine.Getty Images The recent decision by Olaf Scholz’s German government to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks – after ...
The Hauraki Gulf Alliance, a group of diverse organisations representing more than 1 million people, has rubbished proposals to continue trawling and dredging in New Zealand’s first marine park, the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. The Hauraki Gulf Fisheries ...
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission has shared experiences of children and young people in emergency housing ahead of New Zealand’s review under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Geneva this week. “The government ...
It’s felt like a long time between drinks, but everyone’s favourite/least favourite family are almost back on our screens. HBO today released a trailer for the upcoming fourth season of Succession and announced a March release date. Check out the trailer – which doesn’t give away too much, but successfully ...
Want to avoid being a bad visitor at the beach this summer? Just follow these simple steps.My partner’s whānau has had a bach in Whangaparāoa, 45 minutes north of Auckland, since the 1950s. They’ve been around long enough to become a part of the bay’s furniture. They know the ...
A slightly underrated track from Elton John gained real life resonance last night. Fans heading to his concerts at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland this weekend have been advised to drive or walk there by Auckland Transport as work on the rail network upgrade has closed the Penrose train station. One of ...
Morning Report - RNZ political editor Jane Patterson and deputy political editor Craig McCulloch run the ruler over the transition to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, and the co-governance debate. ...
Activists from the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) will gather right outside the main entrance of the Wellington Cup with props that symbolise the blood that is shed on the racetrack. ...
Waking up this morning was like a return to my summer break, where I was lulled out of my sleep by the sound of torrential rain. The North Island is in for a wet, windy and generally just bleak weekend. That’s particularly bad news for those of us at the ...
A lot of it is from Auckland as business leaders and a local MP make their requests. Further south, leading academics want plans for a new airport scratched, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
Parts of the nation’s capital have turned into a wasteland of red stickers, and ‘for lease’ signs. WellingtonNZ CEO John Allen has been given the challenge of breathing new life into the city’s economy, businesses, and image. He talks to Bernard about housing and hotel shortages, sewerage on the streets, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Baron, Associate Professor, Philosophy of Science, Australian Catholic University Counterfactuals are claims about what would happen, were something to occur in a different way. For instance, we can ask what the world would be like had the internet never been developed. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Duncan, Associate Professor, School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University Getty Images With a new prime minister sworn in and a cabinet reshuffle imminent, it’s no exaggeration to say the election year has begun with a bang. Already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lindy Willmott, Professor of Law, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock By the end of 2023, eligible people in all Australian states will be able to apply for voluntary assisted dying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly-Ann Allen, Associate Professor, School of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Monash University Shutterstock Teachers around Australia are preparing to head back to the classroom for 2023. But amid excitement about a new school year, there are ongoing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney Ian Alexander “Molly” Meldrum is 80 on January 29 2023. The Australian music industry would not be where it is today without his work as a talent scout, DJ, record producer, ...
The Bill that will create a new public media entity has been improved by the select committee that studied it, but it remains unfit for purpose. Kio Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, a think tank at the University of Auckland, had submitted that ...
This morning, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child called out the failure of the New Zealand Government to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility. Referring to the current minimum age of criminal responsibility, the Committee stated ...
Never mind the chief executives and TV cameras in the CBD – it was a small business grouping in west Auckland that had the new Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister as a captive audience, to talk through the challenges for struggling employers. Jonathan Milne reports.Mark Hauser and his ...
Eighty years after Jewish youths fought for their lives on the streets of the Warsaw Ghetto, the family of an Auckland Holocaust survivor is calling on New Zealanders to reject hatred and treat everyone with dignity, no matter their background. Alicja ...
Our box-fresh prime minister sat down Auckland’s CEO set for his first public audience yesterday. Duncan Greive was there.“I did say we wanted to get closer to business,” quipped our very new prime minister, Chris Hipkins. He sat alongside former National leader, now Auckland Business Chamber CE Simon Bridges, ...
In the northern part of Aotearoa, mangroves occupy mudflats and river mouths. They’re not always loved – but given our rising sea level, maybe they should be. It took a long time for Mere Kepa (Ngati Raka, Ngati Ira) to learn to love the manawa. She grew up around their ...
Kiwis are still buying oodles of new gas guzzlers, David Williams writesOpinion: I like a positive news story, especially when it comes to the environment – I really do. But it’s hard to reconcile progress on the Government’s clean car discount scheme with the urgency we need to reduce ...
Being an international hockey player and a business owner is busy work for Brooke Roberts, but it's taught her the values of self-belief and looking after yourself. And they're values that the Black Sticks have brought into a partnership with Women's Refuge this weekend. When Brooke Roberts was put in ...
David Ruck was held on remand for months after a judge determined he was likely to continue sending death threats if released, Marc Daalder reports A 45-year-old Christchurch man was sentenced to 14 months in prison last year after making several threats to kill Jacinda Ardern. David Anthony Ruck, who ...
