Speaking of a media outlet losing its marbles. Kremlin mouthpiece RT has published a weird daydream about a Russian take over and the Ukraine government doing a US Vietnam or Afghanistan type flight from their own capital.
Like that's ever gonna happen. But you can always dream I suppose.
The American exit from Kabul might be taste of the future for officials in Kiev
It may be not to far from the truth, as the russians are reporting that the UK are suffering such shortages because of their support that they are hunting and eating squirrels. / sarc. This is a good video for the tankies just to show what they support. I don't think it will change their thinking but it lays out pretty clearly just what they are.
The key word here being "withdrawal". The war in Afghanistan and Vietnam ended with the invader's withdrawal. Without the invader's withdrawal those wars would still be going. Just as the war in Ukraine will end with the invader's withdrawal, and won't end, until the Russians do withdraw.
Simple as that.
That is utterly pathetic, so much so that it must be some kind of abuse or corruption. Scared if rw backlash?! WTF, it's info that's needed more more than ever.
The BBC are also demoting sports broadcaster and former football star Gary Lineker because he dared to voice criticism of the Conservative government's new policy on asylum seekers.
I tell you what, nothing brings home climate change like driving for 45 minutes to five different stores to get hold of some limes for my cocktail party tonight.
Understandable when your view of women is so much of a sexist stereotype that you think that putting on a frock and doing tampon advertisements makes you a woman.
I think it's worse than that. I think KitchenAid is being utterly cynical in creating content by manufacturing outrage. Most feminist (I would guess) aren't interested in that ad existing – not because its a transwoman fronting it, but because it's so regressive and stereotyped – so it's not like they're taking a valued job or anything.
If that ad had appeared with a famous female influencer – feminists may have criticised the ad on the 'taking us back to the 50s' vibe but really, no-one would have cared much – they've heard it all before – maybe there would be a standard npn-apology for a minor publicity boost.
But with a transperson fronting the ad, the same feminist criticism would be 'anti-trans' and create screeds of column inches and social media discussions while everyone decides what the ad means and what we should be angry about. people will be banned, blocked and hated, academics would write their things.
And KitchenAid will sit back and watch its top 10 trending and take the sales when the furore has died away.
It might be a bit cynical – but generally when I see something prevocative like this these days, I assume it's a deliberate plan to create social media noise.
I must do some researching on it, but it just seems so like the Bannon-type messaging, I think more than just a few unscrupulous marketing departments have taken notes.
"The need for some such agency is, I think, undeniable. The current debate over consultants has revealed how hopelessly, cravenly reliant modern government is on the Deloittes and Chapman Tripps of this world. The state has been hollowed out in recent decades, losing expertise, wisdom and savvy. One of the worst examples came in Kaipara some years back, where, following the grotesque failure of a wastewater project, it became clear the local council was so short-staffed it couldn’t even manage its contracts with private providers – let alone build anything itself."
Only problem is it will take a decade or two to regain the required capabilities….as with most solutions, the best one is not to create the problem in the first place.
Georgia drops foreign agents law after massive protests
By SOPHIKO MEGRELIDZE today
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s parliament voted Friday to drop a foreign agent registration bill after the legislation, which opponents warned could be used to stifle dissent and curtail media freedoms, prompted tens of thousands of protesters to swarm the capital this week.
Lawmakers voted 35-1 against the bill during a session that lasted just four minutes and featured no discussion. The vote came less than a day after Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, said it would withdraw the legislation…
….Protesters in Tbilisi said the bill was inspired by a similar law in Russia that has been used to silence critics. They rallied outside the parliament building despite being met with tear gas and water canons.
Similar to the claim made by supporters of Russian imperialism, that the popular revolt against Russian ally Victor Yanakovych who fled to Moscow, was a Western backed coup.
Russian leader Fyodor Lukyanov, chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy has likened the Foreign Agent Law protests in Georgia, as a Western backed plot.
As another ex-Soviet state is gripped by violent protests, is a Ukraine-style coup on the cards?
RT 9 Mar, 2023 10:38
…internal pressure from a restive minority is backed up by external pressure from the EU and US.
They claim that the government is colluding with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as former Western-favorite Saakashvili languishes in prison. The fact that Moscow’s influence, in this case, is completely fictitious is irrelevant. The Russian issue is too deeply embedded in Georgia’s political consciousness.
A Maidan-style overthrow of the authorities is unlikely; there are no real hardline forces, such as those seen in Kiev, in the opposition. The main front now will be external – EU and US pressure to force Tbilisi to abandon neutrality and the authorities’ ability (or inability) to evade it. Their resources are limited…
what would the russians use to invade georgia ? they are reduced to scrounging from nth korea! for shells ,and are running short of warm bodies. 30 yrs of corruption has hollowed out the russian military .
"History never Repeats I tell myself before I go to sleep." Splitenz
East Germany thrived on snitching lovers, fickle friends and envious schoolkids
Newly unearthed secret files from the former German Democratic Republic reveal how easily we can betray others.
Peter Wensierski
Dec 23, 2015 – 12.15am
Everyone knows about the Stasi and the extent to which it spied on the East German populace. But that was only a small part of the informing that went on. New research shows that snitching was vastly more common than previously thought….
…..they were totally normal citizens of East Germany who betrayed others: neighbours reporting on neighbours, schoolchildren informing on classmates, university students passing along information on other students, managers spying on employees and Communist bosses denouncing party members…..
Mass Backstabbing Spree Over Putin’s War Sweeps Russia
Noor Ibrahim
Sat, March 11, 2023 at 9:52 AM GMT
Many of those jailed after being reported by other citizens were charged under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, a new law signed by Putin last year criminalizing “public actions aimed at discrediting” Russian Armed Forces…..
….cases detailed in the Vrestka investigation include complaints made against Russian citizens for playing a Ukrainian song in the car while driving, drunkenly making pro-Ukrainian statements from a balcony, and criticizing the war in private conversations with friends at a coffee shop. The individuals who made the complaints allegedly include eavesdropping neighbors, coworkers, and janitors.
