Open mike 17/08/2024
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6:00 am, August 17th, 2024 - 44 comments
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- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37 2024
Open access notables Early knowledge but delays in climate actions: An ecocide case against both transnational oil corporations and national governments, Hauser et al., Environmental Science & Policy: Cast within the wide context of investigating the collusion at play between powerful political-economic actors and decision-makers as monopolists and debates about ‘the modern ...10 hours ago - What it is
I liked what Kieran McAnulty had to say about the Treaty Principles bill this morning so much I've written it down and copied it out for you. He was saying that rather than let this piece of ordure spend six months in Select Committee, the Prime Minister could stop making such ...12 hours ago - A government-funded hate campaign
Cabinet discussed National's constitutionally and historically illiterate "Treaty Principles Bill" this week, and decided to push on with it. The bill will apparently receive a full six month select committee process - unlike practically every other policy this government has pushed, and despite the fact that if the government is ...14 hours ago - How Substack works to take (some) craziness out of America’s elections
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- David Seymour is such a loser
For paid subscribersNot content with siphoning off $230,000,000 of taxpayers money for his hobby projects - and telling everyone his passion is education and early childcare - an intersection painfully coincidental to the interests of wealthy private families like Sean Plunkett’s1 backers, the Wright Family, Seymour is back in the ...16 hours ago - Cross-party consensus: there’s no pipeline without good faith
There’s been a lot of talk recently about a cross-party agreement to develop a pipeline for infrastructure, including transport. Last month, outgoing CRL boss Sean Sweeney talked about the importance of securing an enduring infrastructure programme. He outlined the high costs of the relentless political flip-flopping of priorities, which drives ...21 hours ago - Voters love this climate policy they’ve never heard of
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The Inflation Reduction Act is the Biden administration’s signature climate law and the largest U.S. government investment in reducing climate pollution to date. Among climate advocates, the policy is well-known and celebrated, but beyond that, only a minority of Americans ...21 hours ago
- ACC wants to administer inflation at more than double the RBNZ’s target rate
ACC levies are set to rise at more than double the inflation rate targeted by the RBNZ. Photo: Lynn GrievesonKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 12:The state-owned monopoly for accident insurance wants ...22 hours ago - Harris vs Trump
22 hours ago - Treaty Bill “a political stunt”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon appears to have given ACT Leader David Seymour more than he has been admitting in the proposals to go forward with a Treaty Principles Bill.All along, Luxon has maintained that the Government is proceeding with the Bill to honour the coalition agreement.But that is quite specific.It ...24 hours ago
- An average 219 NZers migrated each day in July
Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 11:Annual migration of New Zealanders rose to a record-high 80,963 in the year to the end of July, which is more than double its pre-Covid levels.Two ...1 day ago - What you’re wanting to win more than anything is The Narrative
Hubris is sitting down on election day 2016 to watch that pig Trump get his ass handed to him, and watching the New York Times needle hover for a while over Hillary and then move across to Trump where it remains all night to your gathering horror and dismay. You're ...1 day ago - National’s automated lie machine
The government has a problem: lots of people want information from it all the time. Information about benefits, about superannuation, ACC coverage and healthcare, taxes, jury service, immigration - and that's just the routine stuff. Responding to all of those queries takes a lot of time and costs a lot ...2 days ago
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Synopsis: Today - we explore two different realities. One where National lost. And another - which is the one we are living with here. Note: the footnote on increased fees/taxes may be of interest to some readers.Article open.Subscribe nowIt’s an alternate timeline.Yesterday as news broke that the central North Island ...2 days ago - Member’s Day
Today is a Member's Day. First up is the third reading of Dan Bidois' Fair Trading (Gift Card Expiry) Amendment Bill, which will be followed by the committee stage of Deborah Russell's Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill. This will be followed by the second readings of Katie ...2 days ago
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A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, is how Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union in 1939. How might the great man have described the 2024 government of New Zealand, do we think? I can't imagine he would have thought them all that mysterious or enigmatic. I think ...3 days ago - Motorway madness
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- Homage to Simeon Brown
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Treasury staff at work: The demand for a new 12-year Government bond was so strong, Treasury decided to double the amount of bonds it sold. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, September ...7 days ago - Weekly Roundup 6-September-2024
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There's a hole in the river where her memory liesFrom the land of the living to the air and skyShe was coming to see him, but something changed her mindDrove her down to the riverThere is no returnSongwriters: Neil Finn/Eddie RaynerThe king is dead; long live the queen!Yesterday was a ...7 days ago - Bright Blue His Jacket Ain’t But I Love This Fellow: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power E...