FICTIONThe latest Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list, described by Steve Braunias 1 Kāwai by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99) The longlist for the 2023 Ockham New Zealand national book awards will be announced on Thursday, February 2, including 10 books competing for the $64,000 as winner of ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did the right thing in dashing off to Alice Springs this week in response to the publicity about that city’s crime crisis. But in doing so, he set up a test ...
A leading economist says New Zealand has never had a "proper conversation" about what immigration is for, which is creating uncertainty for both immigrants and businesses in the country. ...
Te Tai Hauāuru MP and Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe will not stand for the Māori electorate in October's general election and will instead move to the Labour Party list. ...
Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick has written to the new prime minister, thanking him for making Auckland one of his first priorities as leader. Chris Hipkins spent the day in Tāmakai Makaurau meeting with business leaders, as well as attending the tangi for Māori activist Titewhai Harawira. In the letter ...
RNZ Pacific The Indonesian military says a tribunal has sentenced an army major to life in prison for his involvement in the brutal murder of four Papuan civilians in the Mimika district. Their mutilated bodies were found in August 2022. Benar News reports that human rights activists and victims’ relatives ...
Forest & Bird is deeply disappointed that bottom trawling, dredging and Danish seining will still be allowed under the Hauraki Gulf Fisheries Plan , released in draft form last week . “We need to move beyond ripping up the seafloor to catch ...
Before a fresh group of Treasure Island castaways wash ashore next week, we predict what their go-to words of wisdom might say about how their gameplay. When the Treasure Island: Fan v Faves castaways find themselves marooned on a deserted Fijian beach, it’s likely they’ll need to call on some ...
By Meri Radinibaravi in Suva Fiji’s Constitution does not require everything related to the government to be called Fijian, says Attorney-General Siromi Turaga. Speaking during a media conference, he said there was no right or wrong way to describe a title or name a government. He said FijiFirst party general ...
Alice Webb-Liddall has watched a lot of netball in her life. This was hands down the most confusing five minutes she’s ever seen.This morning at the crack of dawn, I and presumably no more than 10 or so other New Zealand netball tragics woke up to watch the Silver ...
Pacific Media Watch A prominent Papuan journalist has said a recent bombing near his home is the latest in a string of attacks against him, reports ABC Pacific Beat. Victor Mambor said he heard motorbikes ride past his home before a bomb exploded about 3 metres from his house on ...
RNZ Pacific Police interviewing of FijiFirst Party general secretary and former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has reportedly been suspended but will continue later. FBC News reports the interview with Sayed-Khaiyum will continue. The police Chief of Intelligence and Investigations, Assistant Commissioner Surend Sami, told the state broadcaster the suspension is to ...
Councils representing more than a million New Zealanders are calling on the new Prime Minister to take a fresh look at a model for water reform that works. The member councils of Communities 4 Local Democracy He hapori mō te Manapori (C4LD) said that ...
The new prime minister enjoyed what he described as a “constructive” meeting with senior members of the business community in Auckland this morning. The hour-long, closed doors discussion was Chris Hipkins’ first engagement since being elected leader of the Labour Party and, therefore, prime minister. Speaking to media after the ...
His groundbreaking work conducted in Christchurch in the 1960s was never pursued. Now a legal loophole could make NZ a global leader in LSD research.This story was first published on Stuff. When Mark Livingstone was going through his father’s possessions after his death in 1970, he discovered a small ...
CPAG has long thought that Working for Families (WFF) needed to be renamed to put children at its centre, not work. In a letter to the editor today (26 January) Chris Brown of Tauranga came up with a title that accurately reflected the reality of low ...
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The true meaning of flower power.
He said one of his primary goals was to stop "wasteful Washington spending".
[Newly-elected Speaker of the US House of representatives, Kevin McCarthy]
I thought Washington ran on wasteful spending, so good luck with that.
Maybe he just means they should keep wasteful spending but transfer it to other parts of the USA.
Yup.
One of the political catchcries of the past few years has been about 'defunding the police.' Naturally there is enough wriggle room in those actual words to turn them into anything anyone wants. Like turning Jan 6 into a 'tourist visit.'
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has done many fine impressions of a cretin, wants to pare back staff in the IRS. Recently they weren't staffed well enough to do their core job:
"The IRS did not even begin auditing Trump’s taxes until 2019, on the same day the committee began asking the agency about them. This is outrageous, and it must be investigated…
So what happened here? It’s possible that the IRS was aware of all the controversy around Trump’s taxes and simply didn’t want any part of it. That’s inexcusable, but it’s not nefarious.
A more troubling explanation is possible—even likely: that Trump used the levers of government to shield himself from scrutiny."