In many of the cases, according to the outlet, little to no evidence was provided by witnesses who reported the alleged violations.
Developments can move in two very different directions in this geopolitical transformation of the South Caucasus. One features a stalemate in the war in Ukraine, a gradual recovery of Russian strength and a deepening relationship between Moscow and Tehran. The outcome would be to counter the growing influence of Azerbaijan. Russian peacekeepers would reassert control over the Lachin corridor. Iran would begin sales of weapons to Armenia, notably the Shahed-136 drones, and the Zangezur corridor would be stalled. The longer-term investment would be aimed at promoting the north-south transport corridor that has long been favored by Russia and Iran.</em>
The alternative scenario features a defeat for Russia in Ukraine and effective sanctions against Iranian exports of weapons. This would embolden Azerbaijan and Turkey to push through the Zangezur corridor, to further erode Russian influence in the South Caucasus and to shut Iran out of the region. It is worth remembering that during the 44-day war in 2020, Azerbaijan not only shelled targets in Nagorno-Karabakh but also targets inside Armenia proper. It remains in a position to do so again, and Russia may be too weak to prevent it.
The outcome if Turkey and Azerbaijan emerge as winners would be infrastructure investment that is geared toward providing energy from Central Asia and the Caspian basin into Europe. There would be many winners. Turkey is only too happy to become a major energy hub. The European Union has already courted Baku for gas while dialing back criticism of Azeri human rights abuses. And the U.S. would be happy to see Russia pushed out. It does look like the most likely outcome.
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An example of the desire for intensification gone crazy.
Developer in an upmarket inner-city suburb in Auckland wants to redevelop a single site to build 11 town-houses on a known flood plain (heavily flooded during the Jan downpour).
The 'plan' is to build the houses over sacrificial garages (basically designed to flood – though the developer denies this). [my sarcastic single quotes]
He claims that the existing stormwater infrastructure is sufficient – even though it wasn't in Jan this year, and his proposal would cover the whole of the site in concrete – further reducing any capacity for rainfall to be stored in the ground.
The only interest the developer has is in building and selling these for as much profit as possible – he'll wind up the company immediately they are sold, so there will be no way to make him culpable for downstream consequences.
The common sense approach, as I see it, would be to red-sticker this site, and use it for effective flood mitigation landscape planning for drainage of the surrounding area. It might, or might not, be possible to run a kindy on part of the site (the existing use is a daycare centre)
So the developer bought a cheap site next to the creek, and it looks like Council might be going to restrict what can be done with it to a point that there's no way they are going to get their money back.
So, they come up with a plan to maximise return with something that really won't be marketable until people forget about the flood risk to increase the site's value when Council have to step in and buy the property.
That said, sacrificial floodways are a very long-standing urban design strategy. Live in a flat subdivision and the building platforms are meter or two above the street, probably wouldn't leave your car on the street when there's a big rain coming, that street is probably designed to flood to buffer loads on the stormwater system down stream.
The approach isn't without merit, makes alot of sense to build on piles or above garages getting the living spaces at least 1m above ground would save plenty of heartache.
Well, if that's intended to be the NZ-wide solution to climate change: "just build up" – then it would be really good for the Government to articulate it.
Personally, I think not building in already identified floodplains, especially when they've already been flooded – is a better solution.
And, even better, if the Insurance companies came out and said that new houses built on floodplains will not be insurable for flood/water damage (you can, of course, still insure for fire and theft).
I'd guess that would make the vast majority of the potential high-risk builds uneconomic (banks wouldn't lend if no insurance, and most people wouldn't buy)
ATM, the Council is hamstrung by the current legislation, and the knowledge that developers will take them all the way through the Environment Court in order to get building consent.
We need a country-wide legislative framework to address these climate risk issues.
It is chicken or egg really but if you won't be able to get ordinary home insurance on a dwelling then it matters not whether the house is built on stilts or piles or hung from a slow low hovering helicopter!.
It seems less wasteful to say no and base good planning on geographic features now rather than let people find out yet again that the house they have built/paid mortgage money on is either washed away or flooded and then is not capable of being insured. Why have the second step of having 11 poor homeowners demonstrating ‘yes those flood plain maps were correct, yes the 2023 flood results were demonstrative of 2023 realities?’.
Perhaps 'someone' should buy this land back or allow some sort of tax credit to the developer if it is made a reserve never to be built on. This would need to be fair.
if your house is registered as a boat(why not, tiny houses get round council housing rules by being classified as caravans), then maybe you could get boat insurance? it wont be cheap, boat stands for >bring out another thousand..but if you need insurance for a mortgage, it may be a way around the problem.tiny houses need wheels,towbars and be blocked up, not on solid piles, to be classified as a motor vehicle. what would a house need to be classified as a boat? a life preserver and a name?
Good to see that Helen White has been selected as the Labour candidate in Mt Albert.
Helen has lived in the Electorate for over 30 years and is well known in the area for her work with local organisations. She also has worked as an Employment lawyer – representing working people.
She has great Labour values and obviously has good support from the local Electorate Committee.
Means that there is a very good Labour candidate Camilla Belich who contested the (extremely hard for Labour to win) Epsom electorate last election available for somewhere like (ummm) Auckland Central that Helen White missed on in the last two elections.
Why do I think that this is important?
That 3-way split is a problem in Auckland Central. In 2017, Helen lost it to Nikki Kaye from the Nats by 1581 votes. In 2020 lost it to Chlöe Swarbick by 1068 votes. with the National candidate less than 2000 votes behind.
So Auckland Central is in the position of having a 3-way split in the candidate vote.
But here is the thing for a number person like me. Look at 2017 vs 2020.
Chlöe Swarbick's excellent campaign raised the green candidate vote by about 10,000 votes – and the Green party vote just by about 2800 votes.
This suggest to me that as a campaign, the Greens and Chlöe expended quite a lot of resource in getting a electoral candidate and failed to gain a solid a base in Auckland Central.
