the billions wasted all round the world, on toys for the boys, is outrageous. the cold war is well over, but many of the old cold warriors are still hanging on, fighting old battles that never happened in the first place. drone technology has bypassed the need for many expensive, manned toys(much to the annoyance of weapons manufacturers), and this tech is now going underwater. sub makers are no different from any business, looking for new uses for their out of date products, but are looking more and more like yesterdays men. the last generation of aussie subs had a reputation for being noisy and leaky and prone to rusting, not exactly what you want to be in if the shooting starts..
the billions wasted all round the world, on toys for the boys, is outrageous. the cold war is well over, but many of the old cold warriors are still hanging on…
There are plenty of commentators who think we should be arming ourselves like those rogue regimes in Canberra and Washington. One of the more obnoxious statements in support of this was delivered on Jim Mora's light chat show in 2018. Mike Rehu, who mouthed this nonsense, is, I am sorry to say, an increasingly regular presence on RNZ National….
JIM MORA:[inhales loudly to indicate moral seriousness] What do YOU think?
MIKE REHU: Yeah, I, I, I’m the SAME actually. I, I do feel as though we, [baffled sigh] y’know, the industryyyy, y’know in EVERY industry they HAVE these conferences, they HAVE these exhibitions, this is, and ironically in SOME countries yooouu, you SAY “defense” and it’s not defense, it’s OFFENSE, but I think New Zealand HAS to have a DE-fense, and I, I personally worry that, that we-e-e-e, we don’t. I mean, I was just looking at some numbers earlier today, we spend four hundred and twenty-six dollars a PERSON on our DE-fense compared to Australia’s fifteen HUNDRED, which is over four times, and the U.S.has three point one per cent of their G.D.P. spent on defense, ours is like one point one—
MORA: Yeah.
MIKE REHU: So we spend a MINUSCULE amount, and you can TELL in the quality of aircraft, boats, and blah-blah-blah that we have. But in these days of, y’know, what they’re calling the sharp POWER where we saw, y’know, ahhmm, the Saudi Arabian fella get, ahhh, get assassinated pretty much, allegedly, in Turkey, ahhh, we’ve seen the North Koreans come down and hit somebody. We’ve seen the Russian spies come in. Now, w-w-we’re pretty harmless down here but we’ve got a lotta things that people WANT in the world, especially our natural resources like water. And we’ve seen, we’ve played NICELY with people, we’ve almost GIVEN [snickers] away some of our resources. But when, now that we’re wising UP a little bit, what if people WAN’ our resources and things down here and, and what’re we gonna do—
MORA: Is that—
MIKE REHU: —if somebody comes in?
MORA: Is that push ever gonna come to shove though?
MIKE REHU: Well. I mean, surely we should have some sort of sturdy defense anyway, at least SOME capability, I mean, otherwise we WILL have to turn to bigger powers and, and then we’d, we have to, obviously, sign some kind of compromise deals with people and—-
MORA: Which is what we do now, don’t we. We, we lend them a frigate, or we lend them a, a batch of the S.A.S. and we play our part among a group of nations.
MIKE REHU:[inhales loudly to indicate how serious he is] Yeah, and, but even with AUSTRALIA, y’know, the relationship we have with Australia, apparently, y’know, a lot of our kit is massively inFERIOR, and we get by with our good soft skills, our good people skills when we’re overseas representing our country in part of these United Nations, ahhhm, combinations. So, y’know, again, coming back to your first question about the expo, ahhhmm, it IS a worry that there MAY be some weapons of OFFense, ahhhm, being shown at this exhibition, but I think if it’s about DE-fense then we should play a part.
I mean, it's a lot of cash, but long term planning is good.
Skipped the audio, read the slides – there didn't seem to be anything in the presentation to say why the design is flawed or the process was fatally compromised, so I'm not sure they've bought a lemon on the order of the US F35 (particularly the abject failure of its ALIS) or LCS (a good idea that got bloated and lost its main unique advantages).
Right wing seam to be upset over PM dumping her regular interview with Hoskings.