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/trump-tax-returns-released-house-committee-irs-audit/672582/
My pick is that any cuts to staffing in that department will be more than taken up with person power she wants utilised to turn Hunter Biden into a criminal.
They're explicit about their intent to use the levers to shield tRump.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08-01-2023/#comment-1929605
I'm sure "wasteful spending" won't include spending on the military.
Nope, but they will be guaranteed to keep salami cutting the both GI & VA Bills!
too many backhanders given to american polies for that to happen.
Weirdly, it might – many of the MTG etc crowd are Putin lovers, and are prepared to cut the US military for his sake.
I always remember from way back the fact that one B52 bomber cost twice the Peace Corps budget
I have met quite a few wonderful American PC people in my travels working wonders for poor third orld people and much enhancing Americas reputation. If only they had canned a couple of dozen B52’s and diverted the cash into more PC work…..
Is this a….."Well you wanted it. Enjoy" thing? Seems to have gone from one end to…for many, a final end. kinda wonder if its a thinning out. Well….IMO
The attempted coup continues.
It is all one dimensional chess! There will be many starting to realise that there is no way to exit the "great game" ….
It's all good, two days in and they've learnt how to govern.
Yep – and from PJ Media
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/stacey-lennox/2023/01/04/a-significant-majority-of-republican-voters-agree-with-the-gop-rebels-n1658511
Editor's Note: Republicans now control the House. It's time to investigate the Biden family and Democrats and hold them accountable for their corruption.
Let the "learning to Govern" commence?
I think you are confusing riot with "coup"…maybe go ask all your new pals in the US security state what a coup actually looks like….I would list US backed coup’s but the list would be too long more like …”chickens coming home to roost” as once said….
"coup d’état, also called coup, the sudden, violent overthrow of an existing government by a small group. The chief prerequisite for a coup is control of all or part of the armed forces, the police, and other military elements.'
"riot, in criminal law, a violent offense against public order involving three or more people. Like an unlawful assembly, a riot involves a gathering of persons for an illegal purpose. In contrast to an unlawful assembly, however, a riot involves violence."
See joe…here is an actually coup, going on today, right now, one that will actually badly effect the poor and working class….guess it just wasn't part of your twitter feed……
"The US ambassador in Peru, Lisa Kenna, worked for the CIA for 9 years, as well as the Pentagon. One day before the coup against elected left-wing President Pedro Castillo, Kenna met with Peru’s defense minister, who then ordered the military to turn against Castillo."
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/12/14/coup-us-ambassador-peru-cia/
The loudest voices, always.
/
Longtime Republican activist Matt Schlapp is facing backlash after a new report alleged that the chair of the American Conservative Union (ACU) groped a male staffer working on Herschel Walker's Senate campaign.
Following Thursday's report in The Daily Beast, social media users took to Twitter to criticize Schlapp, the lead organizer of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), for anti-gay views that he's helped promote and spotlight over the years at the world's largest and most influential gathering of conservatives.
"This story is rock solid," journalist Michelangelo Signorile tweeted on Thursday. "Schlapp has allowed the most horrific anti-LGBTQ bile at CPAC. Another GOP hypocrite."
https://www.newsweek.com/matt-schlapp-blasted-hypocrite-after-report-he-groped-male-staffer-1771897
So the sad result of the GOP speaker action this week is that it has now become clear that certain elements within the GOP are more anti-war than anybody within the Democratic party…this is how far to the Right the Liberal (left) has become.
McCarthy’s Speaker Deal Could Stymie Defense Spending Next Year
"The emerging deal Kevin McCarthy is discussing to make him speaker of the House could make agreements on new defense spending impossible next year"
Imagine the Squad pushing for real progressive change and holding power to ransom to get it??…but of course we all know that would never happen, nope just a bunch of boot lickers, who as it turns out, really seem to appeal to other knee bending book licking Liberals…yuk.
Oh look, the only socialist in the village thinks a corrupt petro-state with nukes bolted on should be allowed unopposed and with impunity, to revert to it's cruel, imperialist expansionism and invade it's sovereign neighbour, commit war crimes, impose a brutal and barbaric rule of occupation on civilian populations, engage in the indiscriminate killing of those they can't subjugate, loot the place and then demolish what's left.
//
"the only socialist in the village"…well I wouldn't say that, but I will say you sure as shit ain't one.
I have absolutely no idea why you think that the left should be "anti-war" when all of the historical evidence is that they are not.
After all the USSR that purportably leftish federation invaded Poland and Finland without any cause apart from naked imperialistic greed. Our second world war government was Labour. The US was run by
What has been clear, the USSR aside (it seems to always been more imperialistic and authoritarian than left and (as someone of polish descent) was also impossible to distinguish from czarism, is that left governed states are not interested in imperialistic wars. Where imperialism is defined as annexing territory or setting up protectorates.