Helen White expended effort on gaining party vote – the kind that all parties under MMP actually need.
Ok – some numbers followed by argument..
Green candidate vote in 2020 – 12,631
Green party vote in 2020 – 6,937
Green candidate vote in 2017 – 2,838
Green party vote in 2017 – 4,170
Labour candidate vote in 2020 – 11,563
Labour party vote in 2020 – 16,751
Labour candidate vote in 2017 – 11,617
Labour party vote in 2017 -11,340
National candidate vote in 2020 – 9,775
National party vote in 2020 – 7,680
National candidate vote in 2017 – 13,198
National party vote in 2017 -11,773
As a party, even one that I'm not affiliated with, but who goes into arrangements with my normally preferred party, I get worried by that.
Under MMP, smaller parties that wind up dependent on electoral seat tend to wither and die.
Now I'm sure that the usual party electorate crap that usually goes around electorate seat wins for minor parties will be running around the Greens. That it provided a base for growing the party vote. The problem is that isn't what you see with NZ's now rather large MMP history.
But again, that isn't usually what happens. What happens is that party vote is across the whole country with relatively minor variants. The party resources get sucked into defending an electorate seat, and eventually they lose both the seat having lost the party vote long before that.
The only known long-term exception has been NZ First who actually became a better party after Winston Peter finally lost Tauranga. They refocused on a national campaign and won seats by list votes. I have a strong suspicion that they will do so this election – despite Shane Jones.
You could argue that Act is working against that. But that is too early to tell. National were so crap after the 2017 and especially during the pandemic that there was a lot of what I call protest votes going from National to Act. The Act candidate usually gets between 5x to 10x the Act party vote they get out in Epsom, The Greens usually get larger party votes than Act does, and they're far more consistent.
In 2017, Act as a party got 0.5% party vote and the Greens got 6.3%. In 2020 Act got 7.6% in mostly protest votes against National. But the Greens got a consistent 7.9%.
It will be going to be interesting to see if Act can pivot from running mostly a single electorate campaign to running a national campaign this election, and if the Greens get sucked into defending and electorate at the expense of their national campaign….
dont know whether the greens have to defend anything. mother nature is waking everybody up to the greens message.crappy weather turns everybody into socialists. I think act will be defending the 5% limit, as nervous nats again, dither and return to default setting. I really think nzfirst is done. they might huff and puff, but its wasted votes .
mother nature is waking everybody up to the greens message.
Sure, Doesn't mean that voters are any more likely to vote Green. In fact, I'd almost bet that it does exactly the opposite. Everyone covered in disasters loves havinga sanctimonious Jeramiah laughing at their misfortune rather than being constructive and useful to the commonweal.
crappy weather turns everybody into socialists
Yes. But frankly the Greens simply aren't that much more socialist than either Labour or National or NZ First when it comes to disaster relief. So you're really just contrasting the Greens (and every other party in parliament) to Act.
I really think nzfirst is done. they might huff and puff, but its wasted votes .
Do you have any idea how many times I have heard that in the last 30 years? And how many times that people relying on that have face planted themselves into a custard pie. To me, a statement like that indicates just indicates a idiot commenting on the demographics of protest politics.
The obstruction part of the Trump documents investigation is centered on Trump’s incomplete compliance with a subpoena in May that demanded the return of any classified-marked documents in his possession, after documents he earlier returned to the National Archives included 200 that were classified.
In June, Corcoran searched Mar-a-Lago and produced about 30 documents with classified markings to the justice department and had another Trump lawyer, Christina Bobb, sign a certification that attested to compliance with the subpoena “based on the information provided to me”.
But the justice department, according to court filings, developed evidence that more classified-marked documents remained at the resort, as well as “evidence of obstruction”. And when the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, they found 101 such documents in a storage room and in Trump’s office.
Given that he'd already been selected as the candidate (with no opposition), this strikes me as a bit late in the piece – though, I suppose, better now than later in the year.
Almost certainly going to gift the Waiariki electorate to TPM's Waititi – who would I think have held it it any case – he seems to have strong electorate support.
I recall a TV piece about Sir Rod Deane and his wife after their late daughter Kristen was finally diagnosed with Rett syndrome. IIRC, Kristen was in her early/mid-teens at the time of filming, tiny, uncommunicative, with a fixed gaze and entirely dependent on her care givers.
Not many things get to me but the plight of that kid and her parents certainly did.
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Over the last three rather tumultuous US trade policy weeks, I’ve read these four books. I started with Irwin (whose book had sat on my pile for years, consulted from time to time but not read) in a week of lots of flights and hanging around airports/hotels, and then one ...
Indonesia could do without an increase in military spending that the Ministry of Defence is proposing. The country has more pressing issues, including public welfare and human rights. Moreover, the transparency and accountability to justify ...
Former Hutt City councillor Chris Milne has slithered back into the spotlight, not as a principled dissenter, but as a vindictive puppeteer of digital venom. The revelations from a recent court case paint a damning portrait of a man whose departure from Hutt City Council in 2022 was merely the ...
That's the conclusion of a report into security risks against Green MP Benjamin Doyle, in the wake of Winston Peters' waging a homophobic hate-campaign against them: GRC’s report said a “hostility network” of politicians, commentators, conspiracy theorists, alternative media outlets and those opposed to the rainbow community had produced ...
That's the conclusion of a report into security risks against Green MP Benjamin Doyle, in the wake of Winston Peters' waging a homophobic hate-campaign against them: GRC’s report said a “hostility network” of politicians, commentators, conspiracy theorists, alternative media outlets and those opposed to the rainbow community had produced ...
National Party MP Hamish Campbell’s ties to the secretive Two By Twos "church" raises serious questions that are not being answered. This shadowy group, currently being investigated by the FBI for numerous cases of child abuse, hides behind a facade of faith while Campbell dodges scrutiny, claiming it’s a “private ...
