Caution has served us well keeping covid Alpha,Delta and Omricon at bay using the ditch has meant our economy,health system and death rate has the best results of any country in the world.Bar none Jimmy .
You seem to. conveniently forget that we are weeks/months behind the rest of the world in our outbreaks. Surely it is foolish to follow a timetable set by others that may not be relevant to us here in NZ at this time. Or are you an 'open up and too hell with it' supporter?
Measured approaches have suited us well and will continue to do so. There is no rush while we are still surging with Omicron surely?
This has been known for at least 6-9 months. The effectiveness of these vaccines wears off.
It will take moat of decade at a minimum to figure out the cocktail of properties to get vaccines that are close to sterilising and that last for a long time. It will then take a even longer time to be sure of that.
It alwasy seems to puzzle uncreatives that everything in engineering from building bridges to making vaccines or medicines is an incremental process towards perfection.
I guess it is because they never create or do much themselves.
If you get Covid the antibodies that are built up are transitory. The transitory nature of the antibodies was found out very early on after people thought that herd immunity could work for populations and it was found it did not.
18/10/21
They found that reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 in people who had not received a vaccine could occur as soon as 3 months after initial infection, with a median risk of reinfection within 16 months, under endemic conditions.
'Various studies have shown that an immune response involving memory T and B cells emerges after covid-19 infection. But people’s immune systems tend to respond in very different ways to natural infection, notes Eleanor Riley, professor of immunology and infectious disease at the University of Edinburgh. “The immune response after vaccination is much more homogenous,” she says, adding that most people generally have a really good response after vaccination. Data from the clinical trials of the leading vaccine candidates have found T and B cell reactivity.'
I have said/thought all along that it is the relationship of the corona virus to the common cold virus that is its biggest strength as a virus, to give it human characteristics it can 'duck and dive' and be 'nimble on its feet' and is a bit of a shape shifter.
It makes sense to me that the annual influenza vaccine could come with or without a covid booster. I know I would be a starter ……
Lprent I take your point about being creative is taken…..all creativity is incremental in my view. Eureka moments are few and far between and I much prefer Pasteur’s view that ‘Chance favours the prepared mind’. It applies everywhere from science to actual art. Another way is ‘practice makes perfect’ or rather than ‘perfect’ opens your eyes to other possibilities.
I guess there are some who think nothing happens unless there is a poll coming or been to indicate action is needed.
It's like vaccine mandates and other steps in the covid battle. Did people really expect mandates would be on forever, borders would never reopen, MIQ would be permanent? That big groups would never be able to gather?
Yes agree…obviously all those protestors at Parliament failed to react in a common sense way
Did people really expect mandates would be on forever, borders would never reopen, MIQ would be permanent? That big groups would never be able to gather?
and probably answered 'yes' to your question. Some maliciously of course and some just went 'oh right if XXXXX (insert favourite antivax/mandate mis- & dis-information spouting group) says so it must be right.'
Yes agree but but you can't expect anyone to pay attention, or think or even remember back to November 2021 can you? Heavens that is at least 4 months ago.
Caution has served us well, a staged reopening has served us well, being flexible in bringing actions forward or back depending on circumstances at the time has served us well. I am actually hearing some around saying perhaps we are being too hasty…..
Top US general (retired) provides a military appraisal of the invasion.
PETRAEUS: there are many reasons for the Russians' abysmal performance. First of all, they're fighting against a very determined, quite capable Ukrainian force that is composed of special ops, conventional forces, territorial forces and even private citizens, all of whom are determined not to allow Russia to achieve its objectives. They are fighting for their national survival, their homeland and their way of life, and they have the home-field advantage, knowing the terrain and communities.
But beyond that, the Russians are just surprisingly unprofessional. They clearly have very poor standards when it comes to performing basic tactical tasks such as achieving combined arms operations, involving armor, infantry, engineers, artillery and mortars. They are very poor at maintaining their vehicles and weapon systems and have abandoned many of them. They are also poor at resupply and logistical tasks.
The Russians also have found it difficult to go off-road. Their wheeled vehicles get mired in mud very quickly. The ground is not frozen the way they had hoped it would be. Even tracked vehicles seem to be getting mired in mud. And the Russians are just not performing sufficient preventive maintenance on their equipment.
I've served in mechanized units, with a mix of tanks and armored personnel carriers. And every single time you stop, the driver and the crew members are outside checking road wheels and final drives, pumping grease, topping off fluid levels. If you don't do preventive maintenance, then you will end up with such vehicles breaking down.
Beyond that, the Russians just have relatively unimpressive equipment, given the investment supposedly made over the past decade or so. They certainly don't have equipment comparable to what the United States has.
they didn't crater the runways in Ukraine in the first hour of combat the way we did in Iraq in 2003 to completely deny the Iraqi Air Force any opportunities to take off. In fact, the Ukrainian Air Force is still flying.
The 40-mile traffic jam we saw outside of Kyiv — this is just incompetent movement control for which normally there is doctrine and organizational structures and procedures. And then it took them days just to disperse that 40-mile column into the tree cover as opposed to being out in the open.
The Russians have been unable to take down the Ukrainian command and control system and unable to take down President Volodymyr Zelensky's access to social media and the internet. So, their cyberwarfare capabilities that seemed impressive in earlier campaigns, when the Russians took Crimea in 2014 for instance, are a whole lot less impressive this time.
Usually, the rule of thumb for urban warfare is that it requires at least five attackers to every defender. In this case, I'd argue it may be more than that because the Ukrainians are so resourceful. They will work together to prevent the Russians from taking urban areas the way that infantry and combined arms normally would do, such as the way the United States military cleared and then held cities during the Iraq War in, e.g., Ramadi and Fallujah as well as parts of Baghdad and other cities.
Such big-city battles require you to take every building and clear every room, and then you have to leave forces behind in each building or else the enemy will come back behind you and reoccupy them. So, it's incredibly soldier-intensive. The Russians have nowhere near enough soldiers to do that even for Kyiv, much less all of the other cities.
It appears that they have taken more fatalities in the first two weeks of the war than the US took in 20 years in Iraq; somewhere around 5,000 or so by most accounts, which is just stunning.
Conventional wisdom had it that Afghanistan is unique due to terrain, tribalism, guerilla warfare type conditions. They fought the British Empire to a standstill. The Russians spent years there back in the '80s & couldn't win. The US ignored tradition out of hubris, I reckon, and learnt the lesson for themselves, afresh.
Blazer the pentagon said it would take a much larger force to maintain control in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Politicians made the decisions.
Empires like testing their military so they can learn and test how good their tactics and equipment is.plus if you win a war outright there is no ongoing military spending
The military industrial complex.
Wants to keep it's budget an in peace time those budgets get cut.
Look at NZ no Airforce just a scare force.
The US has learned that much of its equipment didn't work dust and a determined guerilla army with little resources showed the US military up.
Russia is finding out the same lesson but with out the deep pockets of the western alliances.
What guarantee did the US make in Q1 2021? It certainly wasn't that the US would militarily attack Russia if they invaded. That would have required Ukraine to be part of NATO or to have a formal defence pact with the US. The most that the Ukrainians should have expected is EXACTLY what the US is doing now which is imposing extremely tough sanctions on Russia plus both financial and military aid.
The US did make a security guarantee in 1994. Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. Obviously the Russians have spectacularly failed to live up to its provisions in the first 3 parts since 2014 when they annexed Ukrainian territory, directly encouraged and supported separatist successions, and started a sequence of a number of economic attacks on Ukraine.
Taking into account the commitment of Ukraine to eliminate all nuclear weapons from its territory within a specified period of time,
Noting the changes in the world-wide security situation, including the end of the Cold War, which have brought about conditions for deep reductions in nuclear forces,
Confirm the following:
The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and The United States of America reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the CSCE Final Act, to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.
The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and The United States of America reaffirm their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and The United States of America reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the Principles of the CSCE Final Act, to refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by Ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty and thus to secure advantages of any kind.
The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and The United States of America reaffirm their commitment to seek immediate United Nations Security Council action to provide assistance to Ukraine, as a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, if Ukraine should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used.
The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and The United States of America reaffirm, in the case of Ukraine, their commitment not to use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear-weapon state party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, except in the case of an attack on themselves, their territories or dependent territories, their armed forces, or their allies, by such a state in association or alliance with a nuclear weapon state.
Ukraine, The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and The United States of America will consult in the event a situation arises which raises a question concerning these commitments.
This Memorandum will become applicable upon signature.
Signed in four copies having equal validity in the Ukrainian, English, and Russian languages.
The Budapest Memorandum was negotiated at political level, but it is not entirely clear whether the instrument is devoid entirely of legal provisions. It refers to assurances, but it does not impose a legal obligation of military assistance on its parties.[1][26] According to Stephen MacFarlane, a professor of international relations, "It gives signatories justification if they take action, but it does not force anyone to act in Ukraine."[25] In the US, neither the George H. W. Bush administration nor the Clinton administration was prepared to give a military commitment to Ukraine, and they did not believe the US Senate would ratify an international treaty and so the memorandum was adopted in more limited terms.[26] The memorandum has a requirement of consultation among the parties "in the event a situation arises that raises a question concerning the … commitments" set out in the memorandum.[27] Whether or not the memorandum sets out legal obligations, the difficulties that Ukraine has encountered since early 2014 may cast doubt on the credibility of future security guarantees that are offered in exchange for nonproliferation commitments.[28] Regardless, the United States publicly maintains that "the Memorandum is not legally binding", calling it a "political commitment".[29]
Ukrainian international law scholars such as Olexander Zadorozhny maintain that the Memorandum is an international treaty because it satisfies the criteria for one, as fixed by the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) and is "an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law".[30]
China and France gave security assurances for Ukraine in separate documents. China's governmental statement of 4 December 1994 did not call for mandatory consultations if questions arose but only for "fair consultations". France's declaration of 5 December 1994 did not mention consultations.[1]
Scholars assumed at the time that Ukraine's decision to sign the Budapest Memorandum was proof of Ukraine's development as a democracy and its desire to step away from the post-Soviet world and make first steps toward a European future. For 20 years, until the 2014 Russian military occupation of regions of Ukraine,[31] the Ukrainian nuclear disarmament was an exemplary case of nuclear non-proliferation.
It certainly gives the direct justification of military and financial support by the US and UK since Russia has invaded Ukraine.
My big issue with this is that Russia has effectively destroyed nonproliferation agreements. At the time that this was signed, Ukraine had the 3rd largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. While they didn't have the launch codes, what they did have was a lot of enriched uranium and plutonium, plus the local knowledge about how to create tactical nuclear weapons.
I doubt that Russia would have invaded if Ukraine had tactical nukes. Those large formations of Russian armour would have been sitting ducks. The damage to Ukraine would have been less than the indiscriminate bombardment of cities and the civilians in them that Russian dumb weapons has been doing in their current list of atrocities.
What the US, UK, EU and everyone else is doing is the absolute minimum response required to stop a tactical anti invasion nuclear arms race from aggressive fascist style states like Russia.
Because all security guarantees of ‘neutral’ states outside of military alliances "the Ukrainian nuclear disarmament was an exemplary case of nuclear non-proliferation." are now demonstrated to be a pitiful shield. If you have one set of idiotic arseholes like Putin and his flunkies – then there will be more.
As well as re-starting nuclear proliferation, Russia has effectively destroyed the possibility of a buffer zone of neutral states, and it has alienated potentially friendly neighbours. Even Switzerland has called it “a gross violation of international law” and imposed sanctions.
I appreciated this narrative background to the war, with perhaps a slight nod to Shakespeare… The King Must Die
Your conclusion makes sense to me. I wonder how many of the movers & shakers abroad have figured it out yet. Folks like Kissinger & Brezinski probably got it immediately. I hope they spread advice around & into the NSC & CFR particularly.
There's a lesson along the lines of Chamberlain/Munich to be learnt at the top level of western geopolitical decision-making. Time to start brainstorming a redesign of the incentive-structure of the UN Security Council, to ensure compliance with membership conditions & deter military adventures…
Is this the same Gen. David Petraeus, that was exposed as a media manipulator, lied to the FBI, and warmonger that contributed to even more harm in Iraq and Afghanistan?
IIRC, it was Rolling Stones articles I read back then, but unfortunately they are behind a paywall.. So, here's John Pilger, writing for the News International confirming the first which is relevant now:
You have talked about ‘wars of perception’ in which the news media plays a major role. What do you mean by this?
The term belongs to General David Petraeus, the current US commander in Afghanistan, who wrote in the 2006 US Counterinsurgency Manual that what mattered was not so much military superiority as persuading the public at home that you were winning, regardless of the reality. In other words, the public is the true enemy of governments that pursue unpopular colonial wars which can only be ‘won’ if the public is successfully deceived.
Another Pilger piece in the Guardian, is a reminder of the role of media in times of war and has a timely closing paragraph, given yesterday's court decision:
In my film, I asked Assange how WikiLeaks dealt with the draconian secrecy laws for which Britain is famous. "Well," he said, "when we look at the Official Secrets Act labelled documents, we see a statement that it is an offence to retain the information and it is an offence to destroy the information, so the only possible outcome is that we have to publish the information." These are extraordinary times.
Yes, I noticed that stuff at the time. When top military guys do pr, they usually spin on behalf of their govt – which became evident to me in the late 1960s (Vietnam War) – but observers must develop the habit of relating their comments to context to interpret them accurately.
Since he's now retired, we can be reasonably confident he has no current political agenda. His reputation is sufficiently flawed (by incident such as those you cited) that he would be unlikely to be offered an ambassador's position, for instance. He mentioned that he has been a Biden critic. Therefore it's very likely that he's a straightshooter in the above appraisal…
The problem for the Russian negoitiators is that they are effectively losing as Ukraine are holding them to a standstill and the sanctions bite into the a Russian army resupply.
There is no point in Ukraine conceding anything apart from ceasefire while the Russians withdraw and pay reparations. And Ukraine enters NATO.
That last is because Russia has no credibility. Having broken their security guarantees already. They have nothing else to offer.
The Ukrainians said last night they've mobilised almost 100% of their available reserves. That is almost 900,000 men. That is a game changer. The war is now a stalemate. The Ukrainians have fought the Russians to a standstill but lack the means to counter attack. A negotiated way out for Putin is urgently needed.
Wars of attrition favour those on the defensive and the current deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine make it highly probable they will continue to lose much more troops and equipment than the Ukrainians UNLESS they spend considerable efforts to eliminate pockest of resistence in their rear areas such as around Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv. To do that will takes weeks of brutal fighting and they will have to give up any chance of taking Kiev.
Russia is doing better in the south for the moment, and, should they take Mariupol they will be able to run rail north with desperately needed fuel and other supplies. Of course, rail makes a lovely target too, and protecting long lines from drone and Ukrainian partisan attacks may tax an already rather busy invasion force. (No doubt Ukrainian forces are even now reading The Seven Pillars of Wisdom in anticipation.) Many of the north south rail lines are already in place, including branches to locations of interest like the Zaporizhzhia power plant.
The Russians have 300 Billion in cash reserves left (after sanctions), has low national debt and most importantly it has the largest gas and oil reserves in Europe…those reserves alone with their ever increasing rising prices brought on by the sanctions/war will in effect fund Russia's war…China needs gas/oil, so no problem in selling it….not to mention the other commodities which Russia has that the US hasn’t sanctioned like Titanium, which without would effectively put a stop the production of aircraft in the US.
It seems clear that Putin has long planned for the potentiality of his red lines not being meet in the Ukraine, and has prepared for a long and brutal war if his demands for Ukraine are not fulfilled.
It is also pretty obvious that at some point soon, Putin will weaponize his big stick of gas/oil supply to Europe as winter bites….this conflict has a long way to play out yet if Putin doesn’t get what he perceives is in the best interests for Russian security in the long term.
Ukraine will never be in NATO, not unless Russia is defeated in a full scale war….and no one has the stomach for that insanity…..we hope.