Left governments are very resistent to imperialist attacks. They tend to follow previous treaties that they have signed.
Historically imperialistic states like the Russian Federation or the USSR or Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy ignore the treaties, invade and annex.
Conservative right states are generally notable for tending to be isolationist.and often run down military capabilities
So the US and UK are signatories to a treaty guaranteeing Ukrainian security support Ukraine act in support. Other signatories like the China do what is in their equivalent guarantees.
Whereas Russia violated their guarantees of Ukrainian security going so far as to start implicitly waving nukes in their pronouncements. Plus of course they attempted to annex parts of Ukraine.
I think that you are confusing leftist with being a a dumbarse pacifist. Which in my view just makes you the village idiot incapable of seeing anything except your rather strange ideas that is totally divorced from reality.
The best defence against bullies is not to roll over, suck your damn thumb and hope it all goes away. It is to ally with like minded and deal with the ambitions of brutes collectively.
No one who knows me has ever accused me of being, or even supporting pacificism as an ideology (though I do in principle, and in a perfect world of course) …no, I am all for armed revolutions and national defence in the right circumstances.
The problem with you, is that you are so wrapped up in your one dimensional western world view, that it is you and not I who obviously believe we live in a perfect world, well you must do, because that is exactly the world view you are presenting ….a mythical world where Superpowers will just shrug their shoulders in regards to their perceived boarder security…except it is not a perfect world iprent, so no matter how long and how loud Russia and the most serious geo-political, Russia and Ukrainian experts from all sides and from all around the world (including Bidens own CIA director Williams Burns) have been saying that NATO expansion to Ukraine was Russia’s Red Line (rightly or wrongly), and they have all have been ignored for decades…with devastating but predicted results.
This war could have been easily avoided had there been serious negotiations around the Minsk accords which as Merkle has made quite clear, were never under serious consideration, but only used to buy time to arm and train Ukraine (by NATO as a NATO fighting force)….now you tell me, if China were arming and training the Mexican army, do you think America would stand by…or France/UK or any other Superpower in the world who were in the same circumstances?
The other major problem with you and so many other here on TS, is you don’t seem to get the idea that to understand is not to condone.
Lastly, if you really think the US or the UK give even one single shit about the Ukraine or the lives of Ukrainians then you have even less geo-political insight than I thought…they are merely geo-political pawns to the West because of their position on a map and nothing more…that is the tragedy.
BTW, I agree with most of the first part of you comment about the Left/Right…not all, but we’ll leave that to another time.
Bravo Adrian , but once again pearls before swine
And by the way I'd take LPrent's advice re bullies .He knows what he's talking about
Yep he sure does.
Indeed
"The best defence against bullies is not to roll over, suck your damn thumb and hope it all goes away. It is to ally with like minded and deal with the ambitions of brutes collectively."
It looks more like pig-shit on an oyster shell to me; Francesca. But at least better than the unformed excrement of the initial comment (@ 6.0). "Yuk" indeed.
'unformed excrement'? Or maybe you meant uninformed? Either way, the excrement remains upon you own keyboard. Try to be more careful please.
No; In Vino, I meant "unformed".
Temp ORary..Argue my points if you can…but I suspect you’re far too lazy…if that is the case then maybe don’t bother commenting at all until you have something interesting or constructive or funny to add…it might be interesting to see if any of those three are within your reach…probably not.
Adrian Thornton, as far as I can discern from your original comment (@ 6.0) you are annoyed at "the Squad" for not preventing USA military aid to Ukraine. I didn't click on the link you provided, (because it was munged and I don't trust you) but the phrase seems to refer to a paywalled Bloomberg article by Tiron et al. What is not evident is what 8 of 435 USA congress members particularly have to do with that. It's not like their attempt to hold the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act ransom to the passage of the Build Back Better Act wasn't defeated by more Republicans crossing the floor.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/05/politics/infrastructure-bill-house-democrats-voted-no-republicans-voted-yes/index.html
But moving on to your reply to lprent (@ 6.2.1). Again – lots of munged links that I am not disposed to click through. But your argument seems to rest on the perception of Russia being a superpower – which it just isn't. The USSR back last century; sure, but not the present-day Russian Federation. Very dangerous and possessing nuclear weapons; yes, but lacking global influence. In a similar way that the British Empire was once a superpower, but the 2020's UK really isn't (let alone France!) – despite its nuclear armed military and pretensions to the contrary.
Thanks for your contribution Francesca.
All I can say to your contribution is that at least Adrian does attempt to come up with an argument . Better than someone like you who found that being specialised as a dumb critic suited you.
/sarc
Putin just says anything to justify his imperialist invasion. Nato? Also justified with anti-satanism, restoring claimed historic lands, denazification, defending speakers of the Russian language…?