National Party MP Hamish Campbell’s ties to the secretive Two By Twos "church" raises serious questions that are not being answered. This shadowy group, currently being investigated by the FBI for numerous cases of child abuse, hides behind a facade of faith while Campbell dodges scrutiny, claiming it’s a “private ...
The economy is not doing what it was supposed to when PM Christopher Luxon said in January it was ‘going for growth.’ Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short from our political economy on Tuesday, April 15:New Zealand’s economic recovery is stalling, according to business surveys, retail spending and ...
This is a guest post by Lewis Creed, managing editor of the University of Auckland student publication Craccum, which is currently running a campaign for a safer Symonds Street in the wake of a horrific recent crash.The post has two parts: 1) Craccum’s original call for safety (6 ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff has published an opinion piece which makes the case for a different approach to economic development, as proposed in the CTU’s Aotearoa Reimagined programme. The number of people studying to become teachers has jumped after several years of low enrolment. The coalition has directed Health New ...
The growth of China’s AI industry gives it great influence over emerging technologies. That creates security risks for countries using those technologies. So, Australia must foster its own domestic AI industry to protect its interests. ...
Unfortunately we have another National Party government in power at the moment, and as a consequence, another economic dumpster fire taking hold. Inflation’s hurting Kiwis, and instead of providing relief, National is fiddling while wallets burn.Prime Minister Chris Luxon's response is a tired remix of tax cuts for the rich ...
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girlsWho do boys like they're girls, who do girls like they're boysAlways should be someone you really loveSongwriters: Damon Albarn / Graham Leslie Coxon / Alexander Rowntree David / Alexander James Steven.Last month, I wrote about the Birds and Bees being ...
Australia needs to reevaluate its security priorities and establish a more dynamic regulatory framework for cybersecurity. To advance in this area, it can learn from Britain’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which presents a compelling ...
Deputy PM Winston Peters likes nothing more than to portray himself as the only wise old head while everyone else is losing theirs. Yet this time, his “old master” routine isn’t working. What global trade is experiencing is more than the usual swings and roundabouts of market sentiment. President Donald ...
President Trump’s hopes of ending the war in Ukraine seemed more driven by ego than realistic analysis. Professor Vladimir Brovkin’s latest video above highlights the internal conflicts within the USA, Russia, Europe, and Ukraine, which are currently hindering peace talks and clarity. Brovkin pointed out major contradictions within ...
In the cesspool that is often New Zealand’s online political discourse, few figures wield their influence as destructively as Ani O’Brien. Masquerading as a champion of free speech and women’s rights, O’Brien’s campaigns are a masterclass in bad faith, built on a foundation of lies, selective outrage, and a knack ...
The international challenge confronting Australia today is unparalleled, at least since the 1940s. It requires what the late Brendan Sargeant, a defence analyst, called strategic imagination. We need more than shrewd economic manoeuvring and a ...
This year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will take place as a fully hybrid conference in both Vienna and online from April 27 to May 2. This year, I'll join the event on site in Vienna for the full week and I've already picked several sessions I plan ...
Here’s a book that looks not in at China but out from China. David Daokui Li’s China’s World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict is a refreshing offering in that Li is very much ...
The New Zealand National Party has long mastered the art of crafting messaging that resonates with a large number of desperate, often white middle-class, voters. From their 2023 campaign mantra of “getting our country back on track” to promises of economic revival, safer streets, and better education, their rhetoric paints ...
A global contest of ideas is underway, and democracy as an ideal is at stake. Democracies must respond by lifting support for public service media with an international footprint. With the recent decision by the ...
It is almost six weeks since the shock announcement early on the afternoon of Wednesday 5 March that the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Adrian Orr, was resigning effective 31 March, and that in fact he had already left and an acting Governor was already in place. Orr had been ...
The PSA surveyed more than 900 of its members, with 55 percent of respondents saying AI is used at their place of work, despite most workers not being in trained in how to use the technology safely. Figures to be released on Thursday are expected to show inflation has risen ...
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
April 1 used to be a day when workers could count on a pay rise with stronger support for those doing it tough, but that’s not the case under this Government. ...
Winston Peters is shopping for smaller ferries after Nicola Willis torpedoed the original deal, which would have delivered new rail enabled ferries next year. ...
The Government should work with other countries to press the Myanmar military regime to stop its bombing campaign especially while the country recovers from the devastating earthquake. ...
ANALYSIS:By Ben Bohane This week Cambodia marks the 50th anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh to the murderous Khmer Rouge, and Vietnam celebrates the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in April 1975. They are being commemorated very differently; after all, there’s nothing to celebrate in Cambodia. ...
By Gujari Singh in Washington The Trump administration has issued a new executive order opening up vast swathes of protected ocean to commercial exploitation, including areas within the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. It allows commercial fishing in areas long considered off-limits due to their ecological significance — despite ...
New Zealand commemoration lead John McLeod said a small team, including members of the NZDF and the NZ Embassy, assisted in the covering up of remains that were exposed. ...
This Bill is a great opportunity to improve our system of government across all levels. Let’s make sure we get it right and give the public a say on a simple and enduring solution. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Nicholls, Senior Research Associate in Media and Communications, University of Sydney Tech giant Google has just suffered another legal blow in the United States, losing a landmark antitrust case. This follows on from the company’s loss in a similar case last ...
Paddy GowerAmanda Luxon. I mean what can you say. Easter is a good time to publish my latest reckons at Stuff because without exaggeration or making too much of things, Amanda Luxon walks among us like Jesus but probably with better shoes.Jesus healed. How good is that? It’s really good, ...
How can an afternoon be long when it starts at one o’clock and finishes at half past three? Beauden thought about that as he stood at the back of the classroom and looked through the large window to the upper grounds where his colleague Monty Spiers was taking a phys ed ...
Alex Casey delves into the enduring success of The Artist’s Way, a self-help book beloved by everyone from retirees to famous rappers. On the video call, my mum is gesticulating so wildly while recounting all her recent creative endeavours that she knocks her cup of tea over a work-in-progress jigsaw ...