I say good riddance.
The guy has always been a right wing boot licker. With a lot of his so called thoughts that are supposedly his opinion (Right Wing Talking Points Regurgitated) the PM should not have been giving him a lifeline for his show so long.
To all of the Moaning Minnie’s of “ where’s the plan, there is no road map “ detractors the Government has shut them down with a vengeance with the announcement of a further 8.5 million doses of the most effective Covid vaccine having been bought for NZ.
There has been a plan all along right from the initial 40 million bucks or so of investment in a number of producers and many statements of the intent to make sure we get the most effective one, that is what the elimination tactic was all about, keeping the powder dry and waiting to see the whites of their eyes.
Brilliant politics and superbly played by the Government and aided hugely by us by behaving ourselves, with the obvious exception of a few arseholes and the notable actions of the chief arsehole, the Apostle of Doom who wanted to shoot a few Bambis.
Let’s all breathe easier and give ourselves a pat on the back. Well done.
P.s, I may well be in one of the initial cohorts by right of age but I for one will gladly wait and shuffle in behind Kane and Rossco, Guppy and Ish , Trent and Kyle and the rest of the BCs so they can see to India in June, and also tucked in behind our Olympians, among whom is a young cyclist I know who has been on a personal quest for 16 years. Go all you good things!
Here is an interesting clip with Aaron Mate' unpacking the common knowledge and complicity within the US government that they were directly supporting ISIS and Al-Qaeda in their proxy war in Syria, and even though these statements by various US officials admitting this complicity have been public knowledge throughout the war, US and western media have rarely reported on these US connections with terrorist groups in Syria..instead as usual they only ever seem to encourage western more wars and more western interventions…ask yourself this question, when was the last time you can remember a western MSM source coming out against a western military operation or intervention?
Well, considering the general question of who is the bigger idiot, the belligerent ranter or the one vainly attempting to reason with it, I'm sure I'm making a mistake taking the bait, but anyhoo:
ask yourself this question, when was the last time you can remember a western MSM source coming out against a western military operation or intervention?
Errm, just over a week ago, there was quite a lot of criticism of Biden's airstrike in Syria, with a lot of questioning of Biden's authority to order it.
Going not much further back, there's been plenty of criticism of US involvement with what's going on in Yemen and the US support for the atrocities committed by Saudi Arabia. Even including Congress voting to block arms sales, which the tangelo turdgoblin ignored.
Then there was plenty of criticism of Papaya Palpatine's provocations of Iran, from missile strikes to outright murder of one of Iran's top military leaders.
and on and on the list goes …
It's a pretty long list of mainstream media criticisms of US military adventurism that you seem to have completely missed in your obsession with fringe kooks like Mate and Gabbard. Let alone that the primary function of media is to report facts, with criticism being very much a secondary function of communicating opinions.
" Let alone that the primary function of media is to report facts, with criticism being very much a secondary function of communicating opinions." …are you serious or taking the piss? or are you really actually saying that you actually believe media has no agenda or political position? …name us one media outlet that is unbiased and neutral.
When you do a google search up under news, 'Biden strike in Syria', the whole first page just reports it as if it business as usual (which I guess it is), except The Washington Post….it seems any and all US war is good for them..
'just a few weeks into his term, President Biden has dealt with a heavy burden that comes with office;when and how to use military force.."
Can't see much push back there, I am know there is some dissent if you search for it, but of course that is not the point, because as I am sure you know, probably more than 80% of people only read the headline of the first news item they see about a subject..that is a fact, and that is what we are talking about…btw did you hear in any NZ news piece any kind of dissent or push back?
I guess it depends on your definition of 'quite a bit"…and how strongly worded criticism needs to actually be to meet any sort of threshhold. Looking through the Guardian (which I know is considered quite the legitimate news source round these parts) and I shan't bore you all with cutting and pasting the headlines ..but I assure you ..they were all spectacularly neutral ..the only criticism being one opinion piece by Tita Parsi.