Can you show anywhere NATO interest in invading Russia? While Russia has invaded and brutally oppressed multiple neighbours, creating the interest in joining NATO by many former Russian colonies.
Are you actually being serious?…NATO’s primary objective has always been one of antagonism toward Russia…and remember here that Russia had seriously tried to get NATO membership in 1954 a year after Stains death and before the formation of the Warsaw Pact, but of course they were turned down…now I wonder who was behind that refusal?…could it be having an enemy is better for business than having a friend?
Molotov's Proposal that the USSR Join NATO, March 1954
Operation Unthinkable – Churchill’s plans to invade the Soviet Union
Anyway, as I explained, Russia is acting exactly as predicted by most serious observers…and exactly as how every other Superpower would have reacted..now I will also state yet again, that me pointing out this undeniable fact does not mean I condone Russia's actions…just understand cause and effect in geo-politics…something that obviously seems to escape you.
Reading your reply, seems your answer is no.
Exploration of a plan in 1945 by Churchill to fight the soviet conquest of central Europe is not NATO planning to invade Russia (wasn't NATO, and that plan didn't seem to involve invading Russia, only non-Russian territories that Russia had claimed conquest of – and where Russia subsequently spent decades oppressing and murdering the locals).
Molotov being denied membership of NATO in 1954…is not NATO showing interest in invading Russia either.
Countries join NATO by signing a voluntary agreement. Countries joined the USSR by being invaded by Russia.
Glad you don't condone Russia's actions in relation to Ukraine.
If Ukraine joined NATO and the latter then installed missiles on Russia's border one can understand Russia seeing this as a hostile act. Compare this with 1962, when Kruschev attempted to install missiles on Cuban soil, and note Kennedy's reaction to that.
If..And…Sounds like a reason to have diplomacy and discussion with Ukraine (and try this – better relations), not a reason to launch an unprovoked pre-emptive bloody war. While you justify with "cos NATO" – Russia also justifies with naked empire building, fake "denazification", "desatanisation", and anti-LGBT.
Perhaps if Russia stopped invading all her neighbours, former Russian colonies would be less keen to join a defensive alliance?
If it happens it will probably then be too late for Russia to do anything, because it will not just be Ukraine that they will have to fight but the whole of NATO, so a pre-emptive strike is justified.
Basically that is a completely bullshit rationalisation for a pre-emptive invasion. Not to mention demonstrating that you are a gormless lazy fool who sucks up propaganda and doesn't research – yet again. Perhaps you'd actually do some study for a change. So I'll provide the some basic links for your education.
Have you ever actually looked at the process to join NATO? It has a lot of conditions, requirements and processes to go through.
This is political in that any exiting member state can veto. The downside is that getting obnoxious without a reasonable cause could cause the recalcitrant member to be evicted (you'd should look at the history with Turkey and Greece inside NATO).
But more importantly, in military terms. The aspirational member has to be able to work within the NATO military frameworks and doctrines. That is a hard and often long process.
Here is the potted history of NATO-Ukraine relations and NATO-Russia relations (and a clearer version of the latter).
The process usually takes decades and involves a lot of work. Aspirations to join simply aren't enough, and Ukraine hadn't demonstrated that it was ready in either a political (relatively unstable) or military (not doctrine compatible) way to do so.
In 1994 both Russia and Ukraine joined a help program Partnership for Peace which is about establishing trust between NATO and other countries. That was currently the only formal precursor to NATO members that Ukraine was involved in.
If that is your apparent only criteria for readiness for acceptance into NATO – then the Russian Federation should try invading itself.
At the time that Russia invaded, Ukraine had long held aspirations to join NATO. In 2002, Ukraine has applied for a precursor for aspirants to membership – MAP. However it withdrew from that in 2010 both for internal political issues in Ukraine and because they had problems with adjusting their force structures to something that could work within NATO.
However their military structure simply wasn't going to be accepted under the NATO Article 10 membership process. That was why they hadn't started any formal attempt to enter NATO.
In 2005, Ukraine joined a relatively informal process "Intensified Dialogue", which was a process that just looked at helping aspirants for NATO membership in how to adjust their armed forces to fit within the military mutual defence of NATO. In the 17 years since, there has been little progress in that process.
Even if Russia withdrew back to pre-2014 borders. It would still take a decades for Ukraine to be able to join NATO. It's current military structure even after all of the doctrine and weaponry updates under Russian military pressure still won't fit within a NATO military structure. It will take decades to achieve that.
Ukraine finally did formally request NATO membership in September 2022 – seven months after Russia invaded. The application was only accepted because
If memory serves me that was after Putin announced that Russia was going to unilaterally annex parts of Ukraine, and in a act of aggressive intent included parts that Russia wasn't even in control of. Which
By comparison Finland and Sweden were militarily compatible with NATO forces. Consequently their NATO membership application last year, triggered by Russian Federation imperialist aggression, are getting close to the point that acceptance may actually happen this decade.