It was just there as a guide to the underlying financial stability Russia had sought to (and did) establish going into this conflict….I know historical context is not your thing Mr Frank, but if you did spend a little more time researching in that field in future, you might well find it useful in understanding what is happening in the present…then hopefully your comments would reflect your new more nuanced understanding going forward…and what a relief that would be.
You get folks who seem to automatically expect others to engage with their internal melodrama. They use a bit of delusional framing here & there in their commentary as a lure. Tedious, I know, but they seem to believe doing so is an integral part of leftist political praxis.
Your last paragraph is spot on Adrian. Failure by the West to acknowledge this means that either Russia succeeds or world security spirals down. The US is as usual ok with Europe going down in flames while watching from the sidelines except that Russia would not have initiated this existential struggle unless they at least believed they had enough reach to include the US.
On the economic front there is a good article in naked capitilism about the effect of the memories of the 90s on the Russian psyche. This is the decade by which all hardship will be measured in the knowledge that this was the attempt by the west to break open Russia. That they survived, seems nothing short of a miracle to many and it was Putin who took them out of this dark place. The fact that the well off and those who profited from the pillage of the Russian state are now feeling finacial pain is just an added feature of the current refusal to allow Nato any further inches to the east
Look I put much into economic sanctions stopping Russia, but so far they have not constricted their economy by double digits. So I would not say
The Russian economy is in free fall and will be like Germany 1919 or Zimbabwe.
You need to understand Russia has a lot of natural resources, and by a lot ,I mean a hell of a lot. Other countries will stand up and take them, just not the west. So I can't see the Russian economy going into free fall at all.
Now if people like our last PM John Key had not set the financial system up, so the oligarchs and people like Putin could hide their money behind shell companies. Then I think the economic sanctions could have been targeted towards those oligarchs and Putin and been way more effective.
But once again we (the people) are screwed over by the Tory idiots in their never ending greed fetish.
@Tricledown, "Adrian a red warning bar saying the article is more than 2 years old"…my answer to Mr Frank above, obviously applies to you as well…. maybe dig a little deeper….
"The Russian government’s extensive involvement in the economy and the money it is still making from oil and gas exports — even with bans from the U.S. and Britain — will help soften the blow for many workers, pensioners and government employees in a country that has endured three serious financial crises in the past three decades. And as economists point out, Iran, a much smaller and less diversified economy, has endured sanctions misery for years over its nuclear program without a complete breakdown." https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/russia-built-economy-fortress-pain-real-83361604
Maybe you and some others around these parts would do well to keep in mind that in the minds of most our demented press/politicians we are in a state of War with Russia ourselves…so by extension most of what you will be hearing/reading on this subject with be permeated to some degree with state propaganda…which is of course always exercised in times of war.
The Russians have 300 Billion in cash reserves left
So they can afford to pay for their own civil aircraft.
They'll be grounded, or fall out of the sky, whichever comes first, within six months because of Russia's inability to maintain their airworthiness without manufacturer support.
If Russia's end goal was to make Europe bend to his will through the use of his oil then he should have started the War BEFORE winter rather than at the end. He has given Europe plenty of motivation AND time to source additional energy supplies.
Well except he wanted Europe to tacitly accept his hegemonic position over the areas of most of the former Soviet Union and not to try and encourage these nations to join the EU.
Your good at calling other people ‘fools’ l.prent,but if you only take a one sided point of view and dismiss out of hand the other sides points, then your analysis is flawed. If one only relies on western media for information on conflicts, then you are sorely misled judging by passed conflicts where Western media lies have been exposed, ie Saddam’s WMD etc etc.
If you change "Marxism" to "Bolshevism" you might be on to something. One is a vanguardist, authoritarian political movement and therefore comparable to fascism, the other isn't. You'd still have to show that Putin is a species of Bolshevik though, which could be a fun exercise.
It is said that Putin is particularly fond of the works of Ivan Ilyin (quotes him in essays), whose anti-communist prescription was apparently something called Christian Fascism.
Another major influence though, is said to be Aleksandr Dugin. He has more than a few political skeletons (declared admiration for Hitler for one), but a conservative mistrust of liberalism and a dislike of the West, chiefly America, seem to be shared with Putin.
As a political philosopher, Dugin's critiques of Western culture are an interesting outsider perspective. Sadly his velvet words serve to conceal the iron fist of Putin's tyranny.
As is any ideology when taken to authoritarian extremes.
At the moment we live under the crushing weight of capitalist exploitation that drove colonialism and slavery, and is now destroying the planet itself.
It is Fox News style fearmongering to characterise Marxism and left wing thought as the road the Stalinism and gulags.
Economic and political equality are good things to aim for.
Do you think that Helen Clark was excessively pessimistic then? She said this about a week ago.
"The best-case scenario is there are talks that establish a basis on which Ukraine and Russia will live in peace, side-by-side.
“That will probably mean Ukraine will need to accept it is a neutral country. It doesn’t want to be in a recreated Warsaw Pact with Russia, but it probably can’t ever be in NATO either. It is a classic buffer state, where great power interests are either side of it: it is the meat in the sandwich, and when Russia has felt the buffer’s gone, that’s when it’s gotten very, very angry.
“I can’t as I sit here see a best-case where Ukraine is able to say, ‘we’ll join what we want and do what we want’. That’s probably unrealistic.”
I'm afraid that she is almost certainly right. Whether we like it or not Russia is a nuclear state with a crazy leader. If he decides that he is going to be overthrown he just might to something really mad and try using a tactical nuclear weapon. Just a little one of course but he just might try it rather than have what he sees as his, and therefore Russia's enemy on his border.
I think the only way Putin will go is is if he has guarantees of his own impunity from penalties and keeps all his wealth, and that Ukraine and the other boundary states are neutral.
The trouble is that would mean he would have to accept that other states keep their promises. Would he do that given his own record in such things?
The idea that Russia has no credibility and therefor no ability to stop Ukraine joining NATO is, unfortunately, delusional.
"…Beyond that, the Russians just have relatively unimpressive equipment, given the investment supposedly made over the past decade or so…"
Russia's defense budget is sixty billion US per year. Most of the investment was in small numbers of advanced weapons with the hope of foreign sales that could get production lines open and fund deployment of this equipment to Russian units. The T-14 Armata "wonder tank" is instructive here. After a protracted development from the cancelled T-95 (started in 1988, cancelled in 2010) this 4th generation MBT was first seen in public in 2015, where it broke down. The Russians announced they were buying 2300 of them with deliveries complete by 2020. This was subsequently scaled back to 100 as a test batch to be delivered by 2020, now pushed out to 2025 with some reports saying less than fifty will ever be made. The reason they are not in mass production is rampant corruption, financial mismanagement and very high loss of skilled personnel, and lack of foreign sales to actually fund the production lines.
Putin has just trashed the reputation of Russian weapons, his aged arsenal is proving to be death traps for Russian troops.
" his aged arsenal is proving to be death traps for Russian troops." …..name me one tank in the world today that could defeat the Javelin (or Kornet) AT weapon?..possibly the new generation Israeli reactive armour might?
What you and others don't acknowledge is the fact that this conflict is the first time that leading edge first line military hardware has been committed against each other on a large scale by two professional armies, in open combat since probably the Korean War (some would argue Iraq/Iran)…keep in mind the Ukraine has been flooded with western weapons, namely shoulder fired AT and AA weapons….
If the Russians has exported thousands of Kornet AT weapons into Afghanistan or Iraq you can be sure that we would have seen the US abandon both those conflicts years earlier.
What we are really witnessing is the demise of the modern Main Battle Tank as an effective battlefield weapon…the writing was really on the wall when the Germans produced the first really effective disposable shoulder fired AT weapon , the Panzerfaust in WW2.
Hezbollah really sealed the fate of Main Battle Tanks in the 2006 Lebanon War when they defeated the most sophisticated Tank in the Middle East, the Israeli Merkava using only well trained and highly motivated infantry with shoulder fired weapons.
Much in line with the demise of the worlds Battleships, the Main Battle Tank will be relegated to a role as a heavy artillery support weapon in future ( is usually used like that most of the time now as far as I can tell)..I am pretty sure the US stopped using Tanks in urban battle a while back..guess the Russians are leaning why they choose that course for themselves as we speak.
Do you really think the MBT lasted right up until 2006?
I would have said it was proved to be totally defunct in 1991 when the Iraq military was destroyed in a 4 day period from 24 Feb to 28 Feb.
In open country, and good weather, it could of course be argued that the demise of the MBT happened after the Normandy landings in 1944 when the German forces could not move their armour up to the front during daylight because of the overwhelming dominance of the Allied air power.
While it is true that the Germans couldn't move their tanks around France in 1944, when they could bring them to bear, the results in terms of moral for their own troops and demoralizing the Allied troops is undeniable… at the same time German troops without air, tank or conventional AT support, once trained and armed with Panzerfaust were quite capable of defeating all Allied armour…within range of course!!
"Do you really think the MBT lasted right up until 2006?"…..I have always been surprised at the willingness of armies to bring MBT into urban battle scenario's in the modern era…but they still do.
I'm inclined to agree – tanks went the way of the battleship, and for the same reason – air power, at least as far as battlefield use is concerned.
But there is a contemporary use for tanks, in cowing subject populations, who generally lack the wherewithal to deal with them. A sudden abundance of AT weapons changes that calculation significantly however. Now the tankers fear the population they are supposed to be oppressing.
Oh Lord, alwyn. It was painfully obvious in Germany's invasion of France in 1941 that their weak tanks were reliant upon the Stukas and overwhelming airpower.
Hand-held weapons outmoding tanks is a new phenomenon to most.
Perhaps you are right, and the German tanks were terrible. I am quite unable to comment as I know absolutely nothing about a 1941 German invasion of France.
I have heard just a little about an invasion in 1940 though but that is obviously not what you are pontificating so superciliously about.
No one has really deployed in extensive combat an Active Protection System (APS) like the Israeli Trophy system. Trophy has had use in Gaza on Merkava tanks and if you believe the IDF PR it has been very successful.
But here is the weird thing – the Russians have been tinkering with doppler APS systems since the late 1970s – the Drozd system, it was even deployed on 250 tanks in the early 1980s. They retired that and developed a soft kill system called Shorta-1 in the late 1980s, and built an active system called Arena after the heavy armoured losses in the Chechen war. This was demonstrated as far back as 1995.
However, lack of funds (because none have been exported) means none have been purchased or deployed by the Russian Federation. So they've had a potential defense against top attack tandem HEAT warheads for a quarter century, but haven't deployed it due to corruption and lack of money.
This chap, a somewhat gung-ho ex-US Navy F-14 aviator, has some interesting operational insights.
Will check that out when I get home, thanks., also good insight into the Russian tank defense systems…now I know will probably be down that rabbit hole for the next night or two. ..I know this is all wrong, but at the end of all this, it will be very interesting to see what really happened militarily, as I am sure you know, very little information coming out now from anywhere can really be trusted.
I wouldn't trust IDF PR either, they are still traumatized by their loss to Hezbollah IMO, in no small part through a lack of fighting will and low moral at the time, which I believe is still a big problem for them now.
an ongoing quagmire, and it makes the prospect of a negotiated resolution the only way out…
Dennis Frank
Running out of options, a negotiated solution may be the only way out for Russia. However, Putin's personal hubris may torpedo any serious peace negotiations.
On the Ukrainian side, after all the terrible hardship and losses they have suffered at Russia's hands Ukraine's leaders will not be in any mood to offer much in the way of concessions to the Russian invader..
When you're on the winning side it pays to push your advantage.
If serious peace negotiations are entered into, I imagine that Ukraine's demands will be pretty onerous for Putin to accept. Including total Russian withdrawal and ending of all hostilities, especially in the Donbass region, where Russian has been funding and supporting far right ultra nationalist Russian separatists since 2014.
If the Russian political leadership enters into negotiations to end this war, they will be lucky to not have to agree to pay reparations for war damage.
The Russian leadership would be best to concede to Ukraine's demands, in exchange they may be offered their continued control of the Crimea, in some sort of joint arrangement.
If the war continues to Russia's ultimate defeat, Russia will probably eventually be driven out of all of the Ukraine including Crimea.
Deepening the Russian leadership's problems; despite newly imposed extremely repressive laws aimed at anti-war messages and protests, .anti-war protests in Russia continue to break out.
……The 30,000 rouble (£214; $280) fine relates to her video message.
…..In the video, she called on the Russian people to protest against the war, saying only they have the power to "stop all this madness".
If Australians buy in NZ and they live in Australia, they still pay all tax on any property, with a deduction for other taxes paid. NZ equals no deduction.
If a NZer buys Aussie property, all the Aussie taxes apply selling or buying.
Ah the famous bet….yes he has been wrong before, in timing….hes been right in his description however , just not how determined the vested interests were in maintaining their position.
And zero interest rates did occur.
Keen is unconcerned about who he upsets.
And yes Hudson is another who describes it well…..unsurprising given his background.
People have spent more time online while isolating during Covid-19 lockdowns, it says.
"As a result, it is likely they have had greater exposure to disinformation, conspiracy theories and online extremist content regarding the virus, vaccines, and government mitigation programmes."
The report notes it is likely many of the people who have engaged with such content didn't seek it out, but were exposed to it on social media.
Social media algorithms likely helped spread this content, it says.
“It’s exhausting to watch,” says doctor Morgan Edwards, as she drives across Auckland to work at a city hospital. “You follow these kinds of pages and you think it’s about kids or nutrition and the next minute they’re saying don’t get vaccinated, because they’ll sell you supplements to fight off the toxins instead.”
At an event originally presented as anti-mandate, it has become increasingly apparent that Voices for Freedom and most everyone protesting alongside them is anti-vaccine, as well as dabbling (at the very least) in conspiracy theories. There has been an abundance of accusations of conspiracy, cover-ups, government control and more towards the media from protesters.
The antvax trolls tried really hard to spin there bs here and we're allowed to express their unsubstantiated views but we're shot down by many fact checkers but didn't accept the truth so got banned.
Ad your negative spin trying to divide us is in a similar vein.not unexpected from a blue blooded sycophant.Ironically.
[Don’t you believe it:
… but didn’t accept the truth so got banned.
Nobody gets banned here for being a fool believing in fairies. People get banned for behaviour, mostly, e.g. when they make assertions and statements of facts that they don’t back up, especially after a repeated request by a Mod. Of course, if one asserts BS then one cannot back it up, but then they have a choice to correct/retract and apologise or get banned. Fools seldom takes the first option, which shows they’re fools.
Don’t be a fool spreading lies about banning here.
You’re also attacking an Author of TS accusing him of trying to divide us “in a similar vein”, whatever that means, and accusing him of being a “blue blooded sycophant”. Well, jolly good then, here’s your opportunity to back it up or retract & apologise. You’re in Pre-Moderation until then and I hope you do finally read the replies to your comments because if you still don’t I’ll move you to the Ban list for a few weeks – Incognito]
I'll take the ban because I am fed up to the frikken teeth to see the bs antvaxxers spewed onto this site.
While peoples lives are at stake at least lprent stuck it to them with out holding back.
If I made comments like lprent made against the antivax brigade I would have been banned.
Yet you let anti vaxxers link to conspiracy sites with out any sanctions.
I am happy to take a ban for sticking up for truth.
[Ok, thanks for responding.
Just so that we’re clear, you receive a ban for spreading lies about banning and accusing an Author without basis. You want to take the ban “for sticking up for truth”, with is absurd nonsense; you sound like you want to play the role of victim and martyr. As I said before, nobody gets banned for sticking up for the truth even when it is only their truth as long as they can debate it and argue their views and state them as their opinion rather than as statements of facts. The latter require backup support.
You did not retract any of these nor did you apologise.
You chose the ban because of some misguided stuff about anti-vax comments here on TS by some. Your ban has nothing to do with anti-vaxxers here on TS! You can argue for or against anything or anybody as much as you like as long as you can support your statements and preferably without personal insults.
