Open mike 23/03/2024
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6:00 am, March 23rd, 2024 - 81 comments
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- Vietnamese reunification 50 years later: ‘let bygones be bygones’
On 27 January 1973, the conflict in Vietnam was brought to an end with the formal signing in Paris of the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring the Peace in Vietnam by four parties: ...3 hours ago - A “secret” that wasn’t
Back in 2018, Aotearoa was in the midst of the Operation Burnham inquiry. During this, it emerged that key evidence was subject to a US veto under an obscure and secret treaty. Part of the Five Eyes arrangement, this treaty was referred to by a number of different names in ...3 hours ago - Nicola Willis’ Austerity Threatens New Zealand’s Future
I hate to sound the alarm, but New Zealand’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis is wielding her austerity axe with a reckless abandon that could plunge us into a prolonged recession. The 2025 Budget, with its brutal $1.1 billion reduction in baseline spending, is ...3 hours ago - Nicola Willis’ Austerity Threatens New Zealand’s Future
I hate to sound the alarm, but New Zealand’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis is wielding her austerity axe with a reckless abandon that could plunge us into a prolonged recession. The 2025 Budget, with its brutal $1.1 billion reduction in baseline spending, is ...3 hours ago
- Punish That Criminal !
Crime Pays for the PoliticiansThis morning, Paul Goldsmith, the Minister who wants Te Reo Maori scrubbed, announced that prisoners who are serving terms of less than 3 years be barred from voting. From left, Police Minister Mark Mitchell, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith & Mental Health Minister Matt DooceyNZ’s Electoral Review ...4 hours ago - Four Walls
Well, I can't see and I can't hearThey've burnt out all the feelingsAnd I never been so crazy, and it's just my second yearFour walls, wash basinFour walls, wash basinFour walls, wash basin, prison bedSongwriter: Don Walker.The coalition parties are mulling the austerity budget they will soon put to the ...4 hours ago - The Left Must Rally Behind Andrew Little
First, hats off to Tory Whanau. Her decision to bow out and run for the Māori ward instead, putting the city’s future above her personal ambition, is commendable. Facing a torrent of personal abuse and a council mired in chaos, she still delivered on water investment, cycleways, and housing reforms. ...5 hours ago
- Progressive Resurgence
Trump Kills A Sure-Thing In Canada, the Conservatives fell from a 21 point lead a few months ago to a decisive loss yesterday. The Canadian Liberals are ~ 2 to 3 seats short of a majority, which means PM Mark Carney but will still need to work through opposition parties ...5 hours ago - Defence and Trump shape Australia’s election
Australia’s cost-of-living election has a khaki tinge and an uneasy international tone. You know defence is having an impact when a political party promises to raise taxes to buy more military kit, and makes defence ...5 hours ago
- Waitākere Ranges Ruckus: Unpacking the Anti-Māori Hysteria
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- National says “fuck the BORA”
That's the only way to describe their plans to reinstate the prisoner voting ban. In case anyone has forgotten, this is a law that was explicitly found to be inconsistent with the BORA by the Supreme Court, in Aotearoa's first ever declaration of inconsistency. The solution that was eventually hashed ...6 hours ago
- Interview: Shamubeel Eaqub on an even tighter Budget for 2025/26
I spoke last night with Simplicity Chief Economist and Head of Policy about the Government's latest budget policy tightening, the risks for infrastructure investment and a potential dampening of GDP growth.He points out that the Government has cut capital expenditure so far in the current financial year, rather than ...7 hours ago - Ukraine’s air force has survived. Taiwan’s almost certainly couldn’t
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- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes on Wednesday, April 30
Briefly this morning: Nicola Willis rules out charities tax or any tax hike to reduce budget deficit. She’s focused instead on spending cuts. There are 1,000 at-risk kids without a social worker, NZ Herald reports.Housing shortages are a factor in high-risk sex offenders being put out early into uncontrolled community ...8 hours ago - Gordon Campbell On Our Austerity Fixation And Canada Staying Centre-left
Truly, these are tough times for our nation’s leaders. In future, how on earth are they going to find the sort of money they’ve been happy to throw at landlords, tobacco companies, and wealthier New Zealanders ever since they got elected? On Defence, how are they going to find those ...15 hours ago - Bad advice on public sector discount rates
A couple of months ago now I wrote a post about the new set of discount rates government agencies are supposed to use in undertaking cost-benefit analysis, whether for new spending projects or for regulatory initiatives. The new, radically altered, framework had come into effect from 1 October last year, ...22 hours ago - Indonesia is hooked on Huawei
Huawei dominates Indonesia’s telecommunication network infrastructure. It won over Indonesia mainly through cost competitiveness and by generating favour through capacity-building programs and strategic relationships with the government, and telecommunication operators. But Huawei’s dominance poses risks. ...22 hours ago
- Bookshelf: The myth of American liberalism
Democracy and the liberal tradition have long been seen as among the most basic tenets of the American way of life. They are also the main reason the West has for the past 80 years ...24 hours ago
- Cutting even deeper against the grain
Nicola Willis continues to compare the economy to a household needing to tighten its belt to survive. Photo: Getty Images The key long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, April 29 are: Nicola Willis today announced a cut in the Government’s new spending ...24 hours ago - Gas is dead
The Herald had another announcement today about a new solar farm being officially opened - this time the 63MW Lauriston solar farm in Canterbury. It is of course briefly "NZ’s biggest solar farm", but it will soon be overtaken by Kōwhai park at Christchurch airport (168MW) and Tauhei (202MW), both ...24 hours ago
- Shoving the future aside