Google and follow the links for 'Biden Airstikes' and really its all pointedly neutral. Google and follow the links for 'Biden Airstrike Legality"…note the lack of your usual news sources…its just not really a thing…
For most people who are half engaged with politics and do not have the time to dig deep, there was no criticism or contextualistion to Bidens actions.
Though to be fair that pretty much sums up all News these days.
You had to search pretty long and hard to get your mainstream media criticism Andre
The first 2 pages of Google were very matter of fact and had no criticism of Biden's strikes on Syria
It's a matter of the preponderance of positive or neutral articles on US actions abroad versus the same for its enemies and rivals
How much media attention has there been to the Swiss ditching the Browder case in comparison with the positive attention Browder has enjoyed in the western media for years?
Did you hear about it on RNZ? or CNN?
We endured weeks if not months of the Russian doping scandal, but very scant attention paid when the majority of the 39 Russian athletes had their doping bans overturned by the CAS and medals reinstated
And this from the Nation concerning the credibility of MacLaren and Radchenko and the whole case was not picked up by any of the mass media, who pretty much all dance to the same tune these days
Andre it's obvious you didn't watch the video Adrian offered so I'll fill you in some of whathave you missed.
Aaron Mate relayed quotes or statements from:
James F Jeffrey bragging that "United State…crushed the country's (Syria) economy"
New York Times referring to the Syrian war as "one of the costliest covert action programs in the history of the CIA"
Washington Post describing it as "a CIA program …. with a budget approaching $1 billion a year" "One knowledgeable official estimates that CIA back fighters may have killed or wounded 100,000 Syrian soldiers and their allies over the past four years"
Robert F Worth New York Time "In the summer of 2015 rebels were closing in on the Latakia city limits and mortars were falling downtown. If the rebels had captured the area, where Alawites are the majority, a result would most certainly have been sectarian mass murder. Many people in the area would have blamed the United States which armed some of the rebels operating in the area"
In 2014 during an address Biden said
"Our biggest problem is our allies. Our allies in the region were our biggest problem in Syria. The Turks were great friends..The Saudis, the Emirates etc . And what were they doing? They were so determined to take down Assad and essentially have a proxy Sunni-Shia war. What did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and ten thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad except that the people who were being supplied were El Nusra and Al Aqueda and the extremest elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world" He later apologised, not because he'd make a false statement, or because he'd omitted the US's equal involvement, but because the Turks Saudis et al were offended by this revelation.
In a leaked email in 2012 from Biden's current National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to Hiliary Clinton "Al Qaeda is on our side in Syria"
Brett McGurt, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, in 2017 "Idlib province is the largest Al Qaeda safe haven since 9/11"
Rob Malley, lead negotiator on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, in 2018 told Aaron "We were part of what fueled the conflict rather than stopped it"
etc etc
I trust you'll be able to view the rest of the video without my assistance Andre.
Aaron Mate shows Obama massively intervened in Syria primarily through a covert giant CIA program that's led to the chaos that Syria is still recovering from today. And that it is so cynical that the US was willing to use ISIS and Al Qaeda to advance their goals of regime change
Tulsi Gabbard is the lone voice in the US government in voicing her disgust in the regime change war that the US continues to wage in Syria using Al Qaeda, El Nusra, HTS terrorists as their proxy ground force and who now occupy and control the city of Idlib imposing Sharia law.
I don't understand why it's necessary to refer to Aaron Mate and Tulsi Gaggard as finge kooks. It is just silly name calling. It's what 10 year olds do.
"Multiple Ministry and DHB failures, from the unavailability of PPE, to failings at the border, and serious deficiencies in communicating clear and accurate information to the public, have all contributed to the feeling that New Zealand’s indisputable success at beating the virus has, all-too-often, been more a matter of good luck than good management."
What a load of proverbial. Has he forgotten the marvellous communication and management skills the government, in conjunction the Ministry of Health, have exhibited in relation to Covid starting a year ago? Has he not noticed that Britain, an island similar in size to NZ, has had 124,000 covid deaths where NZ has had 26?