I heard that Simon is moving to Auckland. Is he going to have a go at the mayoralty? If he succeeded and brought a team with him, then one of the reasons for the establishment of the super city could be fulfilled. All those juicy assets could finally be up for grabs by their mates. The reason would of course be TINA due to the mismanagement of the left wing council.
"due to the mismanagement of the left wing council"….what Left council are you referring too?….as far as I know there isn't any serious large Left Wing organization operating within the boarders on New Zealand today….please post link to one if you know where one is, I would be more than interested….thanks.
Luxon has to make this Top 10 shuffle look like the Government-In-Waiting.
No way is he ever gonna achieve that! After the top 4 it goes into non-event repetition. Brownlee @ #8 makes Maureen Pugh look like a viable contender. Bayly may yet evidence substance though.
Andrew Bayly looks like a good contender given his background.
I wish someone would have a word with Gerry. Either that, or Luxon can give him an ambassadorial role given National have a good chance of taking out the next election.
I just think she would have been better used in a free lancing role until National was entrenched in power. Having her bogged down with finance would tie her up.
Given Nationals paucity of talent, Andrew Bayly could have been brought forward and blooded ( if he has the talent?)
Imagine those two at a function where there was free food. I think someone once said "You don't want to get yourself caught between Gerry Brownlee and a sausage roll!".
Perhaps you haven't noticed that Nanaia Mahuta has lost a lot of weight. I suspect her weight problem had more to do with a metabolic condition. I also suspect she may have had a stomach operation to counter that condition. Good on her.
Fat shaming especially when it is caused by other factors than over-eating is bottom of the barrel stuff imo.
In Gerry's case, nope. His leader, JC, proudly declared that obesity was the individual's fault and responsibility, and Gerry heartily agreed. He's admitted that he's weak-willed and/or gluttonous and proud.
If she’s a lightweight then Robbo is a featherweight. Both seem pretty mediocre to me, their skills lie in PR and political manoeuvring, no real competence or expertise in their portfolios. One hopes they have decent staff and enough moral fibre to adopt policies for the greater good (beyond themselves and their mates)
Yep, us Western baby boomers have never tasted war – a near historical anomaly.
That has allowed us breathing space to navel gaze… and move away from reality into madness that currently afflicts the West. Worthy ideals like diversity and women's rights have been highjacked by self interest groups who have subverted such good intentions.
But underneath it all, nothing has really changed as the above clip shows. We just hide our bigotry better, while pandering to madness in a vain attempt to hide our true natures from ourselves.
Yes, Black voices like Dave Chappelle have pointed this out for years. Academic woke cosplay doesn’t help with far deeper systemic evils like racism and poverty in America
What ‘analysis’? There was no analysis and nothing to speak of, as usual.
Biased commenters have a disposition towards lazy comments, often nothing more than an ‘important vid’ aka YT clip, or towards overly long comments with way too many quotes and links (and YT clips).
People are too lazy to construct and write a decent argument and collectively we’re losing our debating skills. This is my point, so what’s yours again?
I am tied of the in fighting,you yourself got sucked in with a long diatribe with {chairman}and he was pulling you down,it's happening time and time again.I myself say fuck all bar a few hopeful quiet barb's,but I like the links and as weka would ask a brief description,Im saying that some here would see that within this post,thanks for your reply,keep up the otherwise good work here.
Yes, I know that others like the links and that’s perfectly fine – they’re not deleted, but sometimes converted to the URL rather than embedded clip.
Indeed, a brief description with some explanation/reason as to why we should click on it is the basic request/requirement here on TS. Preferably, a political point that can be debated. Otherwise, it’s just lazy Spam that fills precious space and distracts from robust debate.
As to being tired of fighting, I know what you mean. I’m tired of futile exchanges too. With regards to TC, I gave him enough rope and a wee spade and he used these the way he did, which is why he’s in Pre-Moderation now and soon heading to the Ban list for a while if he doesn’t respond. Better that I waste my time on vexatious trolls than spates of others wasting their time on them at the expense of useful convos – essentially the definition of trolling. It’s a crap job, but somebody has to do it.
Reflections on Simon’s departure.
The tears in Simon's eyes, the lack of anyone standing with him looked more like gimlet eyes has believed Judith? /he was better off without him?
Or perhaps the coming court case means Simon has to appear on the stand?
It would not suit the aspirations of Luxon. He has perhaps sent a huge warning to any other in his "team".
Or perhaps he was told Nicola would be Finance, and he was offered a lesser role?
All speculation, but the machinations in National are not over.
… perhaps he was told Nicola would be Finance, and he was offered a lesser role?
All speculation, but the machinations in National are not over.
Sounds to me that is what happened. So Bridges decided not to hang around any longer.
Nicola Willis is Nationals' answer to Jacinda Ardern. Mark my words, its not Robertson who is her No 1 target but Ardern. She's been raised to the highest position possible and will be expected to match Jacinda word for word and going one better. The 'one up on you' syndrome.
She has four kids and Jacinda only has one. I've noticed recently she's even dressing like Jacinda. Brightly coloured pretty blouses with a plain coat of some sort draped around her shoulders. Anyone think that doesn't matter? To the Nats it does. Image has been their second name for as long as I've been around and that’s a long time. They are obsessed with image.
Adrian Thornton $300 billion is nothing these days it may keep an economy like NZ going for a couple of years at best but Russia waging a War maybe a few weeks or Months.
As poverty bites Russia will struggle to keep it army supplied its troops Morale up.The peoples protest in check .
Putin has made a huge tactical error.
All his oligarchs are spewing .
This is the end of Zsar Putins corrupt regime.
Where are they going to lock up all the dissenters.
I am betting on a military coup not unlike how Putin came to power.
You get the oligarchs are protected right, they have all their money hidden behind shell companies – nice and safe. Probably in South Dakota or the Cayman islands, how that for irony. If we had been able to shut these bastards down this war would probably have been stopped.
As it stands, I'm not sure with the lock down of any information in Russia if Putin is in trouble. I know he was not like before this. But people are funny, we know when collective punishment like sanctions are used, they rally behind leaders they don't like. Iran, North Korea, Cuba, the list goes on.
Yes I agree and look forward to a new Russian election where the second most popular Party by far could form the new Government, of course that will still be unacceptable to the West.
The Night Wolves are a right wing pro Russia (pro Putin – it's mutual) biker group led by Alexander Sergeyevich Zaldostanov who calls himself the surgeon – maybe because he thinks he is a wolverine.
The Night Wolves are backed by the Kremlin and hellbent on restoring the empire
“wherever the Night Wolves are, that should be considered Russia.”
After fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine, a Night Wolves chapter joined pro-Russia militias battling the country’s army. The Night Wolves have been running “humanitarian convoys” into the region and …serving as a police force in Luhansk, one of two self-declared separatist republics
They also affect a religious extremism – where same sex marriages are allowed, “tomorrow pedophilia will be fine, then sex with dead people, then eating the shit, and if we don’t stop, we will see the abyss of hell”
In 2018, the Night Wolves organized a tourof Bosnia and Serbia under the slogan “Russian Balkans”.
They have branches in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. There they are supporters of the Orthodox Church (Croats are Catholic, Albanians, most Kosovans and a significant group of Bosnians are Moslems).
The Montenegrin branch of the Russian 'Night Wolves' bikers club on Thursday called on the authorities to prohibit a planned pro-Ukrainian gathering in Podgorica, warning that it could provoke incidents.
PS The Wolfsangel (wolfshook – based on the historic wolfstrap design) is an ancient runic symbol that was believed to be able to ward off wolves. The Azov regiment is based in Mariupol, which Russia is intent on reducing to rubble.
The warrior monk Alexander Peresvet is an iconic figure to the Night Wolves – the Russians laser weapon (for taking out satellites) is named after him.
She said the party would not change New Zealand's straightforward, blanket approach to GST, but changing tax brackets in line with National's proposals would offer people some relief.
"Our package would give the average wage earner $870 per year, the average superannuitant couple $540 per year.
"We think it's a question of priorities. Is this the time for the government to be spending exorbitant sums on things like health restructures, or is this actually a time when New Zealanders need some relief so that they can afford to keep up with the cost of living."
I seem to remember that minimum wage ..what was it? 45K would get $112 a year
"National's proposals would offer people some relief. "
Those on $55k get $800 per year.
Luxon (as PM) would get $18,500 per year
Plus as a man owning many houses he also plans to rid himself of that pesky 10 year brightline test and restore tax deductions related to interest charges relating to financing property.
How the hell is this arse not being ridiculed and abused all over the MSM?
How the hell is this arse not being ridiculed and abused all over New Zealand
I suppose she has demonstrated the truth of that wonderful comment from Thomas R Marshall (Remember him? He was Vice-President to Woodrow Wilson).
Anyway it went "Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea, the other was elected Vice President, and nothing was ever heard of either of them again."
Whatever happened to Kamala? Why has she been ignored?
Apparently kiwis with massive brains are about to enter drainage mode…
Asked what the new role meant to her, Willis replied: "Women are half of the economy and often it's women who are making the big spending decisions for their household. "I see absolutely every reason why it's good to have a woman in this role, which should be very focused on how can we make sure New Zealand households are getting ahead and feel that they have good prospects for the future.
Asked what the biggest issue in finance is right now, Willis replied: "The cost of living crisis is a massive challenge for every New Zealand household and the best thing the Government could do right now is let New Zealanders keep a little bit more of their money by providing them tax reductions in the upcoming budget. We believe that at a time when it's not just fuel prices going up, it's the groceries, it's rent, it's the interest bill, New Zealanders need some relief and we will continue to push for sensible, tax reduction."
In the medium term, she said: "I'm deeply concerned that we are going to see a massive brain drain from New Zealand. And that's because when our borders open, I think we're going to have a lot of young New Zealanders who have given up hope. They're seeing costs run laps around their wage growth, they're seeing that the opportunity to buy a home is vastly diminished, and they're seeing that their skills are often well remunerated offshore."
National slogan "Stop waving goodbye to your loved ones"
I remember it intensely. National came to govern. 2009 they changed employment conditions for people like my son-in-law specializing in after care for people suffering brain injury (because much cheaper to employ non-specialists). Overnight 100 specialists out of a job with no prospect of employment in NZ. Fortunately for them Aussie was seeing the need for such people. We waved good bye to the family in 2010.
Excess mortality in NZ has decreased below the baseline in the last 2 years,due to lockdowns (decreased mobility) zero influenza and limited respiratory diseases,this made us the bottom of the excess deaths table.
The problem now however is the rate of the problem,the rate of covid cases (per 100K) is nearing double the rate of the us at its omicron peak and precautions are relaxed.
i) Will the ratings agency downgrade us (adding to the cost of borrowing)?
ii) Will the RBNZ double down on its next interest review (.25-.5)?
iii) Will the budget constrain wasteful spending in its fiscal statement,bearing in mind that it will be working against monetary policy from the RBNZ?
Tourism is a zero sum game,such as the decrease in savings from NZ going overseas,limited spending opportunity on productive assets etc.
The interest bill on our debt however will be increasing as is our debt.
Net external debt (international financial assets and liabilities excluding equity and financial derivatives) increased $9.0 billion during the December 2021 quarter, to reach $172.6 billion at 31 December 2021. This was a result of external debt rising by $10.2 billion and external lending rising by $1.2 billion. The largest contribution to the rise in external debt was mainly due to a rise in New Zealand government bonds held by overseas investors.
i) Will the ratings agency downgrade us (adding to the cost of borrowing)?
Maybe ..but also maybe not – if New Zealand's rating slips we would have to expect most other countries rating would fall further because the cost of the pandemic has utterly hammered most other economies – Even if there is a ratings slip our position in country versus country comparisons will actually improve.
ii) Will the RBNZ double down on its next interest review (.25-.5)?
My crystal ball is on the fritz sorry.
iii) Will the budget constrain wasteful spending in its fiscal statement,bearing in mind that it will be working against monetary policy from the RBNZ?
"constrain wasteful spending" – wasteful spending is in the eye of the beholder Labour will argue there is none – National will "woof, woof, woof
I'm a bit disappointed in Chris Luxon. He promoted Chris Bishop to No.3 in their caucus but he didn't make it clear to Bishop what the 'three' meant before going into the House today.
Bishop must've thought Luxon said he was being promoted to "act like a three year old."
Granted Bishop perfectly carried out what he thought Luxon's meant but he had taken the wrong message.
Things got a little testy during QT in parliament today.
But one thing stood out for me: Seymour is a more formidable opponent for the PM than Luxon – though, having said that, neither gave her much concern.
Luxon still unable to think on his feet – all his questions were scripted.
Willis taking the same line she took in previous shadow posts: reading out from a letter she received (real or made up) and asking what the finance minister would say to them. Easy meat for Grant.
The problem for Jacinda is things will become incrementally harder in the debating chamber as our economy continues drifting South, regardless of Luxon's or Dave's debating skills.
She and Robbo will become political punching bags. You can only defend failure for so long before the whole country calls bullshit.
Add to that a decisive win in Tauranga ( taking back any votes lost last time) and National will be on a roll.
It will be interesting to see which Labour members decide to retire before, or after the election, should National win. The thought of 12 years in opposition will be too much for some Labour MPs to bear.
I haven't smoked in 10 years. I think four terms out of power would be realistic given Labours wrecking of the economy.( Kiwis are slow learners). Jacinda chucking in the towel would be the icing on the cake for me. The spin around that event would be top shelf.
But l'm not clipping the cigars just yet. I'm sure Labour has a few tricks left.
I need more reality and TS provides this with abundance – it’s fact & fantasy interwoven into a tapestry of life as we know it. It is beautiful and repulsive at the same time, just like losing your virginity for the first time. There’s a sinister sense of taboo when reading some of the comments here because I know they are so wrong but I can’t help myself – it’s my guilty pleasure, my vice.
The thought of 12 years in opposition will be too much for some Labour MPs to bear.
I can see Trevor moved to tears of sympathy for the Opposition in 2027 already. In 2030 he'll probably have to install safety nets outside their windows.
You only think the economy is bad because rich pricks arent getting tax cuts, and you cannot import in slave labour to work your plantation. You need to pay New Zealander a fair wage to do it.
Forge election documents and vote to let yourself off the hook. Rotten to the core.
A group of Wisconsin Republicans who took it upon themselves to certify to the U.S. Senate that Donald Trump won the battleground state in the 2020 presidential election didn’t break any laws, state elections officials said Tuesday.
[…]
According to the Wisconsin Justice Department analysis, Hitt and nine other Republicans, including elections Commissioner Bob Spindell, gathered in the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, the last day for Wisconsin to send its electoral votes to the Senate.
[…]
Law Forward attorney Jeffrey Mandell told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he was disappointed with the decision and that Spindell shouldn’t have been allowed to vote since he was one of the targets of the complaint.
Julius Caesar's last words were possibly Greek, rather than Latin: "Kai su, teknon". In English it's "you too, child", and got flipped to the latin as "Et tu Brute".
Everyone bored as fuck? Noice. Here's the punchline [my bold]:
It literally means ‘You too, child,’ but what Caesar may have intended by the words isn’t clear. Tempest cites ‘an important article’ by James Russell (1980) ‘that has often been overlooked’. Russell points out that the words kai su often appear on curse tablets, and suggests that Caesar’s putative last words were not ‘the emotional parting declaration of a betrayed man to one he had treated like a son’ but more along the lines of ‘See you in hell, punk.’
That seems more in character of someone who told his kidnappers he was going to kill them all if a ransom is paid… and did.