I woke this morning to the shock news that Tory Whanau was no longer contesting the Wellington mayoralty, having stepped aside to leave the field clear for Andrew Little. Its like a perverse reversal of Little's 2017 decision to step aside for Jacinda - the stale, pale past rudely shoving ...1 day ago
- A pre-Budget speech
In a pre-Budget speech this morning the Minister of Finance announced that this year’s operating allowance – the net amount available for new initiatives – was being reduced from $2.4 billion to $1.3 billion (speech here, RNZ story here). Operating allowance numbers in isolation don’t mean a great deal (what ...1 day ago
- Weak tax revenue is a national security issue
Of the two things in life that are certain, defence and national security concern themselves with death but need to pay more attention to taxes. Australia’s national security, defence and domestic policy obligations all need ...1 day ago
- Chris Penk’s Leaky Homes 2.0
The Coalition of Chaos is at it again with another half-baked underwhelming scheme that smells suspiciously like a rerun of New Zealand’s infamous leaky homes disaster. Their latest brainwave? Letting tradies self-certify their own work on so-called low-risk residential builds. Sounds like a great way to cut red tape to ...1 day ago
- Assumed Competence
Perfect by natureIcons of self indulgenceJust what we all needMore lies about a world thatNever was and never will beHave you no shame don't you see meYou know you've got everybody fooledSongwriters: Amy Lee / Ben Moody / David Hodges.“Vote National”, they said. The economic managers par excellence who will ...1 day ago - The ADF isn’t nearly fast enough. It must rush into the cheap-drone revolution
The Australian Defence Force isn’t doing enough to adopt cheap drones. It needs to be training with these tools today, at every echelon, which it cannot do if it continues to drag its feet. Cheap drones ...1 day ago
- “You and me need to hang out. As in, just us 2!”
Hi,Just over a year ago — in March of 2024 — I got an email from Jake. He had a story he wanted to tell, and he wanted to find a way to tell it that could help others. A warning, of sorts. And so over the last year, as ...1 day ago
- National Has Mismanaged The Economy
Back in the dark days of the pandemic, when the world was locked down and businesses were gasping for air, Labour’s quick thinking and economic management kept New Zealand afloat. Under Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson, the Wage Subsidy Scheme saved 1.7 million jobs, pumping billions into businesses to stop ...1 day ago
- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes at 6am on Tuesday, April 29
The Big Six at 6am on Tuesday, April 29Politics news by NZ Herald: Tory Whanau exits Wellington mayoral race, reveals why she's not running again & RNZ: Tory Whanau quits Wellington mayoral raceHealth news scoop by Marc Daalder for Newsroom Pro-$: Weekly data reveals scale of Govt’s waiting list crisis.’ ...1 day ago - No going back
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- Atlas Network Makes Australian Mainstream
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- Bernard’s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Monday, April 28
An official briefing to the Health Minister warns “demand for acute services has outstripped hospital capacity”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThe key long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, April 28 are: There’s a nationwide shortage of 500 hospital beds and 200,000 ...2 days ago - Deep sea mining is the new front in Pacific competition
We should have been thinking about the seabed, not so much the cables. When a Chinese research vessel was spotted near Australia’s southern coast in late March, opposition leader Peter Dutton warned the ship was ...2 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On A Neglected, Enduring Aspect Of The Francis Era
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- Would I Lie to You?
Would I lie to you? (oh yeah)Would I lie to you honey? (oh, no, no no)Now would I say something that wasn't true?I'm asking you sugar, would I lie to you?Writer(s): David Allan Stewart, Annie Lennox.Opinions issue forth from car radios or the daily news…They demand a bluer National, with ...3 days ago - Fact brief – Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific c...
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- A culture of cruelty.
In the 1980s and early 1990s when I wrote about Argentine and South American authoritarianism, I borrowed the phrase “cultura del miedo” (culture of fear) from Juan Corradi, Guillermo O’Donnell, Norberto Lechner and others to characterise the social anomaly that exists in a country ruled by a state terror regime ...4 days ago - Northern Australia: fortress, gateway and resource powerhouse
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...4 days ago
- Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to April 26
Chris Bishop has unveiled plans for new roads in Tauranga, Auckland and Northland that will cost up to a combined $10 billion. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from Aotearoa political economy around housing, poverty and climate in the week to Saturday, April 26:Chris Bishop ploughed ahead this week with spending ...4 days ago - Debt Is A Form Of Government Control
Unless you've been living under a rock, you would have noticed that New Zealand’s government, under the guise of economic stewardship, is tightening the screws on its citizens, and using debt as a tool of control. This isn’t just a conspiracy theory whispered in pub corners...it’s backed by hard data ...4 days ago
- The 2025 Budget in a World of Trade Warfare
The budget runup is far from easy.Budget 2025 day is Thursday 22 May. About a month earlier in a normal year, the macroeconomic forecasts would be completed (the fiscal ones would still be tidying up) and the main policy decisions would have been made (but there would still be a ...5 days ago - EGU2025 – Presentation about our translation activities
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- The drums of war revisited
On 25 April 2021, I published an internal all-staff Anzac Day message. I did so as the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for Australia’s civil defence, and its resilience in ...5 days ago
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- Nicola Willis To Blame For Family Boost Debacle
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- Rest easy, my friend.
He shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.Age shall not weary him, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningI will remember him.My mate Keith died yesterday, peacefully in the early hours. My dear friend in Rotorua, whom I’ve been ...5 days ago - The Hoon around the week to April 25
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The argument over US officials’ misuse of secure but non-governmental messaging platform Signal falls into two camps. Either it is a gross error that undermines national security, or it is a bit of a blunder ...6 days ago
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Cost of living ~1/3 of Kiwis needed help with food as cost of living pressures continue to increase - turning to friends, family, food banks or Work and Income in the past year, to find food. 40% of Kiwis also said they felt schemes offered little or no benefit, according ...6 days ago - Is The NZ Media Awards Sponsored By a Conspiracy Theorist?
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- When in Rome
'Cause you and me, were meant to be,Walking free, in harmony,One fine day, we'll fly away,Don't you know that Rome wasn't built in a day?Songwriters: Paul David Godfrey / Ross Godfrey / Skye Edwards.I was half expecting to see photos this morning of National Party supporters with wads of cotton ...6 days ago - Thursday 24 April
The PSA says a settlement with Health New Zealand over the agency’s proposed restructure of its Data and Digital and Pacific Health teams has saved around 200 roles from being cut. A third of New Zealanders have needed help accessing food in the past year, according to Consumer NZ, and ...6 days ago - John Campbell Investigates Brian Tamaki’s Destiny Church
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The National Party’s announcement to reinstate a total ban on prisoner voting is a shameful step backwards. Denying the right to vote does not strengthen society — it weakens our democracy and breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi. “Voting is not a privilege to be taken away — it is a ...5 hours ago
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Nicola Willis announced that funding for almost every Government department will be frozen in this year’s budget, costing jobs, making access to public services harder, and fuelling an exodus of nurses, teachers, and other public servants. ...1 day ago
- Govt’s austerity Budget to cause real harm in communities
The Government’s Budget looks set to usher in a new age of austerity. This morning, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis said new spending would be limited to $1.4 billion, cut back from the original intended $2.4 billion, which itself was already $100 million below what Treasury said was needed to ...1 day ago - Right-Wing Government Strips Māori Health Safeguards and Pretends Colonisation Never Happened
Right‑wing ministers are waging a campaign to erase Māori health equity by tearing out its very foundations. ACT’s Todd Stephenson dismisses Treaty‑based nursing standards as “off‑track distractions” and insists nurses only need “skill and a kind heart,” despite clear evidence that cultural competence saves lives. Health Minister Simeon Brown’s funding cuts, hiring ...1 day ago
- Ban on engineered stone essential to protect workers
The Green Party has renewed its call for the Government to ban the use, supply, and manufacture of engineered stone products, as the CTU launches a petition for the implementation of a full ban. ...2 days ago
- Release: Anzac Day a time to recommit to veterans
This Anzac Day, Labour recognises veterans and the service they have given to our country. ...5 days ago
- Education Should be Led by Experts-Not Economists
Te Pāti Māori are appalled by Cabinet's decision to agree to 15 recommendations to the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector following the regulatory review by the Ministry of Regulation. We emphasise the need to prioritise tamariki Māori in Early Childhood Education, conducted by education experts- not economists. “Our mokopuna deserve ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt’s flagship cost of living policy a failure
After promising $250 a fortnight to many families, the Government has been forced to admit just a couple hundred families are receiving it. ...6 days ago
- Release: Transparency needed on changes to early childhood education
The Government is putting children at risk in early childhood education (ECE) by proposing to loosen the requirement for qualified teachers. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt funding needed to combat invasive seaweed
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...1 week ago
- New Zealand First Introduces Bill Defining ‘Woman’ and ‘Man’ in Law
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...1 week ago - Release: Labour marks the passing of Pope Francis
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins joins those mourning the passing of Pope Francis. ...1 week ago
- Release: Boot camps blog post fails to provide clarity
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Inflation rises and families feel the squeeze
Inflation is rising again and it’s landing hardest on families already stretched thin. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt doesn’t know how to fund new hospitals
The Government’s health infrastructure plan is big on promises but coy on where the money is coming from. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: $10 million for only 215 students in charter schools
David Seymour is pouring $10 million into charter schools that only have 215 students enrolled. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Food prices further stretching the family budget
Families already stretched by rising costs will struggle with the news food prices are going up again. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Mental health staff and patients at risk without plan
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Driver licensing proposal doesn’t put safety first
The Government’s proposal to change driver licensing rules is a mixed bag of sensible and careless. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Students struggling as Govt sits on hands
The Government is continuing to sit on its hands as students struggle to pay rent due to delays with StudyLink. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: More must be done to stop children going hungry
More children are going hungry and statistics showing children in material hardship continue to get worse. ...3 weeks ago
- Greens continue to call for Pacific Visa Waiver
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...3 weeks ago
- More children going hungry under Coalition govt
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Longer wait for treatment under National
New Zealanders have waited longer to get an appointment with a specialist and to get elective surgery under the National Government. ...3 weeks ago
- Ka mate te Pire- Ka ora te mana o Te Tiriti o Waitangi me te iwi Māori
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...3 weeks ago
- Chris Hipkins speech: Treaty Principles Bill second reading
Normally, when I rise in this House to speak on a bill, I say it's a great privilege to speak on the bill. That is not the case today. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: End to the Treaty Principles Bill, but challenges remain ahead for Aotearoa
Ka mate te pire I te rā neiThe bill dies today ...3 weeks ago
- Ka mate te Pire, ka ora Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Treaty Principles Bill dead, Te Tiriti o Waitangi m...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...3 weeks ago
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- Reinstating a blanket ban on prisoners voting is retrograde and harmful
It is an unjustifiable limit on the electoral rights of New Zealand citizens that will disproportionately harm Māori, writes law lecturer Carwyn Jones. The government has announced that it intends to resurrect the ill-conceived, Bill of Rights-breaching blanket ban on prisoner voting. This policy was previously implemented by a law ...50 minutes ago - ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for April 30, 2025
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An atrocious act reminiscent of our own Chch attack except it took place at a concert hall and there was a small group of "extremists" involved.