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Open access notables Diurnal Temperature Range Trends Differ Below and Above the Melting Point, Pithan & Schatt, Geophysical Research Letters: The globally averaged diurnal temperature range (DTR) has shrunk since the mid-20th century, and climate models project further shrinking. Observations indicate a slowdown or reversal of this trend in recent decades. ...1 week ago
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- Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Three.
The notion of geopolitical “periphery.” The concept of periphery used here refers strictly to what can be called the geopolitical periphery. Being on the geopolitical periphery is an analytic virtue because it makes for more visible policy reform in response … Continue reading ...1 week ago
- Venus Hum
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Note: The audio attached to this Webworm compliments today’s newsletter. I collected it as I met people attending a Creed concert. Their opinions may differ to mine. Read more ...1 week ago - Government migration policy backfires; thousands of unemployed nurses
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- A Time For Unity.
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National's tax cut policies relied on stealing revenue from the ETS (previously used to fund emissions reduction) to fund tax cuts to landlords. So how's that going? Badly. Today's auction failed again, with zero units (of a possible 7.6 million) sold. Which means they have a $456 million hole in ...1 week ago
- Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Two.
A question of size. Small size generally means large vulnerability. The perception of threat is broader and often more immediate for small countries. The feeling of comparative weakness, of exposure to risk, and of potential intimidation by larger powers often … Continue reading ...1 week ago
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The Minister of Transport’s speed obsession has this week resulted in two new consultations for 110km/h speed limits, one in Auckland and one in Christchurch. There has also been final approval of the Kapiti Expressway to move to 110km/h following an earlier consultation. While the changes will almost certainly see ...1 week ago
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- Potential intelligence sharing with Israel must be investigated
Concerns have been raised that our spy arrangements may mean that intelligence is being shared between Aotearoa and Israel. An urgent inquiry must be launched in response to this. ...11 hours ago - Release: Charter schools undermine our education system
The Government is taking a wrecking ball to our public education system by reinstating charter schools. ...14 hours ago - Youngest MP to travel to Canada to accept Politician of the Year Award
Aotearoa’s Youngest Member of Parliament, and Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, will travel to Montreal to accept the One Young World Politician of the Year Award next week. The One Young World Politician of the Year Award was created in 2018 to recognise the most promising young politicians between ...16 hours ago
- Greens celebrate huge step forward for ADHD community
The Greens welcome today’s long-coming announcement by Pharmac of consultation to remove the special authority renewal criteria for methylphenidate, dexamfetamine and modafinil and to fund lisdexamfetamine. ...18 hours ago
- Release: Millions to be spent dividing NZ for no reason
The National Party is wasting millions of dollars allowing David Seymour’s Treaty Principals Bill to be drafted and go to Select Committee. ...20 hours ago
- Release: New Zealanders departing our shores at a record rate
The Migration figures released by Stats NZ today show National is continuing to drive Kiwis away from New Zealand in record numbers. ...20 hours ago
- Te Tai Tokerau MP Slams Govt Overreach in Scrapping Māori Wards
Mema Paremata for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, has reflected on the decisions made by the councils of the North amidst the government’s push to remove Māori Wards and weaken mana whenua representation. “Actions taken by the Kaipara District Council to remove Māori Wards are the embodiment of the eradication ...1 day ago
- Govt already seeking advice on Treaty referendum
On one hand, the Prime Minister has assured Aotearoa that his party will not support the Treaty Principles Bill beyond first reading, but on the other, his Government has already sought advice on holding a referendum on our founding document. ...2 days ago
- Release: Aged care will be worse off if redesign rushed
New Zealanders needing aged care support and the people who care for them will be worse off if the Government pushes through a flawed and rushed redesign of dementia and aged care. ...2 days ago
- Release: Govt fails hundreds of workers as mills close
Labour is devastated at news hundreds of workers are set to lose their jobs following the closure of Winstone Pulp mills. ...2 days ago
- Job losses from mill closures consequence of Govt inaction