I had always thought that some of the unevenness in the character of Julius Caesar, as shown by the dialogue and responses that make you say 'well that was not something I was expecting or would have done' was a playwright's device to show the unevenness of JC's character. The 'et tu brute' always felt a bit too suddenly realising…..but it did seem real that at the very end the person you always felt would have your back has it, but not in the way you might have expected. I had always thought that it had regret about why he had not talked to Brutus in depth about what as going on and now could not. While not in the class of Thomas Jones this extract from
Plutarch has Caesar just pulling his toga over his head and dying in silence. Shakespeare prefers the more dramatic account of Suetonius who has him saying “Kai su teknon?” (‘You too, my son?’) '
Thomas Jones and the point about some of the words being found on curse tablets is attractive to me too. In fact as I read it I had a vison of a cross between Marlon Brando (who played Mark Antony) and Richard Burton with Marlon Brando reprising The Godfather with cotton stuffed cheeks so he barely moved his mouth and saying ‘See you in hell, punk with a steely stare……not a dying scene.
With spare time, it was decided to check out question time to see how Luxon and his shiny new finance spokeswoman shaped up to The PM and Finance minister. Verdict – surprisingly unimpressed. Luxon clearly was no match and seemed to think it was smart to go round in circles like a demented fish in a bowl repeating the tired old 'what about tax reductions for the wealthy' lines.
The real revelation was his Deputy. If that is the best she can do, National will be in an enduring crisis and should be begging Simon to stay on. Could not credit the level of incompetence from a supposedly experienced politician. Otherwise, she seemed to dredge up the moans of three self-entitled pricks who obviously have upper average paid jobs and probably don't have families to support. "What about me and my tax cuts!!" seemed to be the cry. With the top table being such a waste of space, the quandary of who to vote for has one less party in contention, unless there are serious leadership changes.
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 12, 2024 thru Sat, May 18, 2024. Story of the week “The legislation I signed today [will] keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and ...
TL;DR: Here’s six links that stood out to me in the last day in Aotearoa’s political economy to 6:06am on Sunday, May 19:Aotearoa-NZ is the seventh worst in the OECD’s homelessness rankings, just behind the United States and just ahead of Australia. BlackRock thinks rate hikes actually worsen inflation because ...
Halfway up a historic tower in York, we are neither up nor down. At the top you will have views of a city steeped in antiquity, made and remade by Romans, Normans, Vikings, Tescos. Below, you will find a retired minister happy to tell you all about this most astonishing ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does breathing contribute to CO2 ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: KiwiRail’s seemingly endless requests for more money is damning. At one point, KiwiRail assured Robertson when he was the Finance Minister that the worst-case scenario would be an extra $300 million before requesting $1.2 billion a few months later. Not what most people ...
No one knows what it's likeTo be the bad manTo be the sad manBehind blue eyesNo one knows what it's likeTo be hatedTo be fatedTo telling only liesHave you ever wondered what life must be like for Mike Hosking? Seeing things in black and white through blue tinted specs? In ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two week’s editions.Share More Than A FeildingBike bling, London Read more ...
Hi,I think we all made it through another week — congratulations. I’ve been digesting the new Arab Strap record, which is astonishing. In other news, I’m going to be doing a Webworm popup in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday July 13. I’ll bring a bunch of merch, and some other ...
The Fast-Track Approvals Bill enables cabinet ministers to circumvent key environmental planning and protection processes for infrastructure projects. Its difficulties have been well canvassed. This column suggests a different way of thinking about the proposal. I am going to explore the Bill from the perspective of its proponents with their ...
New Zealand First Cabinet Minister Shane Jones has become the best advertisement against the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill. In selling the radical new resource consenting processes, in which ministers can green light any mine, dam, or other major development, Jones seems to be shooting the proposal in the foot. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Associate Education Minister David Seymour is urging the PostPrimary Teachers Association to put learning ahead of ideology. He wants the union leaders to call off their teachers meetings around the country where they hope to muster the strength to undo the government’s plans to establish several ...
What are police for? "Fighting crime" is the obvious answer. If there's a burglary, they should show up and investigate. Ditto if there's a murder or sexual assault. Speeding or drunk or dangerous driving is a crime, so obviously they should respond to that. And obviously, they should respond to ...
Michael Reddell writes – I got curious yesterday about how the Australia/New Zealand real exchange rate had changed over the last decade, and so dug out the data on the changes in the two countries’ CPIs. Over the 10 years from March 2014 to March 2024, New Zealand’s ...
Graham Adams writes that 20 years after the land march, judges are quietly awarding a swathe of coastal rights to iwi. Early this month, an hour-long documentary was released by TVNZ to mark the 20th anniversary of the land-rights march to oppose Helen Clark’s Foreshore and Seabed Act. The account ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: Suspended Green MP Darleen Tana has passed an unpleasant milestone: she has now been absent for as many parliamentary sitting days as she has been present for this year. Tana is on full pay while she is suspended, and will benefit from a ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is no coincidence that two Labour should-have-been MPs are making the most noise about public sector cuts. As assistant general secretary of the Public Service Association, Fleur Fitzsimons has been at the forefront of revealing where the next round of state sector job ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a ...
This is one of the (extra) weekly columns on music or movies. Plenty of solid analyses of Possession exist online and most of them – inevitably – contain spoilers. This column is more in the way of a first-timer’s aid to getting your initial bearings. You don’t need to have ...
I am painting in oil, a portrait of a manWho has taken all the heart aches,And all the pain he can stand.I am using all the colors of blue,I have here on my stand.I am painting in oil, a portrait of a man.This has been an interesting week for me. ...
Helen Clark joins the Hoon as a special guest talking whether Aotearoa should join Aukus II, and her views on the fast track legislation and how Luxon and the new Government are performing. File Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts ...
With an election due in less than nine months, Britain’s embattled PM, Rishi Sunak, gave a useful speech earlier this week. He made a substantial case for his government, perhaps as compelling as is possible in the current environment. Quite an achievement. His overall theme was security, first pulling ...
Open access notablesPublicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions, Pearson et al., Climatic Change:We analysed a recently released corpus of climate-related tweets to examine the macro-level factors associated with public declarations of climate change scepticism. Analyses of over 2 million geo-located tweets in the U.S. showed that climate ...
You can be all negative about these charter schools if you want, but I’m here to accentuate the positive. You can get all worked up, if you want to, by the contradiction of Luxon saying We’re going to make sure that every school in the country is teaching exactly the same ...
Losing The Room: One can only speculate about what has persuaded the Coalition Government that it will pay no electoral price for unreasonably pushing ahead with policies that are so clearly against the national interest. They seem quite oblivious to the risk that by doing so they will convince an increasing ...
Name suppression decisions can be tough sometimes. No matter your views on free speech, you have to be hard-hearted not to be torn by the tug of the competing arguments. I think you can feel the Supreme Court wrestling with that in M v The King. The case for ...
The Merchants of Menace: The Coalition Government has convinced itself that the “Brahmins’” emollient functions have become much too irksome and expensive. Those who see themselves as the best hope of rebuilding New Zealand’s ailing capitalist system, appear to have convinced themselves that a little bit of blunt trauma is what their mollycoddled ...
When National first proposed its Muldoonist "fast-track" law, they were warned that it would inevitably lead to corruption. And that is exactly what has happened, with Resources Minister Shane Jones taking secret meetings with potential applicants:On Tuesday, in a Newsroom story, questions were raised about a dinner Jones ...
Buzz from the Beehive One day – hopefully – we will push that Russian rascal, Vladimir Putin, beyond breaking point. Perhaps it will happen today, when he learns that Foreign Minister Winston Peters is again tightening the thumbscrews. Peters announced further sanctions, this time on 28 individuals and 14 entities ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought New Zealand to the brink of economic and cultural chaos.TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition Government’s failure to retain, and build upon, the public ...
“Members of Parliament don’t work for us, they represent us, an entirely different thing. As with so much that has turned out badly, the re-organising of MPs’ responsibilities began with the Fourth Labour Government. That’s when they began to be treated like employees – public servants – whose diaries had ...
It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a third medical school in New Zealand, ...
Time To Choose: Like it or not, the Kiwis are either going into AUKUS’s “Pillar 2” – or they are going to China.HAD ZHENG HE’S FLEET sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks ...
Henry Ergas writes – When in Randall Jarrell’s Pictures from an Institution, a college president is accused of being a hypocrite, the novel’s narrator retorts that the description is grossly unfair. After all, the man is still far from the stage of moral development at which the charge ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ reports: The Education Review Office says too many new teachers feel poorly prepared for their jobs. In a report published on Monday, the review office said 60 percent of the principals it interviewed said their new teachers were not ready. ...
New Zealand’s economic performance and the PM’s vision Michael Reddell writes – When I wrote yesterday morning’s post, highlighting how poorly both New Zealand and its Anglo peer countries have been doing in respect of productivity in recent times (ie, in the case of New ...
Hi all,Firstly - thank you! You guys are awesome. The response I’ve received to last night’s mail has been quite overwhelming. It’s a ghastly day outside, but there are no clouds in here.In case you didn’t read my email and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about you can ...
If there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this week’s announcement of a huge spend up on charter schools has settled the matter. While jobs and public services continue to be cut in the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gaye Taylor As widespread drought raises expectations for a repeat of last year’s ferocious wildfire season, response teams across Canada are grappling with the rapidly changing face of fire in a warming climate. No longer quenched by winter, nor quelled by the ...
Half of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd’s directors and its chair resigned en masse last night in protest at Christchurch City Council’s demand to front-load dividends File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The chair of Christchurch City Council’s investment company and four of its independent directors resigned in protest last ...
The University of Waikato has reworded an advertisement that begins the tender process for its new $300 million-plus medical school even though the Government still needs to approve it. However, even the reworded ad contains an architect’s visualisations of what the school might look like. ACT leader David Seymour told ...
As a follow-up to the Rings of Power trailer discussion, I thought I needed to add something. There has been some online mockery about the use of the same actor for both the Halbrand and Annatar incarnations of Sauron. The reasoning is that Halbrand with a shave and a new ...
This isn’t quite as dramatic as the title might suggest. I’m not going anywhere, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about.Let’s start with a typical day.Most days I send out a newsletter in the morning. If I’ve written a lot the previous evening it might be ...
Buzz from the Beehive The promise of tax relief loomed large in his considerations when the PM delivered a pre-Budget speech to the Auckland Business Chamber. The job back in Wellington is getting government spending back under control, he said, bandying figures which show that in per capita terms, the ...
Yesterday de facto Prime Minister David Seymour announced that his glove puppet government would be re-introducing charter schools, throwing $150 million at his pet quacks, donors and cronies and introducing an entire new government agency to oversee them (the existing Education Review Office, which actually knows how to review schools, ...
Seeing that, in order to discredit the figures and achieve moral superiority while attempting to deflect attention away from the military assault on Rafa, Israel supporters in NZ have seized on reports that casualty numbers in Gaza may be inflated … Continue reading → ...
David Farrar writes – Newstalk ZB report: The man responsible for a horror hit and run in central Wellington last year was on a suspended licence and was so drunk he later asked police, “Did I kill someone?” Jason Tuitama injured two women when he ran a red ...
Muriel Newman writes – Former US President Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.” The fight for ...
Why Courts should have said Waitangi Tribunal could not summons Karen Chhour Gary Judd writes – In the High Court, Justice Isacs declined to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal to compel Minister for Children, Karen Chhour, to appear before it to be ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The number of voices raising concerns about the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill is rapidly growing. This is especially apparent now that Parliament’s select committee is listening to submissions from the public to evaluate the proposed legislation. Twenty-seven thousand submissions have been made to Parliament ...
An average of 166 New Zealand citizens left the country every day during the March quarter, up 54% from a year ago.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy and housing market is sinking into a longer recession through the winter after a slump in business and consumer confidence in ...
The government has made it abundantly clear they’re addicted to the smell of new asphalt. On Tuesday they introduced a new term to the country’s roading lexicon, the Roads of Regional Significance (RoRS), a little brother for the Roads of National (Party) Significance (RoNS). Driving ahead with Roads of Regional ...
School is outAnd I walk the empty hallwaysI walk aloneAlone as alwaysThere's so many lucky penniesLying on the floorBut where the hell are all the lucky peopleI can't see them any moreYesterday morning, I’d just sent out my newsletter on Tama Potaka, and I was struggling to make the coffee. ...
Hi,I wanted to check in and ask how you’re doing.This is perhaps a selfish act, of attempting to find others feeling a similar way to me — that is to say, a little hopeless at the moment.Misery loves company, that sort of deal.Some context.I wish I could say I got ...
I have hitherto been fairly quiet on the new season of Rings of Power, on the basis that the underwhelming first season did not exactly build excitement – and the rumours were fairly daft. The only real thing of substance to come out has been that they have re-cast Adar ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
“The thing is,” Chris Luxon says, leaning forward to make his point, “this has always been my thing.”“This goes all the way back to the first multinational I worked for. I was saying exactly the same thing back then. The name of our business needs to be more clear; people ...
Buzz from the Beehive It’s been a momentous few days for Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision which blocked a summons order from the Waitangi Tribunal for her. And today she has announced the Government is putting children first by introducing to ...
In 2014 former Australian army lawyer David McBride leaked classified military documents about Australian war crimes to the ABC. Dubbed "The Afghan Files", the documents led to an explosive report on Australian war crimes, the disbanding of an entire SAS unit, and multiple ongoing prosecutions. The journalist who wrote the ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – According to the respected Pew Research Centre, “In seven of eight [European] countries surveyed, the most trusted news outlet asked about is the public news organization in each country”. For example, “in Sweden, an overwhelming majority (90%) say they trust the public broadcaster SVT”. ...
David Farrar writes – Kata MacNamara reports: Details of Tony Blakely’s involvement in the New Zealand Government’s response to the pandemic raise serious questions about the work of the Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry over which he presides. It has long been clear that Blakely, a ...
Chris Trotter writes – Are you a Brahmin or a Merchant? Or, are you merely one of those whose lives are profoundly influenced by the decisions of Brahmins and Merchants? Those are the questions that are currently shaping the politics of New Zealand and the entire West. ...
RNZ reports – It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...
The Transport Minister has set a hard 'fiscal envelope' of $6.54 billion for transport capital spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy is settling into a state of suspended animation as the Government’s funding freezes and job cuts chill confidence and combine with stubbornly high interest rates to ...
To be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Because hurricanes are one of the big-ticket weather disasters that humanity has to face, climate misinformers spend a lot of effort muddying the waters on whether climate change is making hurricanes more damaging. With the official start to the hurricane ...
Yesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...
And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...
The Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...
Back in April, the High Court surprised everyone by ruling that Ministers are above the law, at least as far as the Waitangi Tribunal is concerned. The reason for this ruling was "comity" - the idea that the different branches of government shouldn't interfere with each other's functions. Which makes ...
Buzz from the BeehiveTolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...
or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick used this year's State of the Planet to call on the Government to prioritise people and planet as the delivery of the Budget approaches. A full transcript of their speeches can be found below. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have used their State of the Planet speeches to challenge the Government to prioritise people and planet over profit as the delivery of the Budget approaches. ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...
Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
NC La Première television reports on the clearing of barricades after a week of protests and rioting in the capital Nouméa. Video: NC 1ère TVBy Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk With New Caledonia about to enter its second week of deadly riots, French authorities have mounted ...
Asia Pacific Report Pacific civil society and solidarity groups today stepped up their pressure on the French government, accusing it of a “heavy-handed” crackdown on indigenous Kanak protest in New Caledonia, comparing it to Indonesian security forces crushing West Papuan dissent. A state of emergency was declared last week, at ...
On May 18, the Taiwanese community in Christchurch came together for the "Health for All, Taiwan Can Help" march, urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to grant Taiwan participation. ...
The instability comes as the party tries to refresh its brand after six years of being part of a right-wing, pro-imperialist government with both the Labour Party and, from 2017-2020, the far-right NZ First Party. ...
Based on the latest Treasury forecasts, New Zealand Government debt will tick above $90,000 per household for the first time ever at 10pm today, Sunday 19 May 2024. The Taxpayers’ Union is calling it “$90k Debt Day”. Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ ...