Feijoa scholar Kate Evans reviews the dish everybody raves about at Metro’s 2024 restaurant of the year, Forest. People have been telling me I need to try the deep-fried feijoa dessert at Forest for about three years now. I’m embarrassed it took me this long, but it takes a lot ...
Chef, author and reality television judge Colin Fassnidge takes us through his life in television. Colin Fassnidge is a huge television fan. He watches every blockbuster TV series the moment it drops and scores every single show on his Instagram account. It’s a habit that recently caught the attention of ...
Why are shops on Parnell Road allowed to open on Easter Sunday? It’s all thanks to an obsolete rule from the 1970s that’s been ‘frozen in time’.Originally published in 2023.Under our current trading laws, most stores are required to stay closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday (along ...
Yael Shochat, chef-owner of Auckland restaurant Ima Cuisine, shares the recipe for her hot cross buns – regularly voted among the best in the city.Originally published in 2019.HOT CROSS BUNSMakes 12You may use equal weights of pre-ground spices, but you’ll get a much better flavour if ...
Gràinne Moss knows she can’t tackle the final leg of one of the world’s toughest swimming challenges alone.In her quest to complete the Oceans Seven marathon challenge, 38 years after she began, she’s enlisted the help of two remarkable women – one barely out of her teens, and the other ...
By Susana Leiataua, RNZ National presenter There are calls for greater transparency about what the HMNZS Manawanui was doing before it sank in Samoa last October — including whether the New Zealand warship was performing specific security for King Charles and Queen Camilla. The Manawanui grounded on the reef off ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Labor increased its lead again in a YouGov poll, but Freshwater put the party ahead by just 50.3–49.7. This article also covers ...
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 18, 2025. Labor’s poll surge continues in YouGov, but they’re barely ahead in FreshwaterSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and ...
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 Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $30) Haymitch’s Hunger Games. 2 Careless People: A ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Labor increased their lead again in a YouGov poll, but Freshwater put them ahead by just 50.3–49.7. This article also covers the ...
A new poem by Tusiata Avia. How to make a terrorist First make a whistling sound which is the sound of a bomb just before it lands on a house. Then make an exploding sound which is the sound of the bomb which kills a father, decapitates a mother, roasts ...
The top-rated Scrabble players in the country go head-to-head this Easter weekend. Watch games live from 9.30am on the stream below.How does it all work?The Masters is different to most Scrabble tournaments in that it’s invitational, open only to the top-rated players in the country. The ...
Books editor Claire Mabey appraises all the Austen-adapted films from 1990 onwards to separate the delightful from the duds.For the purists, read our ranking of Jane Austen’s novels here.It is a truth universally acknowledged that not everything is created equal. Since 1990 there have been 12 attempts to ...
To arrive through the heavy red door of Margot in Newtown is to be invited to the best dinner party in town, hosted by the best friends you haven’t yet made. Table Service is a column about food and hospitality in Wellington, written by Nick Iles.Hospitality is a term ...
NONFICTION1 No Words for This by Ali Mau (HarperCollins, $39.99)A free copy of the author’s new memoir was up for grabs in last week’s giveaway contest. Readers were asked to share their feelings about Mau, a former broadcaster and one of the most powerful figures in the New Zealand #metoo ...
Analysis: The announcement last week that Colossal Biosciences in the USA had “de-extincted” the dire wolf, which was last seen 13,000 years ago, was reported worldwide.The three wolf pups generated equal parts fascination and widespread scientific criticism. But is this actually de-extinction, and what are the implications for the potential ...
We recommend the best – and longest – television series to watch this holiday weekend. As the Easter holiday weekend descends and the weather turns a little grim, many of us will turn to the trusty old television for comfort and entertainment. If you’re lucky, you’ll have some time over ...
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.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 18 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gode Bola, Lecturer in Hydrology, University of Kinshasa The April 2025 flooding disaster in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, wasn’t just about intense rainfall. It was a symptom of recent land use change which has occurred rapidly in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Peter Dutton, now seriously on the back foot, has made an extraordinarily big “aspirational” commitment at the back end of this campaign. He says he wants to see a move to indexing personal income ...
Essay by Keith Rankin. Operation Gomorrah may have been the most cynical event of World War Two (WW2). Not only did the name fully convey the intent of the war crimes about to be committed, it, also represented the single biggest 24-hour murder toll for the European war that I ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Tietz, Senior Lecturer in Industrial Design, UNSW Sydney A New South Wales Senate inquiry into public toilets is underway, looking into the provision, design and maintenance of public toilets across the state. Whenever I mention this inquiry, however, everyone nervously ...
Shrinking budgets and job insecurity means there are fewer opportunities for young journalists, and that’s bad news, especially in regional Australia, reports 360infoANALYSIS:By Jee Young Lee of the University of Canberra Australia risks losing a generation of young journalists, particularly in the regions where they face the closure ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tessa Charles, Accelerator Physicist, Monash University An artist’s impression of the tunnel of the proposed Future Circular Collider.CERN The Large Hadron Collider has been responsible for astounding advances in physics: the discovery of the elusive, long-sought Higgs boson as well as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer McKay, Professor in Business Law, University of South Australia Parkova/Shutterstock Could someone take you to court over an agreement you made – or at least appeared to make – by sending a “👍”? Emojis can have more legal weight ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trang Nguyen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Global Food and Resources, University of Adelaide Stokkete, Shutterstock Australians waste around 7.68 million tonnes of food a year. This costs the economy an estimated A$36.6 billion and households up to $2,500 annually. ...
What the actual fuck? The BBC has lost its marbles. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/mar/10/david-attenborough-bbc-wild-isles-episode-rightwing-backlash-fears
The hunger-to-watch created by the furore will be intense 🙂
It'll be the Tories and the farmers who won't be able to turn away from the screen, so desperate to spot political bias.
Speaking of a media outlet losing its marbles. Kremlin mouthpiece RT has published a weird daydream about a Russian take over and the Ukraine government doing a US Vietnam or Afghanistan type flight from their own capital.