Yes it took place in Moscow, Russia. Yes we don't like what Russia is doing to Ukraine. But these are innocent people killed and maimed just as in Chch.
Will Luxon have the balls to send a message of sympathy and understanding on our behalf to the people of Moscow? I doubt it. But he may prove me wrong.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/512479/gunmen-kill-at-least-40-in-attack-at-concert-hall-near-moscow
Yeah taking out civilians for misguided reasons is just fucked on any side.
Why however don't we expect the PM to comment on this:
Gunmen kidnap more than 100 in latest Nigeria attacks
Kidnappers have abducted over 100 people in two new attacks in northwest Nigeria weeks after more than 250 school pupils were seized in the same state, residents and officials told AFP on Monday.
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240318-gunmen-kidnap-more-than-100-in-latest-attacks-in-northern-nigeria
or this:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/25/at-least-15-killed-in-attack-on-catholic-church-in-burkina-faso
At least 15 Catholic worshippers have been killed in a Burkina Faso village when gunmen attacked a community as they gathered for mass at a church in the country’s conflict-hit northern region, church officials said.
Sunday’s violence in the village of Essakane was a “terrorist attack” that left 12 attendees dead at the scene, while three others died later as they were being treated for their wounds, according to a statement issued by Abbot Jean-Pierre Sawadogo, vicar-general of the Catholic Diocese of Dori, where the attack happened.
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240318-gunmen-kidnap-more-than-100-in-latest-attacks-in-northern-nigeria
or this:
About 30 people were killed in attacks on two villages in central Mali over the weekend, the rural commune's mayor said on Monday.
He did not say who was responsible. The West African country is home to militant groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that wage frequent attacks on the army and civilians.
The attacks started on Saturday in the villages of Ogota and Oimbe in Bankass circle, in the Mopti region, Bankass Mayor Moulaye Guindo said in a phone interview.
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/about-30-killed-mali-weekend-village-attacks-2024-01-29/
I'm constantly surprised at how selective we are when responding to atrocities.
A despicable and unjustified attack.
Knowing who did what, and why, will be difficult.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350223458/moscow-concert-terror-attack-claimed-islamic-state
Paranoia costs lives.
/
Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed US warnings about a potential terror incident in Moscow just days before gunmen attacked a concert hall in the city on Friday.
[…]
Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia issued a security alert warning about a potential terror attack in Moscow and urged people to avoid crowds, monitor local media for updates, and be aware of surroundings.
"The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours," the March 7 security alert said.
Putin addressed the warnings a couple weeks later, criticizing the warning three days ago as "provocative."
Per TASS, the Russian president said on March 19 the aim of "the recent provocative statements of a number of official Western structures about the possibility of terrorist attacks in Russia" was harming Russian society.
"All this resembles outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society," Putin said, according to state media reporting on his remarks.
https://news.yahoo.com/putin-dismissed-us-warnings-potential-205300616.html
Putin trying to stir up some outrage?
Nope, the Head Choppers are back.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/23/world-reaction-to-the-attacks-on-moscows-crocus-city-hall
ISIS and its off-shoots are back:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/23/theres-little-reason-to-doubt-attack-on-moscow-venue-was-by-islamic-state
NZ is not immune but I doubt we are anywhere near the top of the list.
Apparently the United States on march 7 sent a clear warning to embassy staff in Moscow and to the Moscow authorities about a potential ISIS terrorist attack on a concert hall in Moscow.
It seems Putin may have chosen to ignore this warning
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68646375
https://ru.usembassy.gov/security-alert-avoid-large-gatherings-over-the-next-48-hours/
Maybe the landlord should kick him out.
Prime Minister Christoper Luxon's electorate office has been vandalised for the third time in less than six months. Footage taken in east Auckland's Botany on Friday shows the words "grant the visas" painted on the walls of Luxon's office in black.