Trotter says:
"The instinct of the Ministry of Health (as well as the DHBs it relied upon to deliver on the ground) was to hold onto power at all costs. Certainly, it seemed extraordinarily reluctant to allow any outside players into the game. Nowhere was this dog-in-the-manger attitude more evident than in the Ministry’s refusal to allow the roll-out of the “smart” Covid Card developed by Trade Me founder, Sam Morgan, and the talented team of digital wizards he had assembled. Obstacle after bureaucratic obstacle was placed in front of these experts from the private sector until Morgan, his patience exhausted, simply threw up his hands in frustration and walked away."
Has Trotter not noticed that the UK has wasted NZ$74 billion(yes seventy four billion dollars) on a private sector driven track and trace system that has failed miserably-see article below. Trotter seems to be in thrall to Sam Morgan simply because he has made a lot of money. Meanwhile the NZ government's simple and easy to use cellphone-based tracer ap works well.
trotter is sounding more and more like yet another sad old git, desperately trying to remain slightly relevant . perhaps he should start a club with don brash.. oh wait, he already has….
The whole magical thinking around Sam Morgan's COVID card is emblematic of the lack of sophistication that certain boomers have when it comes to discussing IT.
Chris Trotter doesn't understand that we've moved on from IT versions of Magnus Pike who are impossibly smarter than the rest of us and peculiar men in Hawaiian shirts who use the command line in UNIX.
He thinks we should rely on a bunch of business leaders who grabbed every subsidy going and only paid it back after public shaming in many cases and who continued to haul down multi million salaries at the same time? Spare me.
Most are simply generic managers with superior backstabbing skills to get to where they are. Beaverbrook they are not.
2.7 million people are using the track and trace ap according to the last figure I heard….probably 3 million by now. That must be a high proportion of cell-phone users in NZ given the population is 5 million and many of them are children.
The source of those pamphlets discussed yesterday appears to be an overseas based religious group?
Are the deliverers being asked to carry too heavy a load? They look like reasonably big booklets.
And all those people who have a letterbox sign about unwanted deliveries? Keep a stock of large envelopes- put the excess material in it – address to Ovato (companies office site will have addresses and directors addresses) – never a post shop when you need one?- maybe skip that step then- put in mail.
The pre-covid levels of international travel weren't only trashing the planet.
Going by how the New Zealand economy is currently preforming, it was a large brake on our economy due to all the money spent on outbound, and a very large proportion of inbound spend leaving the economy.
Hopefully this government will follow Simon Upton's advice and institute a stiff departure tax to cover the carbon emissions of travel and put New Zealand tourism on a sounder environmental and fiscal footing.
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You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
This Youtube post this morning should explode in Australia. The billions gambled in Aussies next submarine program scandal is beyond belief.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2vnciriE_Q&ab_channel=SubBrief
the billions wasted all round the world, on toys for the boys, is outrageous. the cold war is well over, but many of the old cold warriors are still hanging on, fighting old battles that never happened in the first place. drone technology has bypassed the need for many expensive, manned toys(much to the annoyance of weapons manufacturers), and this tech is now going underwater. sub makers are no different from any business, looking for new uses for their out of date products, but are looking more and more like yesterdays men. the last generation of aussie subs had a reputation for being noisy and leaky and prone to rusting, not exactly what you want to be in if the shooting starts..
the billions wasted all round the world, on toys for the boys, is outrageous. the cold war is well over, but many of the old cold warriors are still hanging on…
There are plenty of commentators who think we should be arming ourselves like those rogue regimes in Canberra and Washington. One of the more obnoxious statements in support of this was delivered on Jim Mora's light chat show in 2018. Mike Rehu, who mouthed this nonsense, is, I am sorry to say, an increasingly regular presence on RNZ National….
thanks. kind of validates my post.
I mean, it's a lot of cash, but long term planning is good.