Arawata Shane Arawata Shane had wandered long In the wild tangled hills of the West Coast. He came to a stop on the mighty range And looked down at the wide river flats. He breathed in the clean air, And he took in the shadows playing across The face of ...
SPECIAL REPORT:Islands Business in Suva Today is the 24th anniversary of renegade and failed businessman George Speight’s coup in 2000 Fiji. The elected coalition government headed by Mahendra Chaudhry, the first and only Indo-Fijian prime minister of Fiji, was held hostage at gunpoint for 56 days in the country’s ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist and Kelvin Anthony, RNZ Pacific digital journalist Police have used tear gas and stun grenades on rioters at an airport near Nouméa as the chaos in New Caledonia stretched into its sixth day. Five people, including two police officers, have died and hundreds of ...
Asia Pacific ReportThe global human rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on France to not “misuse” a crackdown in the ongoing unrest in the non-self-governing French Pacific territory of Kanaky New Caledonia in the wake of a controversial vote by the French Parliament to adopt a bill changing the territory’s ...
A major provider of school lunches fears the government's new $3 limit for most students will see them eating more pre-packaged and processed food. ...
The star of Dark City: The Cleaner takes us through his life in TV, including the VHS revolution and the John Campbell impression that started it all. Best known for his comedic roles, Cohen Holloway says he struggled at times to maintain the stone cold facade of serial killer on ...
David Hill remembers an old friend, who you’ve probably never heard of. My friend Doug never travelled; he had little interest in the world beyond his own tiny rural town. I’ve rarely known anyone who radiated such contentment. Doug (I’ll call him that) died in March. You won’t know him. ...
Some of the earliest photos of life in Aotearoa are on display at Auckland Museum right now – but the identities of some of the people in them are a mystery.What was it like to be one of the first people in New Zealand to have their photo taken? ...
Since its founding almost a decade ago, Featherston Booktown has grown into one of the country’s most interesting and idiosyncratic literary events. Erin Banks reports from the audience. “Come in, have you had lunch? I’m about to make a cheese toastie.” Mary Biggs, operations manager of Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival, ...
After 33 years abroad, Loveni Enari recently returned to Aotearoa and Samoa in what a friend joked was an “existential crisis”. He learnt and re-learnt so much about his family, friends and both countries. Almost as an afterthought, he got a Samoan tatau. This is his story. (Accompanying it are ...
Nearly 30 years ago, two people told me they’d killed a woman they knew. I thought the truth would come out, that others would tell it. In the end, I had to. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Fact: in 1995, Angela Blackmoore ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at the week and shines a light on some increasingly rare longform journalism. Mōrena and welcome to The Weekend where there will sadly be no aurora to see. After a busy week last week of short, sharp pieces, this week we swung the other way, ...
ANALYSIS:By David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report Jean-Marie Tjibaou, a revered Kanak visionary, was inspirational to indigenous Pacific political activists across Oceania, just like Tongan anthropologist and writer Epeli Hao’ofa was to cultural advocates. Tragically, he was assassinated in 1989 by an opponent within the independence movement during ...
Forget thin is in, apparently now bigger is better … or is it? After over a decade of body positivity, girls, teens and women are even more confused about what body positivity actually is. The movement began with women confronting unrealistic expectations of how their bodies should look. But sub-strands ...
Grace always sat at the bar at the back of The Cambridge, where she could watch who came in. A huge mirror ran the length of the pub, so you could sometimes watch people without them knowing. The mirror made the place seem a lot bigger than it really was. ...
MONDAY Sheriff Mark Mitchell rose at dawn. He had a long day’s ride ahead of him. He was headed for Waikeria. Waikeria! Even the name itself stirred his blood, and set root in his imagination. There was nothing and no one in Waikeria. But he would bend it to his ...
The first phase of the inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones finished this week, turning up plenty of revelations and few answers. But through all the confusion, heartbreak and antipathy on display, the simple fact at the heart of this case remains: if little Lachie’s body had ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger Benjamin, Professor in Art History, University of Sydney “She’s no oil painting”. Those were the unkind words of a colleague commenting on the subject of Vincent Namatjira’s acrylic painting, Gina. Every one of the prominent Australians and cultural heroes in Namatjira’s ...
Government plans to require local councils hold a referendum on whether to have Māori wards breaches the Treaty of Waitangi, a Waitangi Tribunal report has found. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Harcourt, Industry Professor and Chief Economist, University of Technology Sydney This year the National Rugby League (NRL) opened its season in Las Vegas. It was an audacious move by the league’s ambitious head honcho Peter V’Landys to showcase the game in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate Professor, Music Industry, RMIT University Leading music organisations have praised the federal budget for its investment in the live music sector. The budget includes A$8.6 million for a program called Revive Live: to provide essential support to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marnee Shay, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, The University of Queensland The 2024 federal budget contains A$110 million for Indigenous education. This includes funding for various different organisations to represent and help Indigenous people as well as scholarships in a bid to ...
Air New Zealand has confirmed Nouméa’s Tontouta International airport in New Caledonia is closed until Tuesday. The airline earlier told RNZ it would update customers as soon as it could. Earlier today, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters told RNZ Morning Report government officials had been working on an “hourly basis” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Linley, PhD Candidate in Ecology, Charles Sturt University Grant Linley Australia’s unprecedented Black Summer bushfires in 2019–20 created ideal conditions for misinformation to spread, from the insidious to the absurd. It was within this context that a bizarre story ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marcel Scharth, Lecturer in Business Analytics, University of Sydney OpenAI executive Mira Murati launching GPT-4o.OpenAI Earlier this week OpenAI launched GPT-4o (“o” for “omni”), a new version of the artificial intelligence (AI) system powering the popular ChatGPT chatbot. GPT-4o is promoted ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treasure McGuire, Assistant Director of Pharmacy, Mater Health SEQ in conjoint appointment as Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Bond University and as Associate Professor (Clinical), The University of Queensland Speedkingz/Shutterstock Menopause is a natural biological process that marks the end of a ...
A new poem by Hannah Patterson. Xiāng There’s a pear tree in our backyard And Xiāng tells me She can’t eat them anymore Not after some things that have happened in her life. She tells me, in Mandarin The word for pear sounds the same as the word for disassociation ...
‘Cycling Works’ aims to show business support for citywide cycle infrastructure. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, supermarket giant Foodstuffs lost its attempt to block the construction of a cycle lane outside Thorndon New World in Wellington. The Spinoff’s Wellington editor ...
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 Slow Productivity by Cal Newport (Penguin, $40)Taking out the top spot in Auckland this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Lowe, Emeritus Professor, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University For decades, Australia has exported uranium – but not used it, other than in the Lucas Heights research reactor. But change is coming. We now face a rapidly deepening commitment to ...
"In future I should walk away," Green MP Julie Anne Genter says after complaints over an exchange in Parliament and from two members of the public. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Graffam, PhD Candidate in Theatre, Monash University Gianna Rizzo/Malthouse Music pumps; lights pulsate; two sweaty bodies sway together, touching, breathing in each other’s scent. A male body framed by downlight restlessly shifts between stances and gestures. He undresses. The intensity ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sandra van der Laan, Professor of Accounting, University of Sydney Mtaya/Shutterstock At some point, you or someone else will need to make a decision about your “send-off”. Most Australians die in an institution, such as a hospital or aged care facility. ...
Asia Pacific Report Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai — who is also Chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group — has reaffirmed MSG’s support of the pro-independence umbrella group Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) stance opposing the French government’s constitutional bill “unfreezing” the New Caledonia Electoral Roll. It is ...
Producer Susan Leonard remembers her father Ernie, a pioneer of Māori television, and how his legacy lives on in Pathfinders.My father was a fabulous man. His name was Ernie Leonard and he started in TV in the 1970s when it was still glamorous – when TVNZ made behind the ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk, and Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist The suspected ringleaders of the unrest in New Caledonia have been placed in home detention and the social network TikTok has been banned as French security forces struggle to restore law and order. The French ...
Multi-year appropriations - which give the government authority to spend money without reapplying annually - are loosening Parliament's control of the public purse, auditor-general says. ...
Dr. Eric Chuah who stood for a centrist NZ political party in the October 2023 NZ Elections for Maungakiekie Auckland will stand as a candidate for Tauranga City Council Ward of Matua-=Otumoetai and Mayor of Tauranga. ...
If you can’t get to the comedy fest, let us bring the comedy fest to you. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. The New Zealand International Comedy Festival is in full swing at the moment, with a veritable smorgasboard of comedy treats ...
A new poll commissioned by Unions Wellington shows an overwhelming majority of Wellingtonians oppose the Council’s plan to sell the 34% public stake in Wellington Airport. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aruna Sathanapally, Chief Executive, Grattan Institute, Grattan Institute A central focus of this week’s budget is the treasury’s forecast for inflation. By this time next year, inflation is projected to be back within the Reserve Bank’s 2-3% target range. Inflation has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yolanda van Heezik, Professor of Ecology, University of Otago Getty Images Cities across Aotearoa New Zealand are trying to solve a housing crisis, with increasing residential density a key solution. But not everyone is happy about the resulting loss of natural ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Reeve, Deputy Program Director, Energy and Climate Change, Grattan Institute WDG Photo/Shutterstock For years, the electricity sector has been the poster child for emissions cuts in Australia. The sector achieved a stunning 26% drop in emissions over the past 15 ...
It’s often the last thing people want to do, but asking someone if they’re having suicidal thoughts is a critical first step to helping them. Content warning: this story discusses suicide and suicidal ideation. For a list of resources that can help if you or someone you know is feeling ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy J. Ralph, Associate Professor, Macquarie University The pyramids at Giza, like dozens of others, are located several kilometres west of the current path of the Nile.Alex Cimbal / Shutterstock The largest field of pyramids in Egypt – consisting of 31 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute ABO PHOTOGRAPHY/Shutterstock Receiving a cancer diagnosis is life-changing and can cause a range of concerns about ongoing health. Fear of cancer returning is one ...
Winston Peters has been on tour around the Pacific while two unrelated crises unfolded, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Two separate ...
Sounds like NZ is opening up sooner than expected. This is great, although several on here seemed to like being closed to the world.
A few bad polls really gets things happening.
Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Tourists from Australia allowed back in New Zealand next month, others to follow soon after – NZ Herald
Some people have short memories. Remember what happened last time we let people from Australia in?
Covid happened.
covid is already happening here big time, have you not noticed?
Yeah, and it came from Australia. Why invite even more in at this time?
The rest of the world is opening up and moving on, we need to as well. Time to start living with it.
Caution has served us well keeping covid Alpha,Delta and Omricon at bay using the ditch has meant our economy,health system and death rate has the best results of any country in the world.Bar none Jimmy .
statistics – we are all orders of magnitude more likely to catch Covid from someone currently in NZ than from an overseas arrival.
economics – the extra income and additional workers entering will be welcomed by many.
You seem to. conveniently forget that we are weeks/months behind the rest of the world in our outbreaks. Surely it is foolish to follow a timetable set by others that may not be relevant to us here in NZ at this time. Or are you an 'open up and too hell with it' supporter?
Measured approaches have suited us well and will continue to do so. There is no rush while we are still surging with Omicron surely?
If the rest of the world jumped off a cliff, should we follow?
Jimmy seems to think so…..we just learn to live with it and if that means jumping off a cliff because other places have then so be it.
NB before we have actually had it go through and peak.
Methinks more looking at what is happening here in NZ and less looking at what is happening other places in the world could make a difference.
What do you know that the rest of us don’t? Few of the outbreaks into Auckland were never confirmed as to how. There were cases of tourist having COVID confirmed eg Wellington but no community outbreak.
https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/media-releases/first-community-exposures-border-related-omicron-case
With numbers we are getting , it appears covid is already in.
(Yesterday USA 17k, nz 15k infections)
nek minit…..here we go do$i dough…
Pfizer CEO says fourth dose of COVID vaccine is "necessary," submits data to FDA – CBS News
This has been known for at least 6-9 months. The effectiveness of these vaccines wears off.
It will take moat of decade at a minimum to figure out the cocktail of properties to get vaccines that are close to sterilising and that last for a long time. It will then take a even longer time to be sure of that.
It alwasy seems to puzzle uncreatives that everything in engineering from building bridges to making vaccines or medicines is an incremental process towards perfection.
I guess it is because they never create or do much themselves.
/sarc
If you get Covid the antibodies that are built up are transitory. The transitory nature of the antibodies was found out very early on after people thought that herd immunity could work for populations and it was found it did not.
18/10/21
They found that reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 in people who had not received a vaccine could occur as soon as 3 months after initial infection, with a median risk of reinfection within 16 months, under endemic conditions.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/coronavirus-reinfection-how-long-might-natural-immunity-last#Analyzing-the-data
30/6/21
'Various studies have shown that an immune response involving memory T and B cells emerges after covid-19 infection. But people’s immune systems tend to respond in very different ways to natural infection, notes Eleanor Riley, professor of immunology and infectious disease at the University of Edinburgh. “The immune response after vaccination is much more homogenous,” she says, adding that most people generally have a really good response after vaccination. Data from the clinical trials of the leading vaccine candidates have found T and B cell reactivity.'
https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1605
I have said/thought all along that it is the relationship of the corona virus to the common cold virus that is its biggest strength as a virus, to give it human characteristics it can 'duck and dive' and be 'nimble on its feet' and is a bit of a shape shifter.
It makes sense to me that the annual influenza vaccine could come with or without a covid booster. I know I would be a starter ……
Lprent I take your point about being creative is taken…..all creativity is incremental in my view. Eureka moments are few and far between and I much prefer Pasteur’s view that ‘Chance favours the prepared mind’. It applies everywhere from science to actual art. Another way is ‘practice makes perfect’ or rather than ‘perfect’ opens your eyes to other possibilities.
I would love to see your evidence that it has been 'known' for 6-9 months.
I guess there are some who think nothing happens unless there is a poll coming or been to indicate action is needed.
It's like vaccine mandates and other steps in the covid battle. Did people really expect mandates would be on forever, borders would never reopen, MIQ would be permanent? That big groups would never be able to gather?
Yes agree…obviously all those protestors at Parliament failed to react in a common sense way
and probably answered 'yes' to your question. Some maliciously of course and some just went 'oh right if XXXXX (insert favourite antivax/mandate mis- & dis-information spouting group) says so it must be right.'
Jester is just a fool.
This was all announced by November last year. Got delayed by a month due to the Omicron outbreak.
Yawn… I bet the fool doesn't know the rest of the seqence because that would involve paying attention. Something that that fools have a deficit of.
Yes agree but but you can't expect anyone to pay attention, or think or even remember back to November 2021 can you? Heavens that is at least 4 months ago.
Caution has served us well, a staged reopening has served us well, being flexible in bringing actions forward or back depending on circumstances at the time has served us well. I am actually hearing some around saying perhaps we are being too hasty…..
Top US general (retired) provides a military appraisal of the invasion.
All this suggests what he calls an ongoing quagmire, and it makes the prospect of a negotiated resolution the only way out…
Interesting critique coming from a General in an army that had every resource and couldn't defeat the Taleban in….20 years!
Ukraine is being wrecked and a negotiated peace is urgent.
Ukraine feels betrayed by the U.S guarantees it was given Q1 2021.
Too much face to lose for Russia to withdraw.
Conventional wisdom had it that Afghanistan is unique due to terrain, tribalism, guerilla warfare type conditions. They fought the British Empire to a standstill. The Russians spent years there back in the '80s & couldn't win. The US ignored tradition out of hubris, I reckon, and learnt the lesson for themselves, afresh.
QFT
Blazer the pentagon said it would take a much larger force to maintain control in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Politicians made the decisions.
Empires like testing their military so they can learn and test how good their tactics and equipment is.plus if you win a war outright there is no ongoing military spending
The military industrial complex.
Wants to keep it's budget an in peace time those budgets get cut.
Look at NZ no Airforce just a scare force.