An image of Luxon had also been targeted with a moustache and hair drawn on.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/03/prime-minister-christopher-luxon-s-auckland-office-vandalised-for-third-time-in-six-months.html
"Maybe the landlord should kick him out"
It is people with attitudes like yours which encourages many MPs to buy their Electorate Office properties. They can rely on keeping the property available rather than be forced out by anti-social b******ds like yourself trying to wreck the place.
It does open up some interesting considerations though. Would you approve of a landlord being able to evict a tenant because that tenant has voted for a party (say Labour) that the landlord does not approve of? By your reckoning they would be entitled to do so.
lol.
Were you amused and did you laugh out loud when
Hone Harawira's Office had shots fired at it?
Helen Clark's Office was vandalised?
James Shaw was assaulted?
John Key's electorate office was fire-bombed?
I suppose you thought they were hilarious if you "lol" about this one.
https://nzissues.com/Community/threads/willie-jackson-thinks-theres-a-violent-shift-in-political-debate.35879/page-3
The lol is at you. Stop being a moron.
It was clearly a self evident joke – we all, including yourself, know who the landlord is.
Right wingers get so emotional. Making mountains out of molehills since I don't know when. Extrapolating and projecting and thin edge wedging. Just waiting for you to invoke the modern equivalent of the Reichstag Fire Decree. Sort those communist agitators out.
It's what happens when a tory/conservative/capitalist/Hoskings handmaiden tries to appear like they care about people.
So out of character, it's like watching a horse trying to walk backwards.
Fully agree Alwyn.
An MP has a highly exposed job, with plenty of implied violence coming with it.
After the attack on our Parliamentary grounds in 2022 that could easily have turned into our very own January 6th – and all the abuse and threats that MPS got after that – I can see why there were so many retirements.
It is aggravating that so many budget cuts are simply generating petty spite like vandalism rather than broadscale public protest, as we would have in decades gone. Time for those hard core activists with a vigilante sneer to be arrested, shamed, and jailed.
Anyone on the left excusing consistent attacks on the PM's office needs their head read.
Where in here has a single person condoned it? Stop buying into Alwyn's framing.
You blamed the victim of the attack by recommending that the victim be evicted.
that would be illegal.
https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/starting-a-tenancy/tenancy-agreements/discrimination/
Once again Alwyn, you "bark at every passing car" and completely miss the point !!
Yes, Patricia, I sometimes think Alwyn is part of the 'Convoy of Stupid' Grant Robertson was referring to in his Valedictory speech earlier this week.
And the point is what precisely? Is it acceptable to vandalise an MPs Office? Can I evict a tenant because other people are attacking him?
What are you advocating Patricia?
The point is that you stop catastrophising.
Luxon is the Landlord !!
DofS was making a joke….
Your list shows there are always protests, some more threatening than others, but has little relevance to the joke. The sad thing is getting so prickly it has to be explained, and even then you would not “get it” because it requires the ability to laugh at yourself.
I have never found claiming that someone is like Hitler was ever funny. And that is what those dopey bastards did. Such activities are never something to joke about. Never.
Have a look at the picture of how they vandalised Luxon's picture. Then laugh.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/03/prime-minister-christopher-luxon-s-auckland-office-vandalised-for-third-time-in-six-months.html
Well said alwyn.
Well said alwyn.
That's stretching the English language a long, long way.
Another hint :if you are going to talk right-wing you need to add plenty of superlatives. You need at least a "very" and a pinch of hyperbole.
Luxon has it sussed:
People like the farmers I met in Gore, who are working incredibly hard,
The teachers I met in Auckland, who are laser focused
New Zealand is the best country on Planet Earth.
We reach for the stars even while we stay close to our roots.
(I have no idea what this even means but mixing metaphors can be fun I guess eg it is good to know our PM has put the bit between his teeth and taken the bull by the horns”.)
A great example is the huge cost-blow outs in the ferry project.
it is a massive job to clean up the mess left by the previous government.
is also a major problem.
vast swathes of the former Eastern Bloc
We are delivering big changes and I’m incredibly proud
In my former life, it’s what I would have called a big turnaround job.
massive infrastructure deficit.
This is just from one speech which I haven't even finished. Wish someone would bring back "A Week of It".
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/state-nation-0
Lux-on is nothing like hitler..
Hitler garnered wide support from taking care of the German working class..
Lux-on wants to eviscerate the nz working class..
Nothing like each other…
and Alwyn quickly pulls Godwins Law when it is shown he is a Woke Snowflake with zero sense of humour regarding a joke about the Landlord of a building when no mention or support of the type of Grafitti had been stated.
Then make the point yourself and don't hijack my post with irrelevancies.
Maybe you could link it to your posts criticising Stephen Jack for putting up a poem likening Jacinda to Hitler, or your outrage at the pub in Bluff that put up signs saying:
A Bluff pub is in the firing line after placing a sign in its window comparing the Covid-19 response to Nazi Germany.
The sign, which is meant to explain to customers that it is mandatory to sign in using the Covid-19 tracer app, makes reference to Nazis Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Operation Reinhard, a German plan to exterminate Jews.
In a photo taken over the weekend, the sign faces out the window and labels Jacinda Ardern "Hitler" and Dr Ashley Bloomfield "Dr Ashley Goebbels".