Hundreds of jobs lost as a result of pulp mill closures in the Ruapehu District are a consequence of government inaction in addressing the shortfalls of our electricity network. ...2 days ago
- Ngarewa-Packer devastated for Ruapehu following WPI closure
Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader and MP for Te Tai Hauāuru is devastated for the Ruapehu community following today’s decision to close two Winstone Pulp mills. “My heart goes out to all the workers, their whānau, and the wider Ruapehu community affected by the closure of Winstone Pulp International,” said Ngarewa-Packer. ...3 days ago
- Release: Cabinet should stop the Treaty Principles Bill
National Party Ministers have a majority in Cabinet and can stop David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill, which even the Prime Minister has described as “divisive and unhelpful.” ...4 days ago
- Release: Staff gagged to keep fast track list secret
The National Government is so determined to hide the list of potential projects that will avoid environmental scrutiny it has gagged Ministry for the Environment staff from talking about it. ...4 days ago
- Release: Labour challenges Te Whatu Ora gag orders
Labour has complained to the Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission about the high number of non-disclosure agreements that have effectively gagged staff at Te Whatu Ora Health NZ from talking about anything relating to their work. ...4 days ago
- Greens call on Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned after letter from Christian leaders
The Green Party is once again urging the Prime Minister to abandon the Treaty Principles Bill as a letter from more than 400 Christian leaders calls for the proposed legislation to be dropped. ...4 days ago
- Sign the petition: Keep military-style firearms off our streets
Help us tell the Government that reintroducing military-style firearms should not be up for debate. ...6 days ago
- Vast majority of councils support Māori wards
Councils across the country have now decided where they stand regarding Māori wards, with a resounding majority in favour of keeping them in what is a significant setback for the Government. ...6 days ago
- Release: Government on the wrong side of Māori wards
The National-led government has been given a clear message from the local government sector, as almost all councils reject the Government’s bid to treat Māori wards different to other wards. ...7 days ago
- Release: Labour congratulates Kuīni Ngā Wai hono i te po Paki
The Labour Party congratulates Kuīni Ngā Wai hono i te po Paki on being crowned as the eighth Te Ariki Nui – head of Te Kiingitanga. ...1 week ago
- Green Party welcomes new Maaori Kuiini
The Green Party welcomes the coronation of the new Maaori Kuiini, Te Arikinui Nga Wai Hono i te Po, today in Turangawaewae. ...1 week ago
- ECE teachers deserve better than this Government
The Green Party is unsurprised but disappointed by today’s announcement from the Government that will see our Early Childhood Centre teachers undermined and pay parity pushed further out of reach. ...1 week ago
- Urgent intervention needed on supermarkets
The Green Party is calling on the Government to intervene in the supermarket duopoly dominating our supply of groceries following today’s report from the Commerce Commission. ...1 week ago
- Release: Rainbow youth neglected in mental health funding
Labour backs the call from The Rainbow Support Collective members for mental health funding specifically earmarked for grassroots and peer led community organisations to be set up in a way that they are able to access. ...1 week ago
- Release: Transport in NZ has to be more than just roads
As expected, the National Land Transport Programme lacks ambition for our cities and our country’s rail network and puts the majority of investment into roads. ...1 week ago
- Speech: Barbara Edmonds Building Nations 2024
Tēnā koutou katoa, Thank you for your warm welcome and for having my colleagues and I here today. Earlier you heard from the Labour Leader, Chris Hipkins, on our vision for the future of infrastructure. I want to build on his comments and provide further detail on some key elements ...1 week ago
- Govt transport plan deepens fossil fuel fix
The Green Party says the Government’s new National Land Transport Programme marks another missed opportunity to take meaningful action to fight the climate crisis. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens call for public to back Wrybill in BOTY and beyond
The Green Party is calling on the public to support the Ngutu Pare Wrybill not just in this year’s Bird of the Year competition but also in pushing back against policies that could lead to the destruction of its habitat and accelerate its extinction. ...2 weeks ago
- Building consents data bad news for construction
News that the annual number of building consents granted for new homes fell by more than 20 percent for the year ended July 2024, is bad news for the construction industry. ...2 weeks ago
- Te Pāti Māori Pay Tribute to Kiingi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII
Papā te whatitiri, hikohiko te uira, i kanapu ki te rangi, i whētuki i raro rā, rū ana te whenua e. Uea te pou o tōku whare kia tū tangata he kapua whakairi nāku nā runga o Taupiri. Ko taku kiri ka tōkia ki te anu mātao. E te iwi ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Gaps still to be addressed in callouts response
The Government must guarantee New Zealanders will not be at risk after making changes to the way mental health callouts are handled. ...2 weeks ago
- Poroporoaki: Kiingi Tuheitia passing
Haere e te Kīngi o te kotahitangi Haere ki o nui, ki o rahi I te pō ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party pays respects to Kiingi Tuuheitia
The Green Party is paying tribute to the Māori King, Kiingi Tuuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero XVII, after he passed away earlier this morning. ...2 weeks ago
- Potaka Brings Whakaata Māori to its Knees
Today’s Whakaata Māori announcement is yet another colossal failure from Minister Potaka, who has turned his back on te reo Māori, forcing a channel offline, putting whānau out of jobs, and cutting Māori content, says Te Pāti Māori. “A Senior Māori Minister has turned his back on Te Reo Māori. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: National restricts access to disability care homes
With disability communities still reeling from the diminishing of Whaikaha, a leaked document now reveals another blow with National restricting access to residential care homes. ...2 weeks ago
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- Government commits to ‘stamping out’ foot and mouth disease
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- Joint Statement between the Republic of Korea and New Zealand 4 September 2024, Seoul
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- International tourism continuing to bounce back
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The incredulous msd drone then proceeded to grudgingly accept his Gold card photo ID ..
msd belatedly says..sorry.
Lord have mercy ? There will be no mercy from Landlord luxury Luxon..or any of the NACT1 cancerous creeps.
I am not batting an eyelid. This ID situation actually goes beyond the morons at Winz, and goes to the issue of formal identification.
As someone without a licence, I've encountered many occasions where someone wants to see my licence, and the incredulous looks when I say I don't have one. To the point of being told I'll just have to get one, at which point I stop being civil and they hear all about it.
There's many people in NZ- usually in lower socioeconomic groups- who have neither a licence or valid passport, or gun licence. The only 3 things deemed acceptable by a lot of companies, and also needed should you wish to obtain your credit report, or for businesses to undertake a credit check when you apply for finance etc. I was unable to take advantage of a very good telco offer because I didn't have the required ID for them, so I'm stuck with pre-pay.
For many years, our only option was the 18+ card, designed as proof of age for buying alcohol and smokes. Very embarrassing to be carrying around when you're 40+ But it was (meant to be) accepted by government agencies, and for the most, WINZ did accept it.
In more recent times, the Kiwi Access card has appeared, I suspect the government finally clicked on that there were an awful lot of people without 'official' ID. While this one is way more practical and it's meant to be accepted by all businesses, there still seems to be private businesses around who won't accept it.
The KA card application is almost on a par with applying for a passport, except the photo doesn't have all the strict rules. Proof of who you are is required, either via ID like a passport, or a declaration from someone who knows you.
For many years I've wanted to see a voluntary national ID card as an option. Wallet size, with Name, DoB and legal status, ie NZ citizen, Permanent resident. It could be issued through Internal Affairs/passport office, at a much cheaper price, and 10 yr validity. And it has to be accepted as formal ID from every agency and business in NZ.
For some reason, a ID card still doesn't seem to go down well with some people (big brother?), but since licences are now a default ID, there's really no problem for a voluntary card.
Thank you Kay, that is a useful addition.
As a non-licensed person myself I refused to get an 18+ card as a grown adult for ID. It is beyond me how governments have not come up with a suitable identification card for grown-up's.
Didn't know about the Kiwi access card. Will have to check that out. Can see why shops places don't accept it – sounds like a marketing gimmick.
Ahh it’s the 18+ card by another name. So yeah hospitality industry gimmick. Useless successive governments still have zilch.
As a (now retired) Justice of the Peace, I was pleased to see the Kiwi Access card come in. The 18+ card used to be the cheapest form of identification you could get – and there is also a Statutory Declaration of identity you can do. I used to do quite a lot of those as, with or without a photograph' they were accepted by many Government agencies, including as ID for visiting prisons.