Like that's ever gonna happen. But you can always dream I suppose.
It may be not to far from the truth, as the russians are reporting that the UK are suffering such shortages because of their support that they are hunting and eating squirrels. / sarc. This is a good video for the tankies just to show what they support. I don't think it will change their thinking but it lays out pretty clearly just what they are.
https://youtu.be/sjBXGt8MMoE
Like that's ever gonna happen. But you can always dream I suppose.
They probably said the same thing about the withdrawal from Afghanistan … until it happened.
The key word here being "withdrawal". The war in Afghanistan and Vietnam ended with the invader's withdrawal. Without the invader's withdrawal those wars would still be going. Just as the war in Ukraine will end with the invader's withdrawal, and won't end, until the Russians do withdraw.
Simple as that.
That is utterly pathetic, so much so that it must be some kind of abuse or corruption. Scared if rw backlash?! WTF, it's info that's needed more more than ever.
The BBC are also demoting sports broadcaster and former football star Gary Lineker because he dared to voice criticism of the Conservative government's new policy on asylum seekers.
The political right obviously has a lot of power in British media.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64920557
Lineker's tweet compared the Tories to Nazis,
https://twitter.com/GaryLineker/status/1633111662352891908?s=20
The Beeb has come under blistering attack for its transparent bias and hypocrisy in this matter
https://twitter.com/SkyKaveh/status/1634288030658842641?s=20
Football’s Gary Lineker booted by BBC over refugee policy tweets | Human Rights News | Al Jazeera
Go get a copy of Fear: New Zealands Hostile Underworld of Extremists by Byron Clark.
Very up to date.
I tell you what, nothing brings home climate change like driving for 45 minutes to five different stores to get hold of some limes for my cocktail party tonight.
What does? Wasting so much carbon for something so decadent? I guess you could look at it that way, but I wouldn't feel too guilty about it.
Whooooosh
+100
Pft, you got that right.
Bring on Peak Oil. Can't come soon enough. Had a gutsfull of ICE vehicles.
Last year, my Commodore died (steering, timing chain, transmission: would have cost $7500+ to fix).
Then I got a Mazda, which died in December (turbo shat itself and destroyed the engine, bye bye $19K).
Now I'm borrowing a diesel Peugeot, which decided to crap out on the motorway, losing power steering, ABS, god knows what else.
Dylan Mulvaney is a high profile, recently transitioned trans identified male, TRA, who specialises in promoting stereotypes about women.
Gender identity ideology is regressive and harms women and girls.
https://twitter.com/labelfreebrands/status/1634230676076781568
Understandable when your view of women is so much of a sexist stereotype that you think that putting on a frock and doing tampon advertisements makes you a woman.
Is promoting a women's place is in the kitchen super acceptable now that Dylan is a [hashtag] Kitchen Aid ambassador?
A whole generation of feminist work to fight for women to be accepted as fully-capable humans broken on a marble benchtop.
we can be grateful I guess that he's moved on from tampons 😑
I think it's worse than that. I think KitchenAid is being utterly cynical in creating content by manufacturing outrage. Most feminist (I would guess) aren't interested in that ad existing – not because its a transwoman fronting it, but because it's so regressive and stereotyped – so it's not like they're taking a valued job or anything.
If that ad had appeared with a famous female influencer – feminists may have criticised the ad on the 'taking us back to the 50s' vibe but really, no-one would have cared much – they've heard it all before – maybe there would be a standard npn-apology for a minor publicity boost.
But with a transperson fronting the ad, the same feminist criticism would be 'anti-trans' and create screeds of column inches and social media discussions while everyone decides what the ad means and what we should be angry about. people will be banned, blocked and hated, academics would write their things.
And KitchenAid will sit back and watch its top 10 trending and take the sales when the furore has died away.
Utterly manipulative.
that's a really good analysis, thanks.
It might be a bit cynical – but generally when I see something prevocative like this these days, I assume it's a deliberate plan to create social media noise.
I must do some researching on it, but it just seems so like the Bannon-type messaging, I think more than just a few unscrupulous marketing departments have taken notes.
I'm guessing it's very cost efficient too, getting social media influencers to do the heavy lifting.
MoWD 2.0
"The need for some such agency is, I think, undeniable. The current debate over consultants has revealed how hopelessly, cravenly reliant modern government is on the Deloittes and Chapman Tripps of this world. The state has been hollowed out in recent decades, losing expertise, wisdom and savvy. One of the worst examples came in Kaipara some years back, where, following the grotesque failure of a wastewater project, it became clear the local council was so short-staffed it couldn’t even manage its contracts with private providers – let alone build anything itself."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300827129/max-rashbrooke-reviving-a-modern-ministry-of-works-necessary-to-cope-with-modern-infrastructure-demands
Only problem is it will take a decade or two to regain the required capabilities….as with most solutions, the best one is not to create the problem in the first place.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
best we get on with it now then.
Perhaps…the penny appears to be dropping
Similar to the claim made by supporters of Russian imperialism, that the popular revolt against Russian ally Victor Yanakovych who fled to Moscow, was a Western backed coup.
Russian leader Fyodor Lukyanov, chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy has likened the Foreign Agent Law protests in Georgia, as a Western backed plot.
The Russian imperialists do not recognise the agency of the people of either Georgia or Ukraine to determine their own destiny.
The real question;
As another ex-Soviet state is gripped by huge protests, is a Ukraine-style invasion on the cards?
what would the russians use to invade georgia ? they are reduced to scrounging from nth korea! for shells ,and are running short of warm bodies. 30 yrs of corruption has hollowed out the russian military .