Basically NATO is very picky about membership. Its biggest recruiter has been the behaviour of the Russian imperialism. Both you and the propagandists of the Russia Federation are essentially complaining that Ukraine was aspiring to join NATO. Not that NATO was actively trying to recruit Ukraine.
The only formal relationship that NATO had with Ukraine prior to the invasion by Russia, was the same as one that Russia also had with NATO.
Your argument is complete crap. There were no NATO missiles installed in Ukraine. There were no no formal military treaties like that between Cuba and the USSR in 1961 or Turkey's membership in NATO.
Any deeper military relationship between NATO and Ukraine was decades in the future. It would have required that Ukraine wanted to change its military forces to ones that would fit within the NATO military framework.
Sure there were some strong indications that was their intent after 2014 – like adding their intent into the Ukrainian constitution in 2019.
But that was after the Russian Federation had forsworn its guarantees from the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances and invaded and unilaterally annexed Crimea after a fake 'referendum'. It was probably pushed further by the Russian Federation fomenting and supplying a insurrection with equipment and 'off-duty' troops in a portion of eastern Ukraine. Russia was actively pushing Ukraine to any allies it could find against their neighbours agression.
Please educate yourself, and stop presenting the kind of psuedo intellectual self-mastubation that you seem to love on this topic.
Russia apparently has been moving military equipment towards the Finnish border, a development which seems to have stemmed from Finland's decision to join NATO.
I think that you're kind of confused. Perhaps you should look at the extent of the Russian Empire in 1914 on the eve of World War I.
And the size of the USSR in 1922.
There wasn't much (if any) added territory from conquest. In fact I remember that the USSR lost territory to Poland and some other areas.
After WW2 the USSR gained some territory. But it wasn't much, and I believe that the successor states to the Soviet Socialist Republics that obtained those still retain them. But it wasn't large amounts of territory except in Finland and Poland (?).
UncookedSelachimorpha: I suspect that what you are trying to talk about were the nation states that joined the Warsaw Pact after that formed. In which case you should look closely at Albania, Romania, Mongolia and Yugoslavia and their history with the Warsaw Pact. It directly contradicts your assertion.
I guess that you have absolutely no truck with the idea that a nation state or its citizens have any opinions of their own. Which when you look through your response is essentially your only working argument.
You really are such a sycophantic apologist for imperialism aren't you?
It may be Russia's red line, however the demand to join NATO hasn't been initiated by Russia or the US. That is simply geopolitical gobbledegook almost entirely from practitioners of that ancient imperial intellectual tradition. Most of them have been concentrating on the tug of war between super-powers and, like you, seldom deign to look at why actual nations join military alliances.
Nation states have been wanting to join it for mutual military security. Usually pushing really hard for it. There are states who haven't wanted it like Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and others for various reasons. But what you clearly don’t understand is that it is quite hard for states to join because of Article 10 and the military interoperability and doctrine requirements. There have been some seriously long wait periods between application and agreement to join. It is expensive as hell to get ready to join. It constrains the budgets of applicants to get up to standard and usually does some nasty things to the career prospects of military officers and staff.
But none-the-less states keep persisting on trying to join and going to great effort to join. Usually against the advice of many if not most policy makers in the US. That is because the US is a major partner in NATO, but not the only one. NATO itself has had a explicit open door policy since 1991 after requests from states exiting the USSR, but also that was how it formed originally.
In my view, geo-politics is pretty simply an excuse for simpletons to ignore the wishes and the intent of the states to determine their own destiny and their citizens to chart their own course. Basically it is an excuse for snobs to avoid looking at then little people… Does that sound like you? It does to me.
You haven't mentioned once anywhere that I am aware of, any reason why Ukraine, or Estonia or Kosovo or any of the other current of previous applicants have endured the trauma of applying for and pushing through to membership of NATO. All you ever talk about is Russia, USA, occasionally deign to mention Germany and the UK, and infinitesimal political or military groupings inside Ukraine.
Coming to think of it – that is also what you do for local politics as well. You really do sound like a aristocratic intellectual snob.
Of course they do just stand by. That literally happens all of the time. You should just look at where the sales of arms actually happens, and the degree to which armed forces training happens between militarises. The problem with you is that you assume that the nations only sell arms and only train in places that are very friendly to them or with whom they have treaties. That isn't the case. It just happens more frequently. But if you look at what happens on the ground, you'll find military cooperation and the sale of arms has some pretty weird combinations amongst countries that are not in direct conflict with each other.