The US has learned that much of its equipment didn't work dust and a determined guerilla army with little resources showed the US military up.
Russia is finding out the same lesson but with out the deep pockets of the western alliances.
What guarantee did the US make in Q1 2021? It certainly wasn't that the US would militarily attack Russia if they invaded. That would have required Ukraine to be part of NATO or to have a formal defence pact with the US. The most that the Ukrainians should have expected is EXACTLY what the US is doing now which is imposing extremely tough sanctions on Russia plus both financial and military aid.
The US did make a security guarantee in 1994. Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. Obviously the Russians have spectacularly failed to live up to its provisions in the first 3 parts since 2014 when they annexed Ukrainian territory, directly encouraged and supported separatist successions, and started a sequence of a number of economic attacks on Ukraine.
Ukraine. Memorandum on Security Assurances
There is a summary of analysis on wikipedia about the agreement.
It certainly gives the direct justification of military and financial support by the US and UK since Russia has invaded Ukraine.
My big issue with this is that Russia has effectively destroyed nonproliferation agreements. At the time that this was signed, Ukraine had the 3rd largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. While they didn't have the launch codes, what they did have was a lot of enriched uranium and plutonium, plus the local knowledge about how to create tactical nuclear weapons.
I doubt that Russia would have invaded if Ukraine had tactical nukes. Those large formations of Russian armour would have been sitting ducks. The damage to Ukraine would have been less than the indiscriminate bombardment of cities and the civilians in them that Russian dumb weapons has been doing in their current list of atrocities.
What the US, UK, EU and everyone else is doing is the absolute minimum response required to stop a tactical anti invasion nuclear arms race from aggressive fascist style states like Russia.
Because all security guarantees of ‘neutral’ states outside of military alliances "the Ukrainian nuclear disarmament was an exemplary case of nuclear non-proliferation." are now demonstrated to be a pitiful shield. If you have one set of idiotic arseholes like Putin and his flunkies – then there will be more.
As well as re-starting nuclear proliferation, Russia has effectively destroyed the possibility of a buffer zone of neutral states, and it has alienated potentially friendly neighbours. Even Switzerland has called it “a gross violation of international law” and imposed sanctions.
I appreciated this narrative background to the war, with perhaps a slight nod to Shakespeare…
The King Must Die
Your conclusion makes sense to me. I wonder how many of the movers & shakers abroad have figured it out yet. Folks like Kissinger & Brezinski probably got it immediately. I hope they spread advice around & into the NSC & CFR particularly.
There's a lesson along the lines of Chamberlain/Munich to be learnt at the top level of western geopolitical decision-making. Time to start brainstorming a redesign of the incentive-structure of the UN Security Council, to ensure compliance with membership conditions & deter military adventures…
Is this the same Gen. David Petraeus, that was exposed as a media manipulator, lied to the FBI, and warmonger that contributed to even more harm in Iraq and Afghanistan?
IIRC, it was Rolling Stones articles I read back then, but unfortunately they are behind a paywall.. So, here's John Pilger, writing for the News International confirming the first which is relevant now:
https://newint.org/features/2010/12/01/john-pilger-interview
Another Pilger piece in the Guardian, is a reminder of the role of media in times of war and has a timely closing paragraph, given yesterday's court decision:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/dec/10/war-media-propaganda-iraq-lies
Yes, I noticed that stuff at the time. When top military guys do pr, they usually spin on behalf of their govt – which became evident to me in the late 1960s (Vietnam War) – but observers must develop the habit of relating their comments to context to interpret them accurately.
Since he's now retired, we can be reasonably confident he has no current political agenda. His reputation is sufficiently flawed (by incident such as those you cited) that he would be unlikely to be offered an ambassador's position, for instance. He mentioned that he has been a Biden critic. Therefore it's very likely that he's a straightshooter in the above appraisal…
The problem for the Russian negoitiators is that they are effectively losing as Ukraine are holding them to a standstill and the sanctions bite into the a Russian army resupply.
There is no point in Ukraine conceding anything apart from ceasefire while the Russians withdraw and pay reparations. And Ukraine enters NATO.
That last is because Russia has no credibility. Having broken their security guarantees already. They have nothing else to offer.
The Ukrainians said last night they've mobilised almost 100% of their available reserves. That is almost 900,000 men. That is a game changer. The war is now a stalemate. The Ukrainians have fought the Russians to a standstill but lack the means to counter attack. A negotiated way out for Putin is urgently needed.
Wars of attrition favour those on the defensive and the current deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine make it highly probable they will continue to lose much more troops and equipment than the Ukrainians UNLESS they spend considerable efforts to eliminate pockest of resistence in their rear areas such as around Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv. To do that will takes weeks of brutal fighting and they will have to give up any chance of taking Kiev.
It's probably going to come down to rail.
Russia is doing better in the south for the moment, and, should they take Mariupol they will be able to run rail north with desperately needed fuel and other supplies. Of course, rail makes a lovely target too, and protecting long lines from drone and Ukrainian partisan attacks may tax an already rather busy invasion force. (No doubt Ukrainian forces are even now reading The Seven Pillars of Wisdom in anticipation.) Many of the north south rail lines are already in place, including branches to locations of interest like the Zaporizhzhia power plant.
The Russians have 300 Billion in cash reserves left (after sanctions), has low national debt and most importantly it has the largest gas and oil reserves in Europe…those reserves alone with their ever increasing rising prices brought on by the sanctions/war will in effect fund Russia's war…China needs gas/oil, so no problem in selling it….not to mention the other commodities which Russia has that the US hasn’t sanctioned like Titanium, which without would effectively put a stop the production of aircraft in the US.
It seems clear that Putin has long planned for the potentiality of his red lines not being meet in the Ukraine, and has prepared for a long and brutal war if his demands for Ukraine are not fulfilled.
It is also pretty obvious that at some point soon, Putin will weaponize his big stick of gas/oil supply to Europe as winter bites….this conflict has a long way to play out yet if Putin doesn’t get what he perceives is in the best interests for Russian security in the long term.
Ukraine will never be in NATO, not unless Russia is defeated in a full scale war….and no one has the stomach for that insanity…..we hope.
For Wall Street, Russia Has Become ‘Bulletproof’
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2019/11/18/for-wall-street-russia-has-become-bullet-proof/?sh=3de108406ffd
Dunno if that Forbes opinion from two years ago has relevance to Russia's current situation though.
It was just there as a guide to the underlying financial stability Russia had sought to (and did) establish going into this conflict….I know historical context is not your thing Mr Frank, but if you did spend a little more time researching in that field in future, you might well find it useful in understanding what is happening in the present…then hopefully your comments would reflect your new more nuanced understanding going forward…and what a relief that would be.
I ain't no mister. Recycling antique colonial titles is an unusual habit for a leftist to retain. Why do you feel the need to do it?
Nice piece of sidestepping.
You get folks who seem to automatically expect others to engage with their internal melodrama. They use a bit of delusional framing here & there in their commentary as a lure. Tedious, I know, but they seem to believe doing so is an integral part of leftist political praxis.
Your last paragraph is spot on Adrian. Failure by the West to acknowledge this means that either Russia succeeds or world security spirals down. The US is as usual ok with Europe going down in flames while watching from the sidelines except that Russia would not have initiated this existential struggle unless they at least believed they had enough reach to include the US.
On the economic front there is a good article in naked capitilism about the effect of the memories of the 90s on the Russian psyche. This is the decade by which all hardship will be measured in the knowledge that this was the attempt by the west to break open Russia. That they survived, seems nothing short of a miracle to many and it was Putin who took them out of this dark place. The fact that the well off and those who profited from the pillage of the Russian state are now feeling finacial pain is just an added feature of the current refusal to allow Nato any further inches to the east
Adrian a red warning bar saying the article is more than 2 years old.
The Russian foreign reserves were US433 billion now US$ 300 billion with much of that frozen.
Forces said the rubble is stable .
Now worthless.
Just about all of the claims in Forbes are no longer relevant.
The Russian economy is in free fall and will be like Germany 1919 or Zimbabwe.
In the next few month's.
Hopefully putting and end to Putin the last megalomaniac to lead Russia.hope fully.
Look I put much into economic sanctions stopping Russia, but so far they have not constricted their economy by double digits. So I would not say
You need to understand Russia has a lot of natural resources, and by a lot ,I mean a hell of a lot. Other countries will stand up and take them, just not the west. So I can't see the Russian economy going into free fall at all.
Now if people like our last PM John Key had not set the financial system up, so the oligarchs and people like Putin could hide their money behind shell companies. Then I think the economic sanctions could have been targeted towards those oligarchs and Putin and been way more effective.
But once again we (the people) are screwed over by the Tory idiots in their never ending greed fetish.
@Tricledown, "Adrian a red warning bar saying the article is more than 2 years old"…my answer to Mr Frank above, obviously applies to you as well…. maybe dig a little deeper….
"The Russian government’s extensive involvement in the economy and the money it is still making from oil and gas exports — even with bans from the U.S. and Britain — will help soften the blow for many workers, pensioners and government employees in a country that has endured three serious financial crises in the past three decades. And as economists point out, Iran, a much smaller and less diversified economy, has endured sanctions misery for years over its nuclear program without a complete breakdown."
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/russia-built-economy-fortress-pain-real-83361604
"On Sunday, the diplomat stated that out of the total amount of Russia's reserves, which amounts to a figure of $640 billion, about $300 billion had been seized."
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Russia-About-300-Billion-of-Foreign-Exchange-Reserves-Frozen-20220313-0013.html
"Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that nearly half of the country's roughly $640 billion dollars of gold and foreign currency reserves have been frozen in the wake of Moscow's ongoing war on Ukraine."
https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/nearly-half-of-russia-s-reserves-frozen-in-wake-of-moscow-s-war-in-ukraine-122031400351_1.html
Maybe you and some others around these parts would do well to keep in mind that in the minds of most our demented press/politicians we are in a state of War with Russia ourselves…so by extension most of what you will be hearing/reading on this subject with be permeated to some degree with state propaganda…which is of course always exercised in times of war.
So they can afford to pay for their own civil aircraft.
They'll be grounded, or fall out of the sky, whichever comes first, within six months because of Russia's inability to maintain their airworthiness without manufacturer support.
https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1503505488759119874
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/03/14/putin-allows-russian-airlines-to-fly-10-billion-worth-of-foreign-owned-planes.html
This is Putin being a 2 year old, and stealing someone else toys because they stole his.
Not sure if there is an economic benefit for Russia here, as you say they can't maintain them.
If Russia's end goal was to make Europe bend to his will through the use of his oil then he should have started the War BEFORE winter rather than at the end. He has given Europe plenty of motivation AND time to source additional energy supplies.
"If Russia's end goal was to make Europe bend to his will "..not all of Europe..just the Ukraine as far as I can tell.
Well except he wanted Europe to tacitly accept his hegemonic position over the areas of most of the former Soviet Union and not to try and encourage these nations to join the EU.
Your good at calling other people ‘fools’ l.prent,but if you only take a one sided point of view and dismiss out of hand the other sides points, then your analysis is flawed. If one only relies on western media for information on conflicts, then you are sorely misled judging by passed conflicts where Western media lies have been exposed, ie Saddam’s WMD etc etc.
Russia’s war in Ukraine have become a perfect demonstration of the 'horseshoe theory' according to which the extremes of Left and Right must converge.
And proof that both fascism and marxism are sibling ideologies – both vile and contemptible.
Redlogix couldn't agree more the Spanish civil war. The Soviet Union,China.
Just another brand of fascist dictatorship.
Don’t see where this fits in regards my comment. Besides you have a poor political nounce if you think Putin is a Marxist lol how dumb
BydOnz National Socialism = communist dictatorship.
Putin is a Dictator who treats his country and people in the same way as a National Socialist dictator in all but name.
Same in China etc.Communist dictatorships turn into National Socialism.
[Strike #2. Read the Moderation note for you – Incognito]
[Strike #2. Read the Moderation note for you – Incognito]
Off topic Redlogix – are you dry mate?
Also any chance I could get your view on what happening in the national election over their.
I watch the ABC, which is making it hard to get a feel for anything, as they seem to be very weary of upsetting the Coalition in any way.
If you change "Marxism" to "Bolshevism" you might be on to something. One is a vanguardist, authoritarian political movement and therefore comparable to fascism, the other isn't. You'd still have to show that Putin is a species of Bolshevik though, which could be a fun exercise.
a species of Bolshevik
He ain't that. It would make him a social democrat (the Bolsheviks were part of the Russian SDLP before the 1903 schism).
He's just a conservative.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Social_Democratic_Labour_Party
It is said that Putin is particularly fond of the works of Ivan Ilyin (quotes him in essays), whose anti-communist prescription was apparently something called Christian Fascism.
Another major influence though, is said to be Aleksandr Dugin. He has more than a few political skeletons (declared admiration for Hitler for one), but a conservative mistrust of liberalism and a dislike of the West, chiefly America, seem to be shared with Putin.
As a political philosopher, Dugin's critiques of Western culture are an interesting outsider perspective. Sadly his velvet words serve to conceal the iron fist of Putin's tyranny.
https://twitter.com/m_millerman/status/1502334626680999939?s=21
As is any ideology when taken to authoritarian extremes.
At the moment we live under the crushing weight of capitalist exploitation that drove colonialism and slavery, and is now destroying the planet itself.
It is Fox News style fearmongering to characterise Marxism and left wing thought as the road the Stalinism and gulags.
Economic and political equality are good things to aim for.
Do you think that Helen Clark was excessively pessimistic then? She said this about a week ago.
"The best-case scenario is there are talks that establish a basis on which Ukraine and Russia will live in peace, side-by-side.
“That will probably mean Ukraine will need to accept it is a neutral country. It doesn’t want to be in a recreated Warsaw Pact with Russia, but it probably can’t ever be in NATO either. It is a classic buffer state, where great power interests are either side of it: it is the meat in the sandwich, and when Russia has felt the buffer’s gone, that’s when it’s gotten very, very angry.
“I can’t as I sit here see a best-case where Ukraine is able to say, ‘we’ll join what we want and do what we want’. That’s probably unrealistic.”
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018832624/what-we-don-t-want-is-world-war-iii-clark-on-ukraine
I'm afraid that she is almost certainly right. Whether we like it or not Russia is a nuclear state with a crazy leader. If he decides that he is going to be overthrown he just might to something really mad and try using a tactical nuclear weapon. Just a little one of course but he just might try it rather than have what he sees as his, and therefore Russia's enemy on his border.
I think the only way Putin will go is is if he has guarantees of his own impunity from penalties and keeps all his wealth, and that Ukraine and the other boundary states are neutral.
The trouble is that would mean he would have to accept that other states keep their promises. Would he do that given his own record in such things?
The idea that Russia has no credibility and therefor no ability to stop Ukraine joining NATO is, unfortunately, delusional.
"…Beyond that, the Russians just have relatively unimpressive equipment, given the investment supposedly made over the past decade or so…"
Russia's defense budget is sixty billion US per year. Most of the investment was in small numbers of advanced weapons with the hope of foreign sales that could get production lines open and fund deployment of this equipment to Russian units. The T-14 Armata "wonder tank" is instructive here. After a protracted development from the cancelled T-95 (started in 1988, cancelled in 2010) this 4th generation MBT was first seen in public in 2015, where it broke down. The Russians announced they were buying 2300 of them with deliveries complete by 2020. This was subsequently scaled back to 100 as a test batch to be delivered by 2020, now pushed out to 2025 with some reports saying less than fifty will ever be made. The reason they are not in mass production is rampant corruption, financial mismanagement and very high loss of skilled personnel, and lack of foreign sales to actually fund the production lines.
Putin has just trashed the reputation of Russian weapons, his aged arsenal is proving to be death traps for Russian troops.
" his aged arsenal is proving to be death traps for Russian troops." …..name me one tank in the world today that could defeat the Javelin (or Kornet) AT weapon?..possibly the new generation Israeli reactive armour might?