"History never Repeats I tell myself before I go to sleep." Splitenz
History repeats
Another conflict brewing in the South Caucasus.
https://twitter.com/secretsqrl123/status/1633625836069814272
Scenarios
Developments can move in two very different directions in this geopolitical transformation of the South Caucasus. One features a stalemate in the war in Ukraine, a gradual recovery of Russian strength and a deepening relationship between Moscow and Tehran. The outcome would be to counter the growing influence of Azerbaijan. Russian peacekeepers would reassert control over the Lachin corridor. Iran would begin sales of weapons to Armenia, notably the Shahed-136 drones, and the Zangezur corridor would be stalled. The longer-term investment would be aimed at promoting the north-south transport corridor that has long been favored by Russia and Iran.</em>
The alternative scenario features a defeat for Russia in Ukraine and effective sanctions against Iranian exports of weapons. This would embolden Azerbaijan and Turkey to push through the Zangezur corridor, to further erode Russian influence in the South Caucasus and to shut Iran out of the region. It is worth remembering that during the 44-day war in 2020, Azerbaijan not only shelled targets in Nagorno-Karabakh but also targets inside Armenia proper. It remains in a position to do so again, and Russia may be too weak to prevent it.
The outcome if Turkey and Azerbaijan emerge as winners would be infrastructure investment that is geared toward providing energy from Central Asia and the Caspian basin into Europe. There would be many winners. Turkey is only too happy to become a major energy hub. The European Union has already courted Baku for gas while dialing back criticism of Azeri human rights abuses. And the U.S. would be happy to see Russia pushed out. It does look like the most likely outcome.
https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/geopolitical-transformation-south-caucasus/
good post. pretty much all of those countries hate the russians , and like cockroaches , they never leave ..
But Fifa are considering doing a U-turn on Saudi sponsorship of Women's World Cup …
/
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For the feminists in the room, but also applies more generally to online debate culture and kaupapa.
https://twitter.com/wlaotearoa/status/1634264667093893131
Some people think "being kind" means allowing trans identified males to punch women in the face.
https://twitter.com/RichieHardcore/status/1634352944211726336?s=20
An example of the desire for intensification gone crazy.
Developer in an upmarket inner-city suburb in Auckland wants to redevelop a single site to build 11 town-houses on a known flood plain (heavily flooded during the Jan downpour).
The 'plan' is to build the houses over sacrificial garages (basically designed to flood – though the developer denies this). [my sarcastic single quotes]
He claims that the existing stormwater infrastructure is sufficient – even though it wasn't in Jan this year, and his proposal would cover the whole of the site in concrete – further reducing any capacity for rainfall to be stored in the ground.
The only interest the developer has is in building and selling these for as much profit as possible – he'll wind up the company immediately they are sold, so there will be no way to make him culpable for downstream consequences.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-storms-raise-concerns-about-housing-development-alongside-flood-plain-in-grey-lynn/L7FMD4TPRZHPFFL43UMXYVLICQ/
The common sense approach, as I see it, would be to red-sticker this site, and use it for effective flood mitigation landscape planning for drainage of the surrounding area. It might, or might not, be possible to run a kindy on part of the site (the existing use is a daycare centre)
So the developer bought a cheap site next to the creek, and it looks like Council might be going to restrict what can be done with it to a point that there's no way they are going to get their money back.
So, they come up with a plan to maximise return with something that really won't be marketable until people forget about the flood risk to increase the site's value when Council have to step in and buy the property.
That said, sacrificial floodways are a very long-standing urban design strategy. Live in a flat subdivision and the building platforms are meter or two above the street, probably wouldn't leave your car on the street when there's a big rain coming, that street is probably designed to flood to buffer loads on the stormwater system down stream.
Sink or swim. Homes built to weather floods exist in the Netherlands, Australia, US Gulf states and other places. Why not here?
The approach isn't without merit, makes alot of sense to build on piles or above garages getting the living spaces at least 1m above ground would save plenty of heartache.
Well, if that's intended to be the NZ-wide solution to climate change: "just build up" – then it would be really good for the Government to articulate it.
Personally, I think not building in already identified floodplains, especially when they've already been flooded – is a better solution.
And, even better, if the Insurance companies came out and said that new houses built on floodplains will not be insurable for flood/water damage (you can, of course, still insure for fire and theft).
I'd guess that would make the vast majority of the potential high-risk builds uneconomic (banks wouldn't lend if no insurance, and most people wouldn't buy)
ATM, the Council is hamstrung by the current legislation, and the knowledge that developers will take them all the way through the Environment Court in order to get building consent.
We need a country-wide legislative framework to address these climate risk issues.
Belladonna this is fine stuff.
It is chicken or egg really but if you won't be able to get ordinary home insurance on a dwelling then it matters not whether the house is built on stilts or piles or hung from a slow low hovering helicopter!.
It seems less wasteful to say no and base good planning on geographic features now rather than let people find out yet again that the house they have built/paid mortgage money on is either washed away or flooded and then is not capable of being insured. Why have the second step of having 11 poor homeowners demonstrating ‘yes those flood plain maps were correct, yes the 2023 flood results were demonstrative of 2023 realities?’.
Perhaps 'someone' should buy this land back or allow some sort of tax credit to the developer if it is made a reserve never to be built on. This would need to be fair.
if your house is registered as a boat(why not, tiny houses get round council housing rules by being classified as caravans), then maybe you could get boat insurance? it wont be cheap, boat stands for >bring out another thousand..but if you need insurance for a mortgage, it may be a way around the problem.tiny houses need wheels,towbars and be blocked up, not on solid piles, to be classified as a motor vehicle. what would a house need to be classified as a boat? a life preserver and a name?
Well, to satisfy insurers and bank managers (who aren't as thick as you seem to imagine) – it would actually need to be a boat.
If the site has insurance issues (and consequently finance issues ) there is only one 'someone'…joe public.
At what point does Joe public say, 'nah'?
The first Australasian Let Women Speak event is about to start in Sydney at 2pm NZT. It should be livestreamed here,
https://www.youtube.com/@KellieJayKeen/streams
NZ events are on the 25th and 26th March (Ak, Wgtn).
https://www.standingforwomen.com/events
grassroots feminism ^^^
how can there be women's rights if women include men?
That is it at it's simplest!
Especially when those men & their actions pay scant regard to the hard-won rights of women.
Good to see that Helen White has been selected as the Labour candidate in Mt Albert.