You find (for instance) Turkey arming itself with S400 anti-aircraft systems from Russia. That makes the US cranky, but doesn't stop it. Similarly places like Uzbekistan that tend to be in the Russian orbit have some pretty active NATO training and various types of equipment sales going on. Along with
Peter Schwarz in your link about Merkle is a idiot.. The timeline literally walks the time line backwards from a completely unsupported assertion that the US instigated a coup in Kyiv in 2014. Now I understand that this assertion is a a religious article of faith amongst the geo-politically unhinged. But I have seen no credible evidence of it.
Nor have I seen a single instance of you or any of your idiotic religious brethren who has even managed to advance explanation about why it is rational for the US or even any significant faction in the US to have wanted it. All I see are waffling assertions and Russia propaganda directed internally. I can understand why Russia wants to con their citizens…
However all of the historical evidence indicates that it was Russia who was trying to instigate a presidential coup over the intentions and without the support of parliament. That can be summed up with this. Note the timeline. The parliament had overwhelmingly approved in early 2013, Russia put pressure on to not approve an agreement with the EU, the president didn't approve later in 2013. Then public protests against the decision of the president broke out. Russia then invaded.
The only countries that supported Yanukovych were Russia, who invaded Crimea and possibly Belorussia. There were assertions of CIA influence – almost entirely from Russian sources. But the evidence is flimsy at best. What has been released or stated tends to show Washington foreign policy dithering
Prior to the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine used to buy from Russia, most of their new military equipment and spares and do a lot of training with Russia. They also brought from NATO countries and did training with NATO.
That I can see of your paywalled link about NATO exercises refers to a exercise held last year – hardly relevant. Why did you bring it up? As a stupid distraction or because you couldn't find anything more relevant? But lets ignore that…
But that Ukraine was buying more hardware from NATO and doing more of their training with NATO forces since 2014 is a direct result of having Russia invade and annex Crimea, plus supporting both the DPR and LPR secessionist republics with military hardware and 'volunteers' from the RF military.
Are you trying to say that that Ukraine should have been buying weapons and having exercises with a country that had just invaded and annexed part of their territory and was actively promoting a two secessionist micro-states? Are you insane?
The Minsk agreements were attempts to get a ceasefire in place. A ceasefire is literally a conflict frozen in place. I guess that Peter Schwarz doesn't understand what the word means or what a agreement to have a ceasefire means and why that is in the first point of the agreement.
Sure, Minsk II had some provisions for having working towards some kind of peaceful resolution. However the prerequisite of having a working ceasefire never happened.
Neither the Minsk I or Minsk II resulted in a ceasefire. Minsk I just resulted in the conflict heating up.
There was a slowing of conflict after Minsk II. But there were numerous reported violations initiated from both sides with claims from both sides and independent observers but there was never a cessation of fire. Nor claims by both sides and independent observers of violations of the ceasefire parts of both.
This was unlike any ceasefire agreement that ever actually succeeded in working its way to a a peace agreement or a long-term freeze in hostilities like the intra Korean border. Consequently neither side stood down forces, nor stopped improving their military position.
I really wish that you'd make some kind of effort to mount a coherent argument. I only have limited time to write answers.
As you can see, I had to break my quotations of points from your comment up to answer your points. I also note that you only designed to answer exactly one point from my comment. The breakup was because you don't separate your points. The ones worth dealing with are all dropped into a unwieldy paragraphs with lots of crap links all jumbled together. Generally without a connecting argument.
Could you please try to do better. It is exhausting dealing with an argument as confused as you are giving.
In a democracy the normal way of getting rid of an unwanted president is through the ballot box. Although, as you rightly point out, an early election was offered but never held – what were the protesters afraid of; that Yanukovych might be re-elected? Fleeing Kyiv was not a reason for dismissal so his dismissal was clearly unconstitutional.
In WW1, Germany invaded Belgium, not because they had any particular beef with the Belgians, but because they needed to pass through Belgium in order to attack France. Belgium declined a German request to allow its army passage; hence the invasion. I think that as WWII approached, Russia, observing the rise of Nazi Germany, thought that Germany’s armies might "pass through" either Poland or Finland, with or without the permissions of those countries, to attack Russia. One might argue that this does not justify Russian invasions of Poland and/or Finland, but that is largely a matter of opinion, and Russia obviously thinks otherwise, particularly as it sees itself as surrounded by inimical states in any case.
"anti-war", in the sense of being pro-brutality, pro-authoritarian, pro-imperialist, pro-torture, pro-kleptocracy, pro-violence…etc etc
This Stuff article on contemporary and historical polyamory in Aotearoa is quite interesting. Especially in the references to pre-colonial Māori relationship patterns (with the caveat that, as always, this depended on; time, place, iwi & hapū):
https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/130649407/i-was-seeing-six-people-polyamory-often-misunderstood-can-also-be-freeing
However, it does omit to mention those who are unable to be in a relationship with the nature of a marriage, for bureaucratic purposes. Work and Income can be harsh with solo parents, and others, in committed heterosexual monogamous relationships – even retrospectively cutting benefits, and saddling the poorest with unexpected debt on a reduced income.