I used to do a stint at the District Court JP Service Desk and had a lot of people asking about how to get an ID, or looking for a temporary one. We had a lot of copies of the Statutory Declaration forms!
It's truly insane to rely on driver's licences for ID, but the moment anyone raises the possibility of creating a govt-issued ID card so people who don't/can't drive have a means of identifying themselves, the loons are out there going on about barcodes tattooed on foreheads and One World Government. As you say, a voluntary ID card available to those who request it has none of those issues, but it doesn't seem to make any difference.
I identify as one of those loons.
What the anti-barcode brigade stand against is compulsion.
As pointed out there are a few options for ya, just without the authoritarianism.
Did I not make voluntary clear enough?
It's a remarkably small step from a full functioning nationwide QR code to enter a shop – which corresponds to your NZ Health number – and getting an ID card that is separate to a drivers license.
There's so much legal data sharing about NZers as soon as they get any kind of welfare or any kind of crime that privacy is really, really hard to defend anyway.
And for those who are hard core activist on the hard right or left and oppose id cards, trust me the SIS has a file on you already.
Ok I was actually highlighting the guys case, as the potential for added MSD nastiness is clear, and I have previously linked earlier nastiness ..
Anyway thanks for your input and useful Link !
This really highlights the need for an official government issued photo identification card.
Previous governments have introduced regulations requiring tighter identification requirements, without providing an official identification document accessible to all citizens.
For example banking regulations require government issued photo ID, NZ Passport, NZ drivers license or NZ firearms license.
This is how to get Gold Card photo ID, it does not come with a photo on it.
https://www.cab.org.nz/article/KB00043756
Oh cheers for the Link (I'm fortunate enough to be Aware, I feel bad for those notso, and will also help same to my utmost )
Also…CAB are great ! Good advice and if cant help there and then..they try to point in right direction : )
Ukraine continues to expand its occupation of the Kursk region. It seems that they are in the process of cutting the only three bridges across the Seym river in the region. The effect of destroying these bridges will be to cut off Russian forces in the region from effective resupply. Hence, there is a strong likelyhood that Ukraine could capture and hold a lot more Russian territory yet.
So, the question for the hand wringers who were arguing Ukraine should give up Ukrainian territory for the sake of peace, should Russia be doing the same? Apples for apples of course.
Ukraine has conquered 100km2 of Russia in this attack….that is 0.0006% of Russia. I'm sure Putin is quaking in his boots.
Meanwhile precious resources have been used for the attack that could have been used to defend Ukraine from Russian advances that have been successful over a wide front in the last 6 months.
But the MSM slavishly reports this as some kind of triumph.
One hopes the Ukraine 🇺🇦 has a cunning plan!
Part of the cunning plan is to grab as much Russian territory as possible as a bargaining chip when it comes to negotiations. Plus to stretch Russian forces as much as possible. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a amphibious landing on Crimea next, which would really throw a pigeon amongst the cats.
I believe they have a few Options open if the Ukraine Armed Forces can keep the Combine Arms Maneuver Warfare fluid as the Russians couldn't organise a piss up at the Baggies Bar let alone the Corpies Club when it comes to Combine Arms Maneuver Warfare.
The Ukraine Main Effort/ Decisive Point (Schwerpunkt) I believe is yet come & still shaping the Battlefield as they realise that Russia has no Mobile Strategic Reserve in the Ukraine Theatre.
So the Russians have to pull troops from other Areas of the Ukraine Theatre or wherever they can from Greater Russia, but given the Russian Military is still Rail Based for its Logistics! The Russian Rail System is at the verge of collapse or is already happening given what I've read/ seen already, they will struggle to plug & stall the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk Oblast.
The Russian's are still advancing but at a very slow rate in certain sectors of the Ukraine Theatre with their mass Infantry attacks. But if their Logistics Collapses & they can't replace their losses as their Logistics degrades because the of Ukrainian Long Ranges fires, Cyber hacks & the Kursk Sector crumbles. Then things will get very interesting for Russian's and old Mate Tsar Poots.
Depends who you listen to. According to the Ukrainians they now control 1000 square kilometres. That is a lot more significant. And, no reason to think it will slow, especially if the remaining bridges are cut.