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-bluff-bars-disturbing-sign-compares-ardern-to-hitler-covid-response-to-jewish-atrocities/GZ5MAIG52JPYLLCSPNWKPHGZ5E/
Oy maybe the one where a supporter of the New Conservative Party put up a poster showing Jacinda with Hitler.
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-christchurch/residents-%E2%80%98deeply-offended%E2%80%99-over-hitler-ardern-sign
Or the Act party candidate who wrote:
Responding to a LinkedIn post by Seymour a year ago, Naidu-Franz said: "If you are wondering how the Nazis were able to come into power and do all the horrific things that they did, well you are looking at the start of the process right here. So Mr Seymour, when can we expect those who are unvaccinated to start wearing armbands? When can we expect to see concentration camps and re-education camps? When can we start expecting to see troops on our streets rounding up people?"
To be clear this was one of the few times I agreed with Seymour who condemned it when it was raised later.
Or the swastikas on Jacinda's hoardings.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/07/jacinda-ardern-s-election-billboards-defaced-with-nazi-imagery.html
There's so many examples I could do a long long list. I'm just unsure where your public outrage was at the time – maybe you just silently railed within.
You seem to have kept track of the dreadful comments that Jacinda Ardern had to put up with.
Did you laugh and tell jokes about them? If not why do you do so when the remarks are about Luxon? Are you really so ignorant that you equate him with one of the most evil people in history? Are you really so foolish?
Are you really so ignorant that you equate him with one of the most evil people in history?
Where have I done that? Post your evidence.
Unless of course you're a National party candidate.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300857204/national-candidate-shared-a-poem-likening-jacinda-ardern-to-adolf-hitler?
to be fair, he resigned.
Lol. I did laugh. I mean it's visually comically funny. But doubly because the MSM said someone had draw hair and moustache on him rather than saying they were mocking him as Hitler.
Beyond that, what are you trying to say? That it's beyond the pale to the PM to Hitler? Do you want to explain that in the context of this?
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=dfbdc3300e18911d&q=jacinda+ardern+hitler&tbm=isch&source=lnms&prmd=invsmbtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj72q25wYmFAxVU0jQHHe7UCKAQ0pQJegQICRAB&biw=1256&bih=711&dpr=2.22
I'm not sure which of the pictures in this link I am supposed to be looking at. There seem to be hundreds of them.
However if it is one that is claiming that PM Ardern was behaving like Hitler I will say that it is incredibly offensive, Comparing anyone, with the exception of individuals like Kim Jong Un, or Putin, to Hitler is offensive.
Do you think comparing Ardern to Hitler is offensive, or would you laugh at it?. Would you say the same about comparing Luxon to Hitler, or not? If your reaction isn't the same in the two cases can you really justify the difference?
I think that Jacinda Ardern was the worst PM New Zealand has had in my lifetime. It doesn't mean I think she was evil in the way Hitler was.
Who would be your second worst?
I would be of two minds. Muldoon or Palmer. I would go with Muldoon as the second worst.
Best two are much easier. Holyoake was the best. Fraser was number two. I have a soft spot for Moore though. He saved Labour from extinction in just a couple of months.
Amazing how ideology can blind someone.
Just out of interest how many blighted lives and deaths does someone have to cause to be comparable to Hitler? 1000, 10 000, 100, 000, millions? Is there a scale of evil equivalence?
Bombing 100 children as against 1000 000?
Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson, and their Governments decades of blighted lives and deaths from the illnesses and despair from the poverty they caused, say! That the Coalition of cuts is knowingly and cynically exacerbating.
More or less evil than the acknowledged fascists?
The effects on the people they harm is the same.
You sound a little like the person who accepted Stalin's dictum.
"The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic."
For the record the generally accepted big three of 20th century madmen were Hitler, Stalin and Mao who each deliberately murdered or starved to death tens of millions of people, with Mao probably the champion at about 45 million of his own countrymen..
Only statistics as Stalin said. You on the other hand seem to have a phobia about Douglas and Richardson who didn't kill anyone. They carried out necessary economic changes that improved the average living standards of the New Zealand populace. If they were so bad why has no succeeding Government made any significant changes to their policies? To claim that they were evil, in the way the great dictators were, is as foolish as the people who equate Ardern with the Nazis. It just isn't so.
Alwyn.
Absolute bullshit. Most people's living standards have dropped ever since.
We still haven't recovered from the absolute disaster they caused.
And the damage they did to many thousands. “Killed nobody” How many children die of rheumatic fever, to name just one lot of people they killed. Caused by the callous increase in poverty in NZ, to benefit a few mostly non productive, speculators.
Of course it is in the hundreds of thousands, and now ongoing for generations. So. "Just a statistic"
And, The reason why the Neo-liberal disaster hasn't been reversed is it is too costly. Buying back and fixing rail, after they fucked it, cost enough on it's own.
Repairing the damage the current Coalition of clowns has done in just 100 days, will take decades.
'Most people's living standards have dropped ever since."
And what is you evidence for this claim?
Where have you been for the last 40 years?
Planet Key?
@KJT.
Does your comment mean that you don't have any evidence but you feelz that way?
@Alwyn
No. It means the evidence is all around you, but your ideology has made you blind to it.