Skipped the audio, read the slides – there didn't seem to be anything in the presentation to say why the design is flawed or the process was fatally compromised, so I'm not sure they've bought a lemon on the order of the US F35 (particularly the abject failure of its ALIS) or LCS (a good idea that got bloated and lost its main unique advantages).
The presentation seemed more knowledgable than Hanson's idiotic questioning of the same project, though. The admiral is a study in patience.
Right wing seam to be upset over PM dumping her regular interview with Hoskings.
I say good riddance.
The guy has always been a right wing boot licker. With a lot of his so called thoughts that are supposedly his opinion (Right Wing Talking Points Regurgitated) the PM should not have been giving him a lifeline for his show so long.
To all of the Moaning Minnie’s of “ where’s the plan, there is no road map “ detractors the Government has shut them down with a vengeance with the announcement of a further 8.5 million doses of the most effective Covid vaccine having been bought for NZ.
There has been a plan all along right from the initial 40 million bucks or so of investment in a number of producers and many statements of the intent to make sure we get the most effective one, that is what the elimination tactic was all about, keeping the powder dry and waiting to see the whites of their eyes.
Brilliant politics and superbly played by the Government and aided hugely by us by behaving ourselves, with the obvious exception of a few arseholes and the notable actions of the chief arsehole, the Apostle of Doom who wanted to shoot a few Bambis.
Let’s all breathe easier and give ourselves a pat on the back. Well done.
P.s, I may well be in one of the initial cohorts by right of age but I for one will gladly wait and shuffle in behind Kane and Rossco, Guppy and Ish , Trent and Kyle and the rest of the BCs so they can see to India in June, and also tucked in behind our Olympians, among whom is a young cyclist I know who has been on a personal quest for 16 years. Go all you good things!
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/pro/pumped-hydro-already-delayed-a-year
Headline is concern causing….more can kicking?
Unfortunately it is paywalled, would be interested if anyone has some detail
Here is an interesting clip with Aaron Mate' unpacking the common knowledge and complicity within the US government that they were directly supporting ISIS and Al-Qaeda in their proxy war in Syria, and even though these statements by various US officials admitting this complicity have been public knowledge throughout the war, US and western media have rarely reported on these US connections with terrorist groups in Syria..instead as usual they only ever seem to encourage western more wars and more western interventions…ask yourself this question, when was the last time you can remember a western MSM source coming out against a western military operation or intervention?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBdO1Rc9ctU
Well, considering the general question of who is the bigger idiot, the belligerent ranter or the one vainly attempting to reason with it, I'm sure I'm making a mistake taking the bait, but anyhoo:
Errm, just over a week ago, there was quite a lot of criticism of Biden's airstrike in Syria, with a lot of questioning of Biden's authority to order it.
Going not much further back, there's been plenty of criticism of US involvement with what's going on in Yemen and the US support for the atrocities committed by Saudi Arabia. Even including Congress voting to block arms sales, which the tangelo turdgoblin ignored.
Then there was plenty of criticism of Papaya Palpatine's provocations of Iran, from missile strikes to outright murder of one of Iran's top military leaders.
and on and on the list goes …
It's a pretty long list of mainstream media criticisms of US military adventurism that you seem to have completely missed in your obsession with fringe kooks like Mate and Gabbard. Let alone that the primary function of media is to report facts, with criticism being very much a secondary function of communicating opinions.
" Let alone that the primary function of media is to report facts, with criticism being very much a secondary function of communicating opinions." …are you serious or taking the piss? or are you really actually saying that you actually believe media has no agenda or political position? …name us one media outlet that is unbiased and neutral.
When you do a google search up under news, 'Biden strike in Syria', the whole first page just reports it as if it business as usual (which I guess it is), except The Washington Post….it seems any and all US war is good for them..
'just a few weeks into his term, President Biden has dealt with a heavy burden that comes with office;when and how to use military force.."
Can't see much push back there, I am know there is some dissent if you search for it, but of course that is not the point, because as I am sure you know, probably more than 80% of people only read the headline of the first news item they see about a subject..that is a fact, and that is what we are talking about…btw did you hear in any NZ news piece any kind of dissent or push back?