What you and others don't acknowledge is the fact that this conflict is the first time that leading edge first line military hardware has been committed against each other on a large scale by two professional armies, in open combat since probably the Korean War (some would argue Iraq/Iran)…keep in mind the Ukraine has been flooded with western weapons, namely shoulder fired AT and AA weapons….
If the Russians has exported thousands of Kornet AT weapons into Afghanistan or Iraq you can be sure that we would have seen the US abandon both those conflicts years earlier.
What we are really witnessing is the demise of the modern Main Battle Tank as an effective battlefield weapon…the writing was really on the wall when the Germans produced the first really effective disposable shoulder fired AT weapon , the Panzerfaust in WW2.
Hezbollah really sealed the fate of Main Battle Tanks in the 2006 Lebanon War when they defeated the most sophisticated Tank in the Middle East, the Israeli Merkava using only well trained and highly motivated infantry with shoulder fired weapons.
Much in line with the demise of the worlds Battleships, the Main Battle Tank will be relegated to a role as a heavy artillery support weapon in future ( is usually used like that most of the time now as far as I can tell)..I am pretty sure the US stopped using Tanks in urban battle a while back..guess the Russians are leaning why they choose that course for themselves as we speak.
Stupid Humans.
Do you really think the MBT lasted right up until 2006?
I would have said it was proved to be totally defunct in 1991 when the Iraq military was destroyed in a 4 day period from 24 Feb to 28 Feb.
In open country, and good weather, it could of course be argued that the demise of the MBT happened after the Normandy landings in 1944 when the German forces could not move their armour up to the front during daylight because of the overwhelming dominance of the Allied air power.
While it is true that the Germans couldn't move their tanks around France in 1944, when they could bring them to bear, the results in terms of moral for their own troops and demoralizing the Allied troops is undeniable… at the same time German troops without air, tank or conventional AT support, once trained and armed with Panzerfaust were quite capable of defeating all Allied armour…within range of course!!
"Do you really think the MBT lasted right up until 2006?"…..I have always been surprised at the willingness of armies to bring MBT into urban battle scenario's in the modern era…but they still do.
I'm inclined to agree – tanks went the way of the battleship, and for the same reason – air power, at least as far as battlefield use is concerned.
But there is a contemporary use for tanks, in cowing subject populations, who generally lack the wherewithal to deal with them. A sudden abundance of AT weapons changes that calculation significantly however. Now the tankers fear the population they are supposed to be oppressing.
Oh Lord, alwyn. It was painfully obvious in Germany's invasion of France in 1941 that their weak tanks were reliant upon the Stukas and overwhelming airpower.
Hand-held weapons outmoding tanks is a new phenomenon to most.
Perhaps you are right, and the German tanks were terrible. I am quite unable to comment as I know absolutely nothing about a 1941 German invasion of France.
I have heard just a little about an invasion in 1940 though but that is obviously not what you are pontificating so superciliously about.
No one has really deployed in extensive combat an Active Protection System (APS) like the Israeli Trophy system. Trophy has had use in Gaza on Merkava tanks and if you believe the IDF PR it has been very successful.
But here is the weird thing – the Russians have been tinkering with doppler APS systems since the late 1970s – the Drozd system, it was even deployed on 250 tanks in the early 1980s. They retired that and developed a soft kill system called Shorta-1 in the late 1980s, and built an active system called Arena after the heavy armoured losses in the Chechen war. This was demonstrated as far back as 1995.
However, lack of funds (because none have been exported) means none have been purchased or deployed by the Russian Federation. So they've had a potential defense against top attack tandem HEAT warheads for a quarter century, but haven't deployed it due to corruption and lack of money.
This chap, a somewhat gung-ho ex-US Navy F-14 aviator, has some interesting operational insights.
Will check that out when I get home, thanks., also good insight into the Russian tank defense systems…now I know will probably be down that rabbit hole for the next night or two. ..I know this is all wrong, but at the end of all this, it will be very interesting to see what really happened militarily, as I am sure you know, very little information coming out now from anywhere can really be trusted.
I wouldn't trust IDF PR either, they are still traumatized by their loss to Hezbollah IMO, in no small part through a lack of fighting will and low moral at the time, which I believe is still a big problem for them now.
Former Australian army officer on Poot's plans A and B going to shit and plan C heading the same way.
https://twitter.com/WarintheFuture/status/1503499716209754115
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1503499716209754115.html
Running out of options, a negotiated solution may be the only way out for Russia. However, Putin's personal hubris may torpedo any serious peace negotiations.
On the Ukrainian side, after all the terrible hardship and losses they have suffered at Russia's hands Ukraine's leaders will not be in any mood to offer much in the way of concessions to the Russian invader..
When you're on the winning side it pays to push your advantage.
If serious peace negotiations are entered into, I imagine that Ukraine's demands will be pretty onerous for Putin to accept. Including total Russian withdrawal and ending of all hostilities, especially in the Donbass region, where Russian has been funding and supporting far right ultra nationalist Russian separatists since 2014.
If the Russian political leadership enters into negotiations to end this war, they will be lucky to not have to agree to pay reparations for war damage.
The Russian leadership would be best to concede to Ukraine's demands, in exchange they may be offered their continued control of the Crimea, in some sort of joint arrangement.
If the war continues to Russia's ultimate defeat, Russia will probably eventually be driven out of all of the Ukraine including Crimea.
Deepening the Russian leadership's problems; despite newly imposed extremely repressive laws aimed at anti-war messages and protests, .anti-war protests in Russia continue to break out.
The Russians bet on winter.
I thought to myself Putin hasn't factored in Global warming.
Today 2 fox news journalists killed by Russians.
This could be the end of Fox spews love affair with Putin and his biggest fanboy Trump.
Even Gopers are doubling down on putin supporters.
The US is finally waking up to the dangers of Trump/Putin.
Where is the NZ equivalent?
https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/final-reminder-dfa-live-2000-sydney-tonight-talking-economics-and-politics-with-tnls-victor-kline-steve-keen/
Some very interesting and pertinent tracking of housing and credit that will apply to NZ as well.
Bernard Hickey has podcasts sometimes apparantly.
Aussies are big buyers of NZ property.
They like the incentives here,no stamp duties or CG tax like most developed nations have.
If Australians buy in NZ and they live in Australia, they still pay all tax on any property, with a deduction for other taxes paid. NZ equals no deduction.
If a NZer buys Aussie property, all the Aussie taxes apply selling or buying.
So do aussies pay CG tax on NZ property?
Yes Blazer, friends were shocked on going to Aus, and selling their Papamoa home after they decided to stay, to have to pay taxes on their NZ sale.
It was the political party I was referring to rather than the podcast.
If a Party espousing the policies Keen and Kline were outlining was active in NZ they would have my vote and I suspect a good number of others.
I like Keen and Michael Hudson even more…in Oz Keen 's rep has been sullied by a number of wrong calls..e.g
Keen to climb Kosciuszko after losing bet (smh.com.au)
Ah the famous bet….yes he has been wrong before, in timing….hes been right in his description however , just not how determined the vested interests were in maintaining their position.
And zero interest rates did occur.
Keen is unconcerned about who he upsets.
And yes Hudson is another who describes it well…..unsurprising given his background.
Influencers ?! And apart from their bizarre CT belief systems….peddling pseudoscience snake oil. As always..
They could always come to The Standard and get the pure truth.
The antvax trolls tried really hard to spin there bs here and we're allowed to express their unsubstantiated views but we're shot down by many fact checkers but didn't accept the truth so got banned.
Ad your negative spin trying to divide us is in a similar vein.not unexpected from a blue blooded sycophant.Ironically.
[Don’t you believe it:
Nobody gets banned here for being a fool believing in fairies. People get banned for behaviour, mostly, e.g. when they make assertions and statements of facts that they don’t back up, especially after a repeated request by a Mod. Of course, if one asserts BS then one cannot back it up, but then they have a choice to correct/retract and apologise or get banned. Fools seldom takes the first option, which shows they’re fools.
Don’t be a fool spreading lies about banning here.
You’re also attacking an Author of TS accusing him of trying to divide us “in a similar vein”, whatever that means, and accusing him of being a “blue blooded sycophant”. Well, jolly good then, here’s your opportunity to back it up or retract & apologise. You’re in Pre-Moderation until then and I hope you do finally read the replies to your comments because if you still don’t I’ll move you to the Ban list for a few weeks – Incognito]
Mod note for you.
Gallant!
Crikey I was praising The Standard and denying the idea of stable political truth as succinctly as I could. Maybe I'm a bit gnomic for these guys.
Shave off your beard and ditch the silly hat and you’ll be fine for these guys, as they don’t go any deeper than superficial appearances.
I withdraw and apologise I did make incorrect assumptions.
I was frustrated and falsely accused you and others .
Please accept my sincere apology.
I'll take the ban because I am fed up to the frikken teeth to see the bs antvaxxers spewed onto this site.
While peoples lives are at stake at least lprent stuck it to them with out holding back.
If I made comments like lprent made against the antivax brigade I would have been banned.
Yet you let anti vaxxers link to conspiracy sites with out any sanctions.
I am happy to take a ban for sticking up for truth.
[Ok, thanks for responding.
Just so that we’re clear, you receive a ban for spreading lies about banning and accusing an Author without basis. You want to take the ban “for sticking up for truth”, with is absurd nonsense; you sound like you want to play the role of victim and martyr. As I said before, nobody gets banned for sticking up for the truth even when it is only their truth as long as they can debate it and argue their views and state them as their opinion rather than as statements of facts. The latter require backup support.
You did not retract any of these nor did you apologise.
You chose the ban because of some misguided stuff about anti-vax comments here on TS by some. Your ban has nothing to do with anti-vaxxers here on TS! You can argue for or against anything or anybody as much as you like as long as you can support your statements and preferably without personal insults.
Bye for now until April Fool’s Day – Incognito]
Mod note for you.
Huh?
I heard that Simon is moving to Auckland. Is he going to have a go at the mayoralty? If he succeeded and brought a team with him, then one of the reasons for the establishment of the super city could be fulfilled. All those juicy assets could finally be up for grabs by their mates. The reason would of course be TINA due to the mismanagement of the left wing council.
"due to the mismanagement of the left wing council"….what Left council are you referring too?….as far as I know there isn't any serious large Left Wing organization operating within the boarders on New Zealand today….please post link to one if you know where one is, I would be more than interested….thanks.
Auckland city council. I think Adrian.
boardersborders – apologies for the pickinessMy best options for National's reshuffle are:
1. Luxon: Leader, Intelligence and Security. Also Commerce.
2. Nicola Willis gets Finance, keeps Deputy Leader. Good experience at Finance and Expenditure Committee already.
3. Shane Reti, jumps up 1, keeps Health, gets COVID response. Target is Little.
4. Chris Bishop, gets Housing, keeps Shadow Leader. His target is Hipkins
5. Simeon Brown, jumps 4. Transport, takes Energy. His targets are Wood and Woods
6. Louise Upston, drops 1 place, keeps Social Development.
7. Barbara Kuriger. Agriculture, biosecurity, food safety
8. Gerry Brownlee. Jumps 8 places. 3 Waters, Foreign Affairs. Target Mahuta
9. Erica Stanford. Drops 3. Keep education, and keeps the North Shore happy.
10. Andrew Bayly. Jumps 4. Assoc Finance. Assoc 3 Waters. Climate. Ec Dev.
Underneath that who cares?
Luxon has to make this Top 10 shuffle look like the Government-In-Waiting.
Luxon has to make this Top 10 shuffle look like the Government-In-Waiting.
No way is he ever gonna achieve that! After the top 4 it goes into non-event repetition. Brownlee @ #8 makes Maureen Pugh look like a viable contender. Bayly may yet evidence substance though.
Andrew Bayly looks like a good contender given his background.
I wish someone would have a word with Gerry. Either that, or Luxon can give him an ambassadorial role given National have a good chance of taking out the next election.
Ad called it – Nicola Willis.
I called it years ago 🙂
Willis for Finance was never in doubt. She worked for John Key once, and was on a committee of course, so has all the relevant experience.
I just think she would have been better used in a free lancing role until National was entrenched in power. Having her bogged down with finance would tie her up.
Given Nationals paucity of talent, Andrew Bayly could have been brought forward and blooded ( if he has the talent?)
"8. Gerry Brownlee. Jumps 8 places. 3 Waters, Foreign Affairs. Target Mahuta"
Imagine those two at a function where there was free food. I think someone once said "You don't want to get yourself caught between Gerry Brownlee and a sausage roll!".
Perhaps you haven't noticed that Nanaia Mahuta has lost a lot of weight. I suspect her weight problem had more to do with a metabolic condition. I also suspect she may have had a stomach operation to counter that condition. Good on her.
Fat shaming especially when it is caused by other factors than over-eating is bottom of the barrel stuff imo.
In Gerry's case, nope. His leader, JC, proudly declared that obesity was the individual's fault and responsibility, and Gerry heartily agreed. He's admitted that he's weak-willed and/or gluttonous and proud.
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/gerry-brownlee-on-wealth-tax-and-judith-collins-obesity-comments/
How about Brownlee? Does he have a metabolic condition too?
Imagine an eating competition between Gerry and Grant? Gawd.
Damon Runyon would have had a wonderful time with them.
Which one would be Joel Duffle and which would be Violette Shumberger?
https://damonrunyon.neocities.org/Broadway_Stories/A_Piece_of_Pie.html
Robbo will wipe the floor with Willis. She is an intellectual lightweight.
Smug comment and stupid too; when facing an opponent it is not smart to underestimate them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Willis_(politician)#Early_life
If she’s a lightweight then Robbo is a featherweight. Both seem pretty mediocre to me, their skills lie in PR and political manoeuvring, no real competence or expertise in their portfolios. One hopes they have decent staff and enough moral fibre to adopt policies for the greater good (beyond themselves and their mates)
I wouldn't mess with any politician who can bring Fonterra with them.
From experience her relationships in MFAT, MBIE, and MPI are strong at a senior level.
Her lineage from Fonterra, to English and Key's office, then quickly to National Deputy Leader, doesn't come about by chance.
Willis has a deeper and more senior background than either Ardern or Robertson.
Nor should you underestimate the Wellington networks of her consultant husband.
Willis is the one to watch.
Yes Ad, always was "in the front row" of any National Party Leader's picture" whoever they were/are. Great chess player.
No Nicola Willis listed on the NZ Chess Federation players list. So I would wager that I would defeat her in chess blindfolded and drunk
She would play a "mean" game. She's definitely a Queen. Has that "I'll be your pawn till I'm someone elses queen" lol
"I wouldn't mess with any politician who can bring Fonterra with them."
Todd Muller, for example?
*smiles sweetly
She is more moderate than Luxon in words but with Nationals wealth redistribution to the better off wralthy NZers.
She hasn't got much sway.
[Strike #1. Read the Moderation note for you – Incognito]
[Strike #1. Read the Moderation note for you – Incognito]
So what it was actually was less revolutionary:
1. Luxon. Leader, Intelligence and Security
2. Willis. Dep Leader, Finance.
3. Bishop. Housing, infrastructure, COVID
4. Reti. Health. Maori-Crown relations.
5. Goldsmith. Justice. etc. This jump was a surprise for me.
6. Upston. Social Development, child poverty.
7. Stanford. Education.
8. Doocey.
9. S. Brown. Transport.
10. Kuriger. Agriculture etc.
Having Brownlee on your team is a bit like having Greatbatch – ok against Sri Lanka, but otherwise a liability.
"Gerry Brownlee. Jumps 8 places"
Gerry?
Jumps?
You jest.
How the Ukraine War Exposes Western Racism…..I would say especially Liberal racism…
Yep, us Western baby boomers have never tasted war – a near historical anomaly.
That has allowed us breathing space to navel gaze… and move away from reality into madness that currently afflicts the West. Worthy ideals like diversity and women's rights have been highjacked by self interest groups who have subverted such good intentions.