Then, it becomes very difficult for the Russians to bring in reinforcements or supplies unless they do it by boat or pontoon bridges both of which would be great targets for Ukrainian drones. Plus, the volume that can come across by these methods is a lot less.
Given that most of the defending Russians are conscripts who are surrendering in mass, likely because they had little expectation or desire to be actually involved in a fight, the chances of the Russians keeping territory on the Ukrainian side of the Seym doesn't look too good.
And I guess NATO isn't quite the threat it once was.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4827388-russia-moving-troops-kaliningrad-kursk-ukraine-attack/
Yep, and all those "red lines" that had the west quivering don't seem to mean much now. Pathetic.
Poland will be eyeballing Konnisberg.
It was ethnically cleansed post WW2 . Now full of russians – only russia wants it
Also, the Russians seem to expect they will lose a lot of territory because they are building new trench lines around 40km back from the deepest point the Ukrainians have got to so far.
“Satellite imagery collected by Maxar from the last two days shows a trench dug across the countryside near the city of Lgov in Russia’s Kursk region.
Lgov is about 40km from what is thought to be the deepest penetration of Ukrainian troops.
The Russian trench appears to have been dug close to a main highway and rail line.”
Oops you are right it is a thousand sorry….so 0.006% then.
Not sure if it makes any difference though….Francesca nails it below
Gwynne Dyer is a Canadian journo who writes very effective political backgrounders that tend to more of a neutral setting politically. The Manawatu Standard paper (Stuff) today (can't find an online link, sorry) published his commentary on the Kursk incursion.
Dyer says the most obvious reason for this move is for upcoming population swaps, ie, this is creation of a civilian hostage enclave, not a land grab. It is positioning for an eventual ceasefire (or an abrupt one, if Trump gets voted in).
We know from previous Russian policy that the existing Ukraine population in Russian-annexed Ukraine will probably be carted off somewhere poverty-stricken in Russia, as happened after the recent Crimean annexation (and as happened to my grandparents and parents in the Second World War, courtesy of Stalin). You don't leave a resentful population in place.
Ooh, I'd assumed the obvious, ie embarrass and undermine Putin, try and get them to pull forces from the areas where they're currently winning, but this is much more interesting. They'd have to hold onto the areas they capture though, and that won't be easy.
Meanwhile the Russians are advancing faster than ever .They are gaining territory in the east that is far more valuable than the sparsely populated territory in the border regions of Kursk.
And to not even make it to the Kursk NPP!!
A nuisance for sure , but a bargaining chip??
We will see.But it does look like Nato is getting more and more reckless.
Lol, "reckless." Come back when it's become so reckless as to mount a full-scale land invasion of a large European country.
Yet at the end of the day its Russia that sent there tanks into Ukraine. Its now a quagmire for them your support of the aggressor says it all.
Grandma explains why Russia will lose.
@IvanSemenovych
·
Aug 13
This is the most truthful & funniest video to come out from a senior citizen from Ufa. Babushkas know best!!
https://x.com/IvanSemenovych/status/1823229309349134729
Hillarious.
Going back to MSM and the blowing up of the Nord Stream pipeline at the start of the war, have to change my belief (and strenuous conjecture in the West Press) that it was a Russian initiative. A a Ukraine man disappeared out of Poland and into Ukraine to avoid a German arrest warrant regarding the explosion.
I can very much see that the Ukraine govt would have kept it under wraps at the war start, as it led to considerable economic disadvantage initially to Western Europe. Not a good look, but probably a sound decision under the circumstances. And it is an infrastructure attack, of course, although not one to harm Russian civilians directly.
I wish the Ukrainians success and hope they can expel the Russians from their territory or force them out diplomatically through this counter-attack. But I get a bit tired of bombastic, chest-beating armchair warriors who run here to make grand pronouncements based on no particular knowledge of anything and to gloat about dead, young Russians every time Ukraine makes an advance, while remaining eerily silent when the Russians advance. Maybe they could dig up some of the war comics they used to read as kids and be happy re-reading them – and leave this tragic inhuman mess to the grown-ups.
AB-In terms of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I've seen intelligent and insightful comments on the Standard and plenty of pro-west bombast and propaganda in the MSM.
The people of Ukraine will have to concede some territory if they want peace. The Western Allies clearly aren't prepared to provide sufficient hardware or (any) troops to win the war.