In the 60's and 70' s one income could feed a family and own a house. Even for those in labouring jobs. Now two incomes barely suffice.
Over 80% of the WW2 generation retired owning a house. What percentage of boomers, whose prime working years coincided with the Neo-Liberal disaster, will own a house without a mortgage. Less than 60%. The percentage for our children will be even less.
This is a disgraceful indictment on our Governments, given NZ 's per capita wealth.
Holyoake!!! LOL Best voice in the house.
You do know he was probably the worst grifter of the lot.
A prime example:
Oh and we have him to thank for our involvement in Vietnam as well.
I suggest that you read and learn about Holyoake's action during the Vietnam.
He opposed the war and went to extremes to ensure that we never sent anyone except volunteers to the country. Even the regular force members weren't sent there unless they requested the assignment. No conscripts were ever sent there, in contrast to the US or Australia.
There were only 3,000 people who went there, and the peak was only 550 in 1968. 37 died on active service during the whole 12 years there were people from here involved.. They were not actually front line troops but mostly artillery in support roles back from the front.
Holyoake managed to resist enormous pressure from the US to send more troops. He actually encouraged demonstrations so that he could tell the US that he couldn't do any more as he would lose office and a Labour Government would certainly do less and might even recognize the North Vietnamese as the Government of the South.
In summary he gave as little support as was possible.
"We can have a big debate about the technical numbers", but where would that get us – it's all about the vibe.
Any joy devising a better method of calculation? It's been 7 weeks
I took my statistics from the Official New Zealand Government material on Vietnam.
If I had to choose I assume that it will be more accurate than Wikipedia.
On the other hand I did misquote it. It does not say there were only 3,000. It says there were over 3,000, so you number could be accurate.
"The Vietnam War was our longest and most contentious military experience of the twentieth century. Over 3000 New Zealanders served in South Vietnam from 1963 to 1975."
https://www.vietnamwar.govt.nz/nz-vietnam-war
"Any joy devising a better method of calculation?"
I thought you were joking when you asked for this. I would have thought you would have learnt this sort of thing at Primary School.
It has nothing to do with Economics. It has nothing to do with Statistics. It is simply what calculations are valid and which aren't.
Here is a simple example. If I tell you that the average age of the New Zealand population aged less than 100 is 38 and the average age of people over 100 was 102. Would you happily tell me that the average age of the population is (38 + 102) / 2 or 70?
Would you think again if I told you there were 5 million under 100 and 300 over 100? That is the level of the question you were asking and why I thought you were simply joking.
Ha ha – only 6 weeks!
You've critiqued my method of calculating the "per annum minimum wage increase above inflation" by mentioning inflation "in Venuzela in 2017", and by using another "simple example" at 8:11 pm today.
Perfectly prepared to accept that the method of calculation I used is flawed, but only if you can provide a worked example of a better method of calculation using the mutually-agreed relevant figures, which I set out again below for your convenience.
You seem ‘reluctant’ to show a better method using these figures – what would you conclude, if our positions were reversed?
Does this mean that the minimum wage has decreased in real terms? How would you even calculated that?
One of the best ways to look at wages in my opinion is wages against productivity.
Prior to the 80's, there was a clear 'connection' between productivity growth and wage growth. So as productivity increased, wages also increased in line with this. In other words, workers were rewarded in line with increased productivity.
Since the 80's, productivity has continued to increase whereas wages in real terms, have flatlined. In other words all of the profit from increased productivity over the last 4 decades has gone to shareholders and executives instead of a fair share of it going to workers via increased wages.
Here's a graphical example which is US data but from memory (and logic) I'm pretty sure all western economies are similar:
https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/03/01/wages-and-productivity/
out of curiosity, how is it offensive to you?
Comparing Jacinda Adern, who did her best to save lives, to Hitler is simply a joke.
David Seymour however, whose policies if enacted will kill tens of thousands with the illnesses of poverty and despair, and blight the lives of millions more to come, is simply being accurate.
The current callous dismissal and disregard for people's lives and livelihoods, to benefit a few, reminds me of a commentator on WW2 Nazism who talked about the "banality of evil". And how the evil doers didn't think of themselves as evil.
Unless these vandals can be persuaded that Labour, Greens and TPM have the nous to work together and be an effective opposition that rallies New Zealand, I fear there will be more of this dumb bullshit.
Hipkins just needs to get out of his shell and pick up the phone the Chloe and start something.
Except that Anderton and Clark already had history. And Chippy is mostly a control freak leader, who’s uninterested in the policy making structure of his own party. He thinks about clinging on.
I can’t see that he’s a man who would risk giving the Greens (who are being done over by someone, if not themselves) more air.
This has to be a one term government.
But what survives?
Luxon is all kinds of…it wouldn’t surprise if he unilaterally scrapped the MRDS to increase his own wealth. Which it will significantly. That’s a conflict of interest. It’s a soft corruption.
Unlike more obvious corruptions of Ministers granting favours as one shot deciders.
Front footing what a coalition might look like and where any leadership would come from is essential. Hipkins again offers nothing and overrules everything. $5 off is a coupon, it’s not a vision for how the society can combat infrastructure deficit and being poor and survive the next ten years…
I feel like inflation is screwing our exports.