I guess it depends on your definition of 'quite a bit"…and how strongly worded criticism needs to actually be to meet any sort of threshhold. Looking through the Guardian (which I know is considered quite the legitimate news source round these parts) and I shan't bore you all with cutting and pasting the headlines ..but I assure you ..they were all spectacularly neutral ..the only criticism being one opinion piece by Tita Parsi.
Google and follow the links for 'Biden Airstikes' and really its all pointedly neutral. Google and follow the links for 'Biden Airstrike Legality"…note the lack of your usual news sources…its just not really a thing…
For most people who are half engaged with politics and do not have the time to dig deep, there was no criticism or contextualistion to Bidens actions.
Though to be fair that pretty much sums up all News these days.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/26/biden-iran-deal-diplomacy-syria
On and on the list goes??
You had to search pretty long and hard to get your mainstream media criticism Andre
The first 2 pages of Google were very matter of fact and had no criticism of Biden's strikes on Syria
It's a matter of the preponderance of positive or neutral articles on US actions abroad versus the same for its enemies and rivals
How much media attention has there been to the Swiss ditching the Browder case in comparison with the positive attention Browder has enjoyed in the western media for years?
Did you hear about it on RNZ? or CNN?
We endured weeks if not months of the Russian doping scandal, but very scant attention paid when the majority of the 39 Russian athletes had their doping bans overturned by the CAS and medals reinstated
I wonder why
And this from the Nation concerning the credibility of MacLaren and Radchenko and the whole case was not picked up by any of the mass media, who pretty much all dance to the same tune these days
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/congress-not-honor-one-notorious-doping-cheats-time/
Andre it's obvious you didn't watch the video Adrian offered so I'll fill you in some of whathave you missed.
Aaron Mate relayed quotes or statements from:
James F Jeffrey bragging that "United State…crushed the country's (Syria) economy"
New York Times referring to the Syrian war as "one of the costliest covert action programs in the history of the CIA"
Washington Post describing it as "a CIA program …. with a budget approaching $1 billion a year" "One knowledgeable official estimates that CIA back fighters may have killed or wounded 100,000 Syrian soldiers and their allies over the past four years"
Robert F Worth New York Time "In the summer of 2015 rebels were closing in on the Latakia city limits and mortars were falling downtown. If the rebels had captured the area, where Alawites are the majority, a result would most certainly have been sectarian mass murder. Many people in the area would have blamed the United States which armed some of the rebels operating in the area"
In 2014 during an address Biden said
"Our biggest problem is our allies. Our allies in the region were our biggest problem in Syria. The Turks were great friends..The Saudis, the Emirates etc . And what were they doing? They were so determined to take down Assad and essentially have a proxy Sunni-Shia war. What did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and ten thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad except that the people who were being supplied were El Nusra and Al Aqueda and the extremest elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world" He later apologised, not because he'd make a false statement, or because he'd omitted the US's equal involvement, but because the Turks Saudis et al were offended by this revelation.
In a leaked email in 2012 from Biden's current National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to Hiliary Clinton "Al Qaeda is on our side in Syria"
Brett McGurt, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, in 2017 "Idlib province is the largest Al Qaeda safe haven since 9/11"
Rob Malley, lead negotiator on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, in 2018 told Aaron "We were part of what fueled the conflict rather than stopped it"
etc etc
I trust you'll be able to view the rest of the video without my assistance Andre.
Aaron Mate shows Obama massively intervened in Syria primarily through a covert giant CIA program that's led to the chaos that Syria is still recovering from today. And that it is so cynical that the US was willing to use ISIS and Al Qaeda to advance their goals of regime change
Tulsi Gabbard is the lone voice in the US government in voicing her disgust in the regime change war that the US continues to wage in Syria using Al Qaeda, El Nusra, HTS terrorists as their proxy ground force and who now occupy and control the city of Idlib imposing Sharia law.
I don't understand why it's necessary to refer to Aaron Mate and Tulsi Gaggard as finge kooks. It is just silly name calling. It's what 10 year olds do.