That will certainly be true if Trump wins the US election.
Harris will continue Biden's very cautious approach.
There's no easy exit for either party and no shape at all to an armistice mechanism.
The US, EU and UK seem content to supply the knives to slowly bleed both Ukraine and Russia dry. Enabling Russia to weaken itself irreparably is for those interests a once-a-century very dark gift.
Yes the last time Ukraine did that! The Russian's/ Bolsheviks came back for their Hat and fully occupied Ukraine until 91!
Thence why Ukraine signed the Lisbon Protocol & Budapest memorandum in exchange Russia's guarantees, because they knew from history that the Bastards will be back for their Hat again!
Well said AB.
A wee while ago there was gloating about sponsored drones visiting carnage in the war.
The left has lost it's way whenever the pom poms come out over a war. It’s always the poor that contribute to the head count.
Early signs Harris will be better than Biden on the ME and Gaza.
@DavidKlion
A better metric for evaluating Harris on Israel at this stage is "does she make the worst people mad" rather than "is she the same kind of anti-Zionist I am." Judged by that metric, picking Walz over Shapiro and relying on Ilan Goldenberg and Phil Gordon makes them all very mad.
https://x.com/DavidKlion/status/1823134071561855101
Vice President and presumed Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s Jewish community liaison is a fierce advocate of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Iran nuclear deal, a harsh critic of Israeli settlement activity and the US Jerusalem embassy move, and a defender of the Palestinian Authority against efforts to defund it over financial support for terrorism.
Ilan Goldenberg, first reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Monday to be Harris’s Jewish community liaison, has extensively detailed his Middle East positions and policies in a catalog of opinion articles, think tank reports, and interviews dating back years.
https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-814964
With the specter of a broad Mideast war hanging over this presidential election—and potential U.S. involvement growing as the Pentagon dispatches carriers, destroyers, and missile-defense capable cruisers to the region—the answers to all of these questions are far more urgent than they typically would be for American voters. The problem is that Vice President Harris has largely been a back-bencher on foreign policy, unlike some of her predecessors, including her boss Joe Biden.
Which is why a man named Philip Gordon—who has served as Harris’s foreign policy adviser since she ran for the White House in 2020 and has worked in every Democratic administration since Bill Clinton’s—has become the focus of tremendous scrutiny in Washington over the past few weeks.
Republicans believe that through Gordon they have the outlines of a Harris foreign policy agenda. And they’re already crafting their political attacks around it. “Democrats want to put him in charge of the White House’s entire foreign policy,” Republican senator Ted Cruz told The Free Press. “It would be unspeakably catastrophic.”
https://www.thefp.com/p/philip-gordon-kamala-harris-foreign-adviser
Some good TikTok advice from Jordan Rivers on interacting with politicians online who peddle mis- and disinformation.
"some of the most popular forms of political marketing are rage-farming and cringe-core, and this is especially favoured by right-wing politicians"
Interacting on their websites feeds algorithms, which are blind to political nuance, amplifying the bad actor's reach. Comment on the issue at political websites with a more truthful viewpoint instead.
Of course I may be teaching grandmothers to suck eggs.
When I was getting an accommodation supplement MSD got very irate over my bank account being in a different name to my birth certificate. They started demanding I change my bank accounts back to my maiden name. It was as if they'd never encountered a newly divorced woman before.
They also demanded a birth certificate for a two day old baby and couldn't wrap their heads around the fact they're not issued immediately at birth.
They told me midwivery notes weren't enough and suggested I could have borrowed a baby.
It was an excruciatingly depressing situation having to maintain calm and be polite to them.
Ive been into a Winz office once in my life, I was 27 and was looking for a job any job foolishly thinking that WINZ might have something. The experience to be frank was miserable and have never been back and I never will.
Our new Human Rights Commissioners include one Stephen "Rainbow" infamous for this comment about a former FM
Indicative of a long held position in favour of Israel
Despite the following
It is fortunate he is not appointed an arbiter of free speech on foreign policy matters.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-chief-human-rights-commissioner-stephen-rainbows-pro-israel-facebook-posts-transphobia-accusations/LOFB5ENRDVFHNEWBWWK4MKNJUE/
Our own little project 2025.