But underneath it all, nothing has really changed as the above clip shows. We just hide our bigotry better, while pandering to madness in a vain attempt to hide our true natures from ourselves.
Yes, Black voices like Dave Chappelle have pointed this out for years. Academic woke cosplay doesn’t help with far deeper systemic evils like racism and poverty in America
Agree with your analysis of this important vid. Hope it’s watched by people here, though may not get through their entrenched bias.
What ‘analysis’? There was no analysis and nothing to speak of, as usual.
Biased commenters have a disposition towards lazy comments, often nothing more than an ‘important vid’ aka YT clip, or towards overly long comments with way too many quotes and links (and YT clips).
And those without any bias, have a comment that is just the right length – neither too short, or too long. All heil moderation.
I and J (KLMNOPQR) the centrists of the alphabet.
Unfortunate typo there
Adrian said, ‘I would say especially Liberal racism…’
that’s Adrian’s analysis, and I said, I agree. So no need for your poor response
A poor ‘analysis’ deserves a poor response. If you cannot handle this then do better.
incognito ,,,, have you even looked at the link and have you put up a contra link to support your inane ramblings.
That’s the point, there’s nothing of substance except a YT clip. You may want to read the Mod note I left for somebody else 2 days ago: https://thestandard.org.nz/see-you-later-simon/#comment-1875252.
People are too lazy to construct and write a decent argument and collectively we’re losing our debating skills. This is my point, so what’s yours again?
I am tied of the in fighting,you yourself got sucked in with a long diatribe with {chairman}and he was pulling you down,it's happening time and time again.I myself say fuck all bar a few hopeful quiet barb's,but I like the links and as weka would ask a brief description,Im saying that some here would see that within this post,thanks for your reply,keep up the otherwise good work here.
Yes, I know that others like the links and that’s perfectly fine – they’re not deleted, but sometimes converted to the URL rather than embedded clip.
Indeed, a brief description with some explanation/reason as to why we should click on it is the basic request/requirement here on TS. Preferably, a political point that can be debated. Otherwise, it’s just lazy Spam that fills precious space and distracts from robust debate.
As to being tired of fighting, I know what you mean. I’m tired of futile exchanges too. With regards to TC, I gave him enough rope and a wee spade and he used these the way he did, which is why he’s in Pre-Moderation now and soon heading to the Ban list for a while if he doesn’t respond. Better that I waste my time on vexatious trolls than spates of others wasting their time on them at the expense of useful convos – essentially the definition of trolling. It’s a crap job, but somebody has to do it.
Happy commenting.
Reflections on Simon’s departure.
The tears in Simon's eyes, the lack of anyone standing with him looked more like gimlet eyes has believed Judith? /he was better off without him?
Or perhaps the coming court case means Simon has to appear on the stand?
It would not suit the aspirations of Luxon. He has perhaps sent a huge warning to any other in his "team".
Or perhaps he was told Nicola would be Finance, and he was offered a lesser role?
All speculation, but the machinations in National are not over.
Sounds to me that is what happened. So Bridges decided not to hang around any longer.
Nicola Willis is Nationals' answer to Jacinda Ardern. Mark my words, its not Robertson who is her No 1 target but Ardern. She's been raised to the highest position possible and will be expected to match Jacinda word for word and going one better. The 'one up on you' syndrome.
She has four kids and Jacinda only has one. I've noticed recently she's even dressing like Jacinda. Brightly coloured pretty blouses with a plain coat of some sort draped around her shoulders. Anyone think that doesn't matter? To the Nats it does. Image has been their second name for as long as I've been around and that’s a long time. They are obsessed with image.
Adrian Thornton $300 billion is nothing these days it may keep an economy like NZ going for a couple of years at best but Russia waging a War maybe a few weeks or Months.
As poverty bites Russia will struggle to keep it army supplied its troops Morale up.The peoples protest in check .
Putin has made a huge tactical error.
All his oligarchs are spewing .
This is the end of Zsar Putins corrupt regime.
Where are they going to lock up all the dissenters.
I am betting on a military coup not unlike how Putin came to power.
You get the oligarchs are protected right, they have all their money hidden behind shell companies – nice and safe. Probably in South Dakota or the Cayman islands, how that for irony. If we had been able to shut these bastards down this war would probably have been stopped.
As it stands, I'm not sure with the lock down of any information in Russia if Putin is in trouble. I know he was not like before this. But people are funny, we know when collective punishment like sanctions are used, they rally behind leaders they don't like. Iran, North Korea, Cuba, the list goes on.
'This is the end of Zsar Putins corrupt regime'
Yes I agree and look forward to a new Russian election where the second most popular Party by far could form the new Government, of course that will still be unacceptable to the West.
Exactly.
https://twitter.com/BlackSwanson/status/1500626003256692736
Brent futures down under a $100 and moving $40 in a week.
tesla putting up prices for the second time this week.
What hell!
81 people beheading's in one day in Saudi Arabia.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/saudi-arabia-executes-81-people-largest-mass-execution/
Sanctions against Saudi Arabia now please labour.
The Night Wolves are a right wing pro Russia (pro Putin – it's mutual) biker group led by Alexander Sergeyevich Zaldostanov who calls himself the surgeon – maybe because he thinks he is a wolverine.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/putins-angels-inside-russias-most-infamous-motorcycle-club-56360/
https://balkaninsight.com/2020/01/17/russian-night-wolves-bikers-support-montenegro-church-protests/
https://balkaninsight.com/2022/02/18/pro-russian-bikers-in-montenegro-want-pro-ukrainian-rally-stopped/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Wolves
PS The Wolfsangel (wolfshook – based on the historic wolfstrap design) is an ancient runic symbol that was believed to be able to ward off wolves. The Azov regiment is based in Mariupol, which Russia is intent on reducing to rubble.
The warrior monk Alexander Peresvet is an iconic figure to the Night Wolves – the Russians laser weapon (for taking out satellites) is named after him.
Yeah yeah and the swastika is an ancient religious symbol
There are as many right wing nationalists in Russia as Ukraine, so why does only one of the two states deserve to be invaded?
Not too sure why a lot of people on the left are supporting this garbage.
What garbage?
I hope the Treasury boffins secure their web site before the budget this year.
A bit of a selective quote there, Patricia.
While you may not agree with the tax policy she's promoting – she's pretty articulate on the potential benefits for kiwis.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/463399/national-mp-nicola-willis-named-finance-spokesperson-after-simon-bridges-announced-retirement
I seem to remember that minimum wage ..what was it? 45K would get $112 a year
"National's proposals would offer people some relief. "
Those on $55k get $800 per year.
Luxon (as PM) would get $18,500 per year
Plus as a man owning many houses he also plans to rid himself of that pesky 10 year brightline test and restore tax deductions related to interest charges relating to financing property.
How the hell is this arse not being ridiculed and abused all over the MSM?
How the hell is this arse not being ridiculed and abused all over New Zealand
No sanctions on anyone in the Republican Party. Says it all.
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1503744554444505093
Where's Kamala Harris?
I suppose she has demonstrated the truth of that wonderful comment from Thomas R Marshall (Remember him? He was Vice-President to Woodrow Wilson).
Anyway it went "Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea, the other was elected Vice President, and nothing was ever heard of either of them again."
Whatever happened to Kamala? Why has she been ignored?
Apparently kiwis with massive brains are about to enter drainage mode…
One can see reasons for her rise in the National – the ability to effortlessly lie out of both sides of her mouth at the same time for a starter
2008
National slogan "Stop waving goodbye to your loved ones"
I remember it intensely. National came to govern. 2009 they changed employment conditions for people like my son-in-law specializing in after care for people suffering brain injury (because much cheaper to employ non-specialists). Overnight 100 specialists out of a job with no prospect of employment in NZ. Fortunately for them Aussie was seeing the need for such people. We waved good bye to the family in 2010.
NZ covid related deaths this year now exceed the road toll by 20%,on on curve to see 450 ttl deaths by Kings Birthday weekend.
While any death is a tragedy to the individual families – this is not, in itself, an outrageous death toll. Compare to cancer, for example….
https://minhealthnz.shinyapps.io/mortality-web-tool/
2019 seems to be the last year for which there are figures… not sure why.
Excess mortality in NZ has decreased below the baseline in the last 2 years,due to lockdowns (decreased mobility) zero influenza and limited respiratory diseases,this made us the bottom of the excess deaths table.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(2102796-3/fulltext
The problem now however is the rate of the problem,the rate of covid cases (per 100K) is nearing double the rate of the us at its omicron peak and precautions are relaxed.
https://twitter.com/VincentRK/status/1502832519720280067/photo/1
Current account blows up sets new record in absolute terms (in real terms we are living beyond our means)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128072264/nz-posts-a-record-20-billion-annual-current-account-deficit
As a ratio against GDP it has not been this bad since Helen Clark was in charge (and then it was really bad)
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/key-graphs/key-graph-current-account
Open questions.
i) Will the ratings agency downgrade us (adding to the cost of borrowing)?
ii) Will the RBNZ double down on its next interest review (.25-.5)?
iii) Will the budget constrain wasteful spending in its fiscal statement,bearing in mind that it will be working against monetary policy from the RBNZ?
That and the return to tourism revenues would give rating agencies reason to pause on any downgrade.
Tourism is a zero sum game,such as the decrease in savings from NZ going overseas,limited spending opportunity on productive assets etc.
The interest bill on our debt however will be increasing as is our debt.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/balance-of-payments-and-international-investment-position-december-2021-quarter
i) Will the ratings agency downgrade us (adding to the cost of borrowing)?
Maybe ..but also maybe not – if New Zealand's rating slips we would have to expect most other countries rating would fall further because the cost of the pandemic has utterly hammered most other economies – Even if there is a ratings slip our position in country versus country comparisons will actually improve.
ii) Will the RBNZ double down on its next interest review (.25-.5)?
My crystal ball is on the fritz sorry.
iii) Will the budget constrain wasteful spending in its fiscal statement,bearing in mind that it will be working against monetary policy from the RBNZ?
"constrain wasteful spending" – wasteful spending is in the eye of the beholder Labour will argue there is none – National will "woof, woof, woof
'
I'm a bit disappointed in Chris Luxon. He promoted Chris Bishop to No.3 in their caucus but he didn't make it clear to Bishop what the 'three' meant before going into the House today.
Bishop must've thought Luxon said he was being promoted to "act like a three year old."
Granted Bishop perfectly carried out what he thought Luxon's meant but he had taken the wrong message.
Things got a little testy during QT in parliament today.
But one thing stood out for me: Seymour is a more formidable opponent for the PM than Luxon – though, having said that, neither gave her much concern.
Luxon still unable to think on his feet – all his questions were scripted.
Willis taking the same line she took in previous shadow posts: reading out from a letter she received (real or made up) and asking what the finance minister would say to them. Easy meat for Grant.
Bishop just being a pain in the arse!
The problem for Jacinda is things will become incrementally harder in the debating chamber as our economy continues drifting South, regardless of Luxon's or Dave's debating skills.
She and Robbo will become political punching bags. You can only defend failure for so long before the whole country calls bullshit.
Add to that a decisive win in Tauranga ( taking back any votes lost last time) and National will be on a roll.
It will be interesting to see which Labour members decide to retire before, or after the election, should National win. The thought of 12 years in opposition will be too much for some Labour MPs to bear.
I don’t what’s funnier, you smoking or reading the leaves.
I haven't smoked in 10 years. I think four terms out of power would be realistic given Labours wrecking of the economy.( Kiwis are slow learners). Jacinda chucking in the towel would be the icing on the cake for me. The spin around that event would be top shelf.
But l'm not clipping the cigars just yet. I'm sure Labour has a few tricks left.
I’ve not watched TV in years and don’t miss it all now I read TS.
You don't know what you're missing…MAFS…the real housewives of…??
I need more reality and TS provides this with abundance – it’s fact & fantasy interwoven into a tapestry of life as we know it. It is beautiful and repulsive at the same time, just like losing your virginity for the first time. There’s a sinister sense of taboo when reading some of the comments here because I know they are so wrong but I can’t help myself – it’s my guilty pleasure, my vice.
HTH
The 1990-1999, 1999-2008, 2008-2017 precedents suggest three terms per government is the standard in the MMP era.
Expecting 2 terms for this government and 4 for the next suggests aberrant rather than inerrant thinking.
The thought of 12 years in opposition will be too much for some Labour MPs to bear.
I can see Trevor moved to tears of sympathy for the Opposition in 2027 already. In 2030 he'll probably have to install safety nets outside their windows.
You only think the economy is bad because rich pricks arent getting tax cuts, and you cannot import in slave labour to work your plantation. You need to pay New Zealander a fair wage to do it.
Forge election documents and vote to let yourself off the hook. Rotten to the core.
A group of Wisconsin Republicans who took it upon themselves to certify to the U.S. Senate that Donald Trump won the battleground state in the 2020 presidential election didn’t break any laws, state elections officials said Tuesday.
[…]
According to the Wisconsin Justice Department analysis, Hitt and nine other Republicans, including elections Commissioner Bob Spindell, gathered in the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, the last day for Wisconsin to send its electoral votes to the Senate.
[…]
Law Forward attorney Jeffrey Mandell told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he was disappointed with the decision and that Spindell shouldn’t have been allowed to vote since he was one of the targets of the complaint.
https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-elections-media-wisconsin-election-2020-5ec47b445cf86d7fb03906fe3dc41bd1
Luxon explains Golsmith's promotion and says "We all make mistakes"
IMO promoting Goldsmith is Luxon's mistake.
'We all make mistakes': Luxon explains why Goldsmith has returned to National's top team, addresses diversity 'challenge' (msn.com)
So, this is funny.
Julius Caesar's last words were possibly Greek, rather than Latin: "Kai su, teknon". In English it's "you too, child", and got flipped to the latin as "Et tu Brute".
Everyone bored as fuck? Noice. Here's the punchline [my bold]:
That seems more in character of someone who told his kidnappers he was going to kill them all if a ransom is paid… and did.
That is such an interesting article from LRB.
I had always thought that some of the unevenness in the character of Julius Caesar, as shown by the dialogue and responses that make you say 'well that was not something I was expecting or would have done' was a playwright's device to show the unevenness of JC's character. The 'et tu brute' always felt a bit too suddenly realising…..but it did seem real that at the very end the person you always felt would have your back has it, but not in the way you might have expected. I had always thought that it had regret about why he had not talked to Brutus in depth about what as going on and now could not. While not in the class of Thomas Jones this extract from
https://nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/famous/et-tu-brute/
has the more standard version.
Plutarch has Caesar just pulling his toga over his head and dying in silence. Shakespeare prefers the more dramatic account of Suetonius who has him saying “Kai su teknon?” (‘You too, my son?’) '
Thomas Jones and the point about some of the words being found on curse tablets is attractive to me too. In fact as I read it I had a vison of a cross between Marlon Brando (who played Mark Antony) and Richard Burton with Marlon Brando reprising The Godfather with cotton stuffed cheeks so he barely moved his mouth and saying ‘See you in hell, punk with a steely stare……not a dying scene.
With spare time, it was decided to check out question time to see how Luxon and his shiny new finance spokeswoman shaped up to The PM and Finance minister. Verdict – surprisingly unimpressed. Luxon clearly was no match and seemed to think it was smart to go round in circles like a demented fish in a bowl repeating the tired old 'what about tax reductions for the wealthy' lines.
The real revelation was his Deputy. If that is the best she can do, National will be in an enduring crisis and should be begging Simon to stay on. Could not credit the level of incompetence from a supposedly experienced politician. Otherwise, she seemed to dredge up the moans of three self-entitled pricks who obviously have upper average paid jobs and probably don't have families to support. "What about me and my tax cuts!!" seemed to be the cry. With the top table being such a waste of space, the quandary of who to vote for has one less party in contention, unless there are serious leadership changes.