Why are you so threatened by these people?
Yes Adrian,,,,me too, happy to wait so the BCs are vacinated for trip to India.
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/109393/whether-it-be-defeating-fascist-disease-or-eliminating-coronavirus-history-teaches-us
In the above article Chris Trotter says:
"Multiple Ministry and DHB failures, from the unavailability of PPE, to failings at the border, and serious deficiencies in communicating clear and accurate information to the public, have all contributed to the feeling that New Zealand’s indisputable success at beating the virus has, all-too-often, been more a matter of good luck than good management."
What a load of proverbial. Has he forgotten the marvellous communication and management skills the government, in conjunction the Ministry of Health, have exhibited in relation to Covid starting a year ago? Has he not noticed that Britain, an island similar in size to NZ, has had 124,000 covid deaths where NZ has had 26?
Trotter says:
"The instinct of the Ministry of Health (as well as the DHBs it relied upon to deliver on the ground) was to hold onto power at all costs. Certainly, it seemed extraordinarily reluctant to allow any outside players into the game. Nowhere was this dog-in-the-manger attitude more evident than in the Ministry’s refusal to allow the roll-out of the “smart” Covid Card developed by Trade Me founder, Sam Morgan, and the talented team of digital wizards he had assembled. Obstacle after bureaucratic obstacle was placed in front of these experts from the private sector until Morgan, his patience exhausted, simply threw up his hands in frustration and walked away."
Has Trotter not noticed that the UK has wasted NZ$74 billion (yes seventy four billion dollars) on a private sector driven track and trace system that has failed miserably-see article below. Trotter seems to be in thrall to Sam Morgan simply because he has made a lot of money. Meanwhile the NZ government's simple and easy to use cellphone-based tracer ap works well.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1406035/how-much-has-test-and-trace-cost-budget-nhs-contact-tracing-cost-evg
trotter is sounding more and more like yet another sad old git, desperately trying to remain slightly relevant . perhaps he should start a club with don brash.. oh wait, he already has….
The whole magical thinking around Sam Morgan's COVID card is emblematic of the lack of sophistication that certain boomers have when it comes to discussing IT.
Chris Trotter doesn't understand that we've moved on from IT versions of Magnus Pike who are impossibly smarter than the rest of us and peculiar men in Hawaiian shirts who use the command line in UNIX.
He thinks we should rely on a bunch of business leaders who grabbed every subsidy going and only paid it back after public shaming in many cases and who continued to haul down multi million salaries at the same time? Spare me.
Most are simply generic managers with superior backstabbing skills to get to where they are. Beaverbrook they are not.
Only if you have a cellphone it works on.
2.7 million people are using the track and trace ap according to the last figure I heard….probably 3 million by now. That must be a high proportion of cell-phone users in NZ given the population is 5 million and many of them are children.
The source of those pamphlets discussed yesterday appears to be an overseas based religious group?
Are the deliverers being asked to carry too heavy a load? They look like reasonably big booklets.
And all those people who have a letterbox sign about unwanted deliveries? Keep a stock of large envelopes- put the excess material in it – address to Ovato (companies office site will have addresses and directors addresses) – never a post shop when you need one?- maybe skip that step then- put in mail.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124465378/mother-disgusted-11yearold-daughter-being-asked-to-deliver-extreme-religious-publication-on-paper-round
First day of America's Cup 36 finals tomorrow.
Breathless techno-sporting nationalism awaits.
A suitably restrained event this year though.
Good to hear:
Charge more for flights to deter tourists and help the planet, says Air New Zealand adviser
The pre-covid levels of international travel weren't only trashing the planet.
Going by how the New Zealand economy is currently preforming, it was a large brake on our economy due to all the money spent on outbound, and a very large proportion of inbound spend leaving the economy.
Hopefully this government will follow Simon Upton's advice and institute a stiff departure tax to cover the carbon emissions of travel and put New Zealand tourism on a sounder environmental and fiscal footing.