This is a three term government unless Hipkins and Davidson can actually unite, and do it soon and in durable form.
Labor needs to focus (damn hard) on the Labor Party and forget about the Green Party and TPM.
As Peters has shown well whether you like him or not is that the time for talking to other party's (publicly) is after an election. Until then they need to concentrate on revealing what Labor truly is.
"which encourages many MPs to buy their Electorate Office properties."
This I did think was funny.
Pretty sure claiming allowances to rent to yourself is a much bigger incentive than anything I may or may not do.
What, what – do you mean like this from 2022 which I understand is still the case ? …
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/11/national-leader-christopher-luxon-very-comfortable-with-45-000-taxpayer-top-up-from-renting-office-back-to-parliament.html
"National leader Christopher Luxon 'very comfortable' with $45,000 taxpayer top-up from renting office back to Parliament"
Perhaps the graffiti artist first tried to make the poster look like Mussolini .
Trouble was nobody could spot the difference.
Il Luce?
Ha, ha love it Incognito.
Dolphins 1 Rich Pricks 0.
Maybe there is a god?
Agreed BG. Russell Coutts throwing his toys out of the cot, saying SailGP wouldn't return to Lyttelton due to "minority interests".
I loved the quote on RNZ from a Lyttelton local who said "at the end of the day, the minority group would be the people who want to see these dolphins harmed".
Auckland managed to do the Americas Cup races with quite similar conditions only 3 years ago. Clearly Christchurch isn't suited to do that kind of racing after all, so they should come back to Auckland.
Yeah thats right….in Akl they would just trash the dolphins.
No dolphins were harmed at all in Auckland.
some weekend political humour from Monty Python
https://twitter.com/HeavyMetalSvet/status/1771252890880839901
Just want to put on record the sadness at the loss of Judge Phil Recordon. He was an amazing leader of the legal profession by constantly upgrading legal systems, and by supporting civil society in a whole host of areas. He was at least as progressive in his work as the great Ted Thomas.
Unstinting work for civil society causes from the early 1980s, and a powerhouse of justice in South Auckland.
A great man.
https://thelawassociation.nz/judge-phil-recordon-hangs-up-his-gown/
Daily review conspicuous by its absence.
At least we are getting noticed I guess.
Which brings me to New Zealand’s deputy prime minister Winston Peters and his use of Tubthumping. The man is clearly modelling himself on the recent upsurge of populist politicians, these ultra-wealthy men somehow getting to claim to be “of the people”. Across the globe, from Italy to Sweden and from Jair Bolsonaro to Donald Trump, these self-styled “outsiders” are gaining power and popularity using slogans that appeal to ordinary people, slogans that make no sense when you put them in the mouths of millionaire careerists. Their rhetoric is anti-elite, and yet they clearly and definably are the elite. Their popularity depends upon them playing at being just like you and me, the good guy at the bar who buys you a drink while you’re watching the football, who tells you the reason the country is going down the drain isn’t because of the multibillionaire corporate hoarding of the world’s wealth but because … cue a culture-warrior rant about immigration and snowflakes and experts and “I did my own research”.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/22/my-band-hit-tubthumping-is-the-latest-working-class-anthem-to-be-co-opted-by-populist-politicians
DR has weekends off.
And under who wrote that anyhow
The coalition is certainly gaining us notice on the international stage
Winston Peters comparing indigenous rights (honouring the Treaty) to the 1930's German regime.
I cannot wait till some American rapper says in a new smash hit, so if I say I run as fast as Jesse, or I can Shaq your little frame out of my way that means I am some sort of racist, you short, slow too much milk assimilated into your coffee Uncle Tom.
DR has weekends off.
Had never noticed that. Now I feel unobservant.
The Standard is a left-leaning blog site after all
, with “the values and principles that underpin the broad labour movement” (https://thestandard.org.nz/about/#political_angle).
Weekly DR has its own Category here and has been a regular occurrence since 1 July 2015 with breaks during the holidays and Public Days (https://thestandard.org.nz/category/media/the-standard-media/daily-review/page/62/).
It started as an experiment on Thursday 2 April 2015 (https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review/), the day before Good Friday, under the Category open mike (https://thestandard.org.nz/category/media/the-standard-media/open-mike/).
FYI, both OM and DR are scheduled manually for appearance on the site by Admin/Mods, which means that it goes wrong sometimes, notwithstanding technical failures such as power cuts, etc.
HTH
This is very disappointing from the Greens. They need to do more than a routine candidate selection review.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350222068/more-claims-emerge-against-suspended-green-mp-darleen-tana
Good commentary from Gareth Hughes. Describes Fitzsimons as Steel Magnolia by way of comparison.
What I don't get is how no-one knew. The Waiheke community much be pretty small.
The next two off the list are (in for …. and Shaw or Shaw and ….).
The new reserves then would be
https://www.greens.org.nz/green_party_unveils_its_list_for_the_2023_election
The burden of growing the vote, a need for more "why not" research on candidates down the list.
good to see another South Island MP for the Greens. I hope Hernandez is ready. I only know him from twitter, where he shitposted (in a good way) through the early election.
Janis Joplin tribute by Melissa Etheridge (bald post chemo) and Joss Stone in 2005 (pre Caribbean phase)