Helen has lived in the Electorate for over 30 years and is well known in the area for her work with local organisations. She also has worked as an Employment lawyer – representing working people.
She has great Labour values and obviously has good support from the local Electorate Committee.
Means that there is a very good Labour candidate Camilla Belich who contested the (extremely hard for Labour to win) Epsom electorate last election available for somewhere like (ummm) Auckland Central that Helen White missed on in the last two elections.
Why do I think that this is important?
That 3-way split is a problem in Auckland Central. In 2017, Helen lost it to Nikki Kaye from the Nats by 1581 votes. In 2020 lost it to Chlöe Swarbick by 1068 votes. with the National candidate less than 2000 votes behind.
So Auckland Central is in the position of having a 3-way split in the candidate vote.
But here is the thing for a number person like me. Look at 2017 vs 2020.
Chlöe Swarbick's excellent campaign raised the green candidate vote by about 10,000 votes – and the Green party vote just by about 2800 votes.
This suggest to me that as a campaign, the Greens and Chlöe expended quite a lot of resource in getting a electoral candidate and failed to gain a solid a base in Auckland Central.
Helen White expended effort on gaining party vote – the kind that all parties under MMP actually need.
Ok – some numbers followed by argument..
Green candidate vote in 2020 – 12,631
Green party vote in 2020 – 6,937
Green candidate vote in 2017 – 2,838
Green party vote in 2017 – 4,170
Labour candidate vote in 2020 – 11,563
Labour party vote in 2020 – 16,751
Labour candidate vote in 2017 – 11,617
Labour party vote in 2017 -11,340
National candidate vote in 2020 – 9,775
National party vote in 2020 – 7,680
National candidate vote in 2017 – 13,198
National party vote in 2017 -11,773
As a party, even one that I'm not affiliated with, but who goes into arrangements with my normally preferred party, I get worried by that.
Under MMP, smaller parties that wind up dependent on electoral seat tend to wither and die.
Now I'm sure that the usual party electorate crap that usually goes around electorate seat wins for minor parties will be running around the Greens. That it provided a base for growing the party vote. The problem is that isn't what you see with NZ's now rather large MMP history.
But again, that isn't usually what happens. What happens is that party vote is across the whole country with relatively minor variants. The party resources get sucked into defending an electorate seat, and eventually they lose both the seat having lost the party vote long before that.
The only known long-term exception has been NZ First who actually became a better party after Winston Peter finally lost Tauranga. They refocused on a national campaign and won seats by list votes. I have a strong suspicion that they will do so this election – despite Shane Jones.
You could argue that Act is working against that. But that is too early to tell. National were so crap after the 2017 and especially during the pandemic that there was a lot of what I call protest votes going from National to Act. The Act candidate usually gets between 5x to 10x the Act party vote they get out in Epsom, The Greens usually get larger party votes than Act does, and they're far more consistent.
In 2017, Act as a party got 0.5% party vote and the Greens got 6.3%. In 2020 Act got 7.6% in mostly protest votes against National. But the Greens got a consistent 7.9%.
It will be going to be interesting to see if Act can pivot from running mostly a single electorate campaign to running a national campaign this election, and if the Greens get sucked into defending and electorate at the expense of their national campaign….
I'll write a post after the election. 😈
dont know whether the greens have to defend anything. mother nature is waking everybody up to the greens message.crappy weather turns everybody into socialists. I think act will be defending the 5% limit, as nervous nats again, dither and return to default setting. I really think nzfirst is done. they might huff and puff, but its wasted votes .
Sure, Doesn't mean that voters are any more likely to vote Green. In fact, I'd almost bet that it does exactly the opposite. Everyone covered in disasters loves havinga sanctimonious Jeramiah laughing at their misfortune rather than being constructive and useful to the commonweal.
Yes. But frankly the Greens simply aren't that much more socialist than either Labour or National or NZ First when it comes to disaster relief. So you're really just contrasting the Greens (and every other party in parliament) to Act.
Do you have any idea how many times I have heard that in the last 30 years? And how many times that people relying on that have face planted themselves into a custard pie. To me, a statement like that indicates just indicates a idiot commenting on the demographics of protest politics.
It’s not the crime, it’s the coverup.
https://twitter.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1634024541554110465
The obstruction part of the Trump documents investigation is centered on Trump’s incomplete compliance with a subpoena in May that demanded the return of any classified-marked documents in his possession, after documents he earlier returned to the National Archives included 200 that were classified.
In June, Corcoran searched Mar-a-Lago and produced about 30 documents with classified markings to the justice department and had another Trump lawyer, Christina Bobb, sign a certification that attested to compliance with the subpoena “based on the information provided to me”.
But the justice department, according to court filings, developed evidence that more classified-marked documents remained at the resort, as well as “evidence of obstruction”. And when the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, they found 101 such documents in a storage room and in Trump’s office.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/09/donald-trump-mar-a-lago-papers-grand-jury
Tamati Coffey announces that he will not stand in 2023.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/labour-waiariki-mp-tamati-coffey-to-retire-from-politics-at-upcoming-election/NFBKNFDX6FAGPE3CVPCCLO5IO4/
Given that he'd already been selected as the candidate (with no opposition), this strikes me as a bit late in the piece – though, I suppose, better now than later in the year.
Almost certainly going to gift the Waiariki electorate to TPM's Waititi – who would I think have held it it any case – he seems to have strong electorate support.
A huge congratulations to Professor Dame Margaret Brimble for achieving FDA approval for the drug. Culmination of a professional lifetime.
And very rare for New Zealand.
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2023/03/11/margaret-brimble-trofinetide-wins-FDA-approval.html
I recall a TV piece about Sir Rod Deane and his wife after their late daughter Kristen was finally diagnosed with Rett syndrome. IIRC, Kristen was in her early/mid-teens at the time of filming, tiny, uncommunicative, with a fixed gaze and entirely dependent on her care givers.
Not many things get to me but the plight of that kid and her parents certainly did.