Open mike 11/01/2025
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6:00 am, January 11th, 2025 - 19 comments
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- 2025 Reading List: April (+ Writing Update)
Completed reads for April: The Gospel of Thomas, by Didymus Jude Thomas The Gospel of Mary (fragmentary) The Gospel of Judas The Infancy Gospel of James The Gospel of Peter The Stranger’s Book (fragmentary) Obviously a very quiet month in terms of reading. In fairness, real life and ...6 hours ago - Make China great again!
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler As readers of this Substack will know, I've been increasingly concerned about the destruction of one of America’s greatest competitive advantages: our university research system. Recently, the Trump administration announced that they were going to cut university overhead rates to ...10 hours ago - No Russia in Papua: Indonesia’s quiet diplomacy speaks loudly
Indonesia’s low-key rejection of reported Russian interest in military basing in Papua says more than it appears to. While Jakarta’s response was measured, it was deliberate—a calculated expression of Indonesia’s foreign policy doctrine of non-alignment, ...12 hours ago - Australia (still) needs a dedicated and public-facing national security adviser
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Back in 2018, Aotearoa was in the midst of the Operation Burnham inquiry. During this, it emerged that key evidence was subject to a US veto under an obscure and secret treaty. Part of the Five Eyes arrangement, this treaty was referred to by a number of different names in ...17 hours ago - Nicola Willis’ Austerity Threatens New Zealand’s Future
I hate to sound the alarm, but New Zealand’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis is wielding her austerity axe with a reckless abandon that could plunge us into a prolonged recession. The 2025 Budget, with its brutal $1.1 billion reduction in baseline spending, is ...17 hours ago - Nicola Willis’ Austerity Threatens New Zealand’s Future
I hate to sound the alarm, but New Zealand’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis is wielding her austerity axe with a reckless abandon that could plunge us into a prolonged recession. The 2025 Budget, with its brutal $1.1 billion reduction in baseline spending, is ...17 hours ago
- Punish That Criminal !
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In the 1980s and early 1990s when I wrote about Argentine and South American authoritarianism, I borrowed the phrase “cultura del miedo” (culture of fear) from Juan Corradi, Guillermo O’Donnell, Norberto Lechner and others to characterise the social anomaly that exists in a country ruled by a state terror regime ...5 days ago - Northern Australia: fortress, gateway and resource powerhouse
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Inflation is rising again and it’s landing hardest on families already stretched thin. ...2 weeks ago
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- Release: Longer wait for treatment under National
New Zealanders have waited longer to get an appointment with a specialist and to get elective surgery under the National Government. ...3 weeks ago
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-title { font-size: 1.2em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .entry-meta { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: center; margin-top: 0.5em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-meta { font-size: 0.8em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .avatar { height: 25px; width: ...27 minutes ago - Political quakes show how quickly things change
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GEEZ
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360545082/trump-will-be-sentenced-his-hush-money-case-days-he-returns-white-house
Remember a lot of of people cheat on their partners, so the fact they voted for a cheater who tried to cover it up isn't anything really,
It's why people vote for Trump at all is the big question
The Regulatory Standards Bill submissions are closing very soon. This Monday 13th. Where is the well paid political opposition on this? Seemingly fucking nowhere….
Seems Its Left to lone voices.
Stand Up. Fight back !
Some of the many negative impacts of the Regulatory Standards Bill on New Zealanders:
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2501/S00021/act-now-on-the-proposed-regulatory-standards-bill.htm
Indeed ! And I acknowledge you (and others on The Standard) have previously drawn attention to this and provided good Links on same.
Thanks
The bill has yet to be drafted for its first reading in parliament
https://www.regulation.govt.nz/assets/Publication-Documents/Have-your-say-on-the-proposed-Regulatory-Standards-Bill-final.pdf
Thanks for putting up those Links….straight forward. Might help some do it before Monday 13th.
Important !
Latest diversionary tactic by The Post:
https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360544925/midnight-deadline-looms-submissions-beneficiary-bill
A half-page item headlined "Concerns Over Tight Time Frames On Bills" which sounds promising, but actually devotes most of the space to one bill (the Social Security Amendment Bill – important, of course, but only one of many).