Where a; Couple with 1 or more children, gets $283/ week (each after tax before accommodation, or other, supplements – $566 total), a; Sole Parent, gets $440.96, and a; Single Jobseeker, $315 ($536 total for jobseeker couple without children – the extra $30/ week doesn't far towards meeting child costs!).
https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/benefit-rates/benefit-rates-april-2022.html
However eagle-eyed the system may be in detecting and designating monogamous heterosexual couples as de facto marriages (unless they can be proved not so – which isn't the easiest), it is strangely myopic when it comes to; homosexual, bisexual and polyamorous relationships. Thus solo parents have a (presumably unintended) incentive to form polyamorous relationship clusters. The 3 nights together a week "rule" is widely understood to be a threshold for a relationship for WINZ purposes, though I don't know what legislation or regulations back that up. It certainly seems to run counter to section 21 (prohibited grounds of discrimination) of the NZ HRA, though there is always section 21B:
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0082/latest/DLM304212.html
That's what happens when you swap your old gods for a new one.
Ngā Atua (eg Ranginui) weren't exactly gods in the European sense – or at least no one expected them to answer prayers. More like anchors to oral histories that varied by iwi. Ngā Tipua (eg Taniwha) were more like personifications of the environment, but were given offerings to appease them in some situations, say when passing through their land.
But anyway; "swap", is a bit too simple and intentional for how the religious/ political/ military colonization of Aotearoa happened. The hundred years between the Marsden mission in 1814 and WWI were complex, and while there hasn't been as much open warfare in the last century – that was differently complex. Too much to get into now.
While some Māori did end up embracing the new god (eg the Rātana and Ringatū churches; to which maybe 10% of Māori belong), many stopped having any committed religion at all. Tagata Pasifika are more likely to be churchgoing than Tangata Whenua in my experience. Though it may have been expedient in the past to profess adherence to Christianity, there were a lot of bad experiences with church authorities abusing their positions that produced disenchantment with such confidence men. Though my whānau may be more decidedly atheist than most. Plus there are the new American evangelicals and Destiny that seem to be gathering adherents (and their money).
Unless you mean that the new god was money? In which case, it'd be hard to disagree; Joe90.
One wonders what influence Key has on Luxon when it comes to foreign policy.
Damien Grant makes an interesting comparison between Neville Chamberlain and Key vis a vis Hitler and Xi.
”It is collectively accepted that Hitler deceived Chamberlain. The problem, Gladwell asserts, is that Chamberlain looked for clues in the body language and behaviour of the Nazi leader and when his words matched that behaviour Chamberlain assumed Hitler was being honest.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/300779066/damien-grant-does-luxon-share-sir-john-keys-wilful-blindness-on-china
I wonder why? Attempting to control the narrative? Unable to handle pointed questions? Afraid of scrutiny?
Without reading, perhaps insistence on a journalism qualification? Or knowing how skewed anything written by a rampant Actoid like this guy might be? Any comms person would protect a party leader.
when simon dallow finally gets the push will his job be advertised or will another right wing hair and teeth job with a mystery career be shoe horned into place?
[You have been making attacks on Simon Dallow and asking for his resignation or being fired for at least 4.5 years now here. You provide no link nor reason and you make no political point whatsoever. You do this again and I’ll accept your resignation from TS’s commentariat. This is your warning – Incognito]
Editors and producers decide on stories and approaches to them. Not presenters.
S Dallow y
es he is awful and I don't like him. Perhaps you are correct Sacha, that means there is a group of nasties.
Message received. Won't comment on this again.
Mod note
He is a new reader you fool. He reads whats on the teleprompter. Thats it.
Reframing
It's a nice quote; Sacha, but the link is to a twitter page that no longer exists. What is the context, and where is the evidence?
Going by the name, I imagine that it originates from a self-proclaimed media analyst in Australia – but that doesn't narrow it down much. Hope for the future seems overly optimistic to me, but certainly better than despair.
Twitter was the context.
SRODS strikes again.
Geography and politics.
Iran shows it will kill anyone who stands against the regime.
The executions on Saturday of two young men in Iran, one a karate champion, the other a volunteer children’s coach, in connection with nationwide protests have sparked outrage around the world.
The total number of people now known to have been executed in connection with the protests that have swept the country since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody on September 16 has reached four.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/07/middleeast/iran-protesters-executed-intl-hnk/index.html
You do know that having a CNN link to a story on the Iranian riots is about as useful as having an PressTV link on Jan 6th riots….why don't you try finding some serious news sources to link us too on these important stories, instead of this endless stream of US propaganda…that way we can all become better informed..it's would be a win win for everyone, including you.