The TSB and its time-extension are referred to in the closing (very short) paragraphs, while the RSB gets a single passing mention only in the last sentence of all.
You really do have to suspect a deliberate conspiracy of near-silence.
No. This is The Minister of Regulations seeking submissions before the drafting of a bill.
I might refer to him and his agenda when making a submission on the anti-stalking legislation (Feb 13).
It’s becoming obvious that Meta and Zuckerberg are falsely alleging that fact-checkers were responsible for censorship and that Meta itself was doing all the censoring. [NB fact-checking and censorship are distinctly different]
https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/2025/an-open-letter-to-mark-zuckerberg-from-the-worlds-fact-checkers-nine-years-later/
Flooding the zone.The oligarchy will do whatever it takes to pollute information and turn everything into meaningless noise.
When Elon Musk launched his latest crusade against Wikipedia this Christmas Eve, it wasn’t just another of the billionaire’s frequent Twitter tantrums. His gripes about the community-written encyclopedia expose something far more significant: the growing efforts by America’s most powerful right-wing figures to rewrite and control the flow of information. While Musk’s involvement began with grievances about his own coverage on the website, his recent attacks reveal his growing role in this broader campaign to delegitimize Wikipedia, and the right’s frustration with platforms that remain resilient against such control.
https://www.citationneeded.news/elon-musk-and-the-rights-war-on-wikipedia/
Wikipedia, an organized and evolving repository of all human knowledge, relies on an army of anonymous volunteer editors to keep running. Wiki editors spend hours of their lives tweaking entries, fighting with each other, and attempting to create a clear picture of the truth online. According to leaked documents obtained by Forward, the Heritage Foundation is planning to “identify and target” those anonymous editors.
https://gizmodo.com/the-people-behind-project-2025-want-to-reveal-the-identities-of-wikipedia-editors-2000547511
The kids are being radicalised and what's coming won't be pretty.
Ethel Cain appeared to share her thoughts about the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last month. In a series of Instagram Story posts on Friday, the musician used the hashtag “#KillMoreCEOs” in response to a post about money in politics being “the root of our dysfunction.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ethel-cain-unitedhealthcare-ceo-killing-luigi-mangione-1235232140/
And one of the first things assange said when released was that wikipedia wasa bullitin board for the CIA . He would know doncha think joe ?
I missed this RNZ news item earlier, but it's on today's midday news.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/538572/frustrating-and-distressing-doc-appeals-for-information-after-seabirds-killed
Whether or not the seabirds are a protected species is irrelevant. This behaviour demonstrates brazen cruelty and ignorance. As one of the boats is easily identifiable, hopefully the participants can be traced and face consequences – maybe some voluntary work for DOC?
Sudan
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/10/africa/sudan-genocide-explained/index.html
and Chad
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/09/africa/chads-presidential-palace-attacked-intl/index.html
At least we have a functioning nation state and for most, there is only a risk of a post modern form of oppression (should they dissent).
There is more than a little bit of inevitably about this.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/10/uk-first-glyphosate-resistant-weed-found-kent-farm
Bayer had been enjoying good news recently with the news that the PTB in OZ, reckon there isn't enough evidence linking glyphosate with Non-Hodgkins for the class action to succeed.
https://www.farmersweekly.co.nz/news/bayer-claims-another-glyphosate-victory/
This is another example us humans not making the change that's needed until it's too late.
Second that second round of chemo me one spray last yr six months chemo for non hodg remission second spray silly me afta getting sick garden gets out of control so spray again an wouldnt ya know here we go again !!! Was my condition made pos by the jab cause aint like i never sprayed before tho i was total purist one upon a time til i came up against climbing asparagus .dont have the answers mite live mite die but im goin back to being a purist when it comes to glyphosate .
Even more reason to speak out against removing restrictive GMO legislation: the main reason is to allow entry for big-farma Glyphosphate resistant crops.
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Jan. 10, 2025
Sam Moore, the tenor half of the scorching soul duo Sam & Dave — known for indelible hits like “Soul Man,” “Hold On, I’m Comin’” and “I Thank You” — died on Friday. He was 89.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/10/arts/music/sam-moore-dead.html