Open mike 25/12/2022
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- Wage rises, not tax cuts
NewsHub has a poll on the cost-of-living crisis, which has an interesting finding: the vast majority of kiwis prefer wage rises to tax cuts: When asked whether income has kept up with the cost of living, 54.8 percent of people surveyed said no and according to 58.6 percent of ...11 hours ago - Gordon Campbell On The Shrinking Of Labour’s Vision
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Items of interest and importance today GOVERNMENT, PARLIAMENT Simon Wilson (Herald): Chippy vs the donors de Luxe (paywalled) Rachel Smalley (Today FM): The power of vulnerability – Can Chris Hipkins heal our country? Henry Cooke: Nine thoughts on Prime Minister Chippy Branko Marcetic (Jacobin): Jacinda Ardern’s Leadership Was a Cautionary Tale ...15 hours ago - What Is Co-Governance?
Two Flags, Two Masters? Just as it required a full-scale military effort to destroy the first attempt at Māori self-government in the 1850s and 60s (an effort that divided Maoridom itself into supporters and opponents of the Crown) any second attempt to establish tino rangatiratanga, based on the confiscatory policies ...16 hours ago - Input to USDA about how to allocate IRA climate-smart agriculture funds
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Over the weekend I was interviewed by a media outlet about the threats that Jacinda Ardern and her family have received while she has been PM and what can be expected now that she has resigned. I noted that the level of threat she has been exposed to is unprecedented ...1 day ago - Does Chris Hipkins Have The Spinal Steel To Force A Change In Labour’s Course?A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is able to steer ...2 days ago
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- The west vs the rest – the world is changing
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- Jacinda
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- Our politicians have swarmed to Ratana where Hipkins may cause some buzz when he explains his co-gov...
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System went down again. I may need to start carrying a laptop.
cheers Lynn, impressive you sorted it out today.
Ssh from my cellphone. Yesterday I was in Rotorua with a laptop.
I will be home tomorrow, so I will spend an hour or two fixing whatever it is.
In Dunedin on 27th, head to Invercargill on 28th. Back home on the 30th.
You're wonderful to get it up and working again on Christmas Day. Thank you.
Merry Christmas for the rest of the day
Merry Christmas & have a Happy New Yr from a very Tropical Darwin.
It's been an interesting for me in more ways than one, ie 4mths in the loony the bin incl ETC on the 2nd visit thence my absence for most of the yr.
What I'm about to write & post might be considered bad taste on Christmas Day! But given the way I was brought up my respect Human Rights, International Law & LOAC etc.
When I read this, I was quite disgusted at how any how Military Force including Internal Security Forces could act in such a barbaric way against a Civilian Population & I've seen shit some shit as a Former Peacekeeper up to Chap7 of the UN Peacekeeping Charter!
But this Fucking unbelievable that even the Yanks wouldn't do!!!
How can Any Pro 🇷🇺 Supporters here on The Standard or over in TDB Support this Barbaric Shit that would make Beria smile with envy, let alone eat your Xmas dinner & sleep soundly at night!
Shit luckily I hadn't eaten my 1kg of Prawns & half a leg of ham or else I would've vomited my Bloody Guts up reading this!!!
Put this way, I was still fit enough at 49 I wouldn't be here writing this! But saying Merry Christmas & Happy New Yr from Ukraine either doing my two great loves Armoured Cav Recon or Airfield Defence besides my wife.
Anyway I hope you Pro 🇷🇺 Supporters choke on Xmas bloody dinner when reading this piece.
WARNING: Readers may find some details in this story distressing
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-25/we-will-find-you-say-russians-hunting-down-ukrainians-on-lists/101802820?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web
Thanks Scud. I always appreciate your take on things international from a military point of view, and will read tomorrow.
All the best for your continued good health.
Tankie comments on a NYT investigation of phones stolen from Bucha residents will be interesting.
When videos and photos emerged in April showing bodies of dozens of civilians strewn along a street in Bucha, Ukrainians and the rest of the world voiced horror and outrage. But in Russia, officials had a completely different reaction: denial.
President Vladimir V. Putin dismissed the gruesome scene as “a provocation,” and claimed that the Russian Army had nothing to do with it.
But an eight-month visual investigation by The New York Times concluded that the perpetrators of the massacre along Yablunska Street were Russian paratroopers from the 234th Air Assault Regiment led by Lt. Col. Artyom Gorodilov.
The evidence shows that the killings were part of a deliberate and systematic effort to ruthlessly secure a route to the capital, Kyiv. Soldiers interrogated and executed unarmed men of fighting age, and killed people who unwittingly crossed their paths — whether it was children fleeing with their families, locals hoping to find groceries or people simply trying to get back home on their bicycles.
[…]
Phone Records as Digital Fingerprints
Residents in Bucha said that when Russian soldiers interrogated them, they often seized their phones. Suspecting the soldiers may also have taken the phones of victims, our reporters obtained from Ukrainian authorities a database of all calls and messages placed from the Bucha region to Russia during March. As we interviewed victims’ relatives, we collected their phone numbers and checked if they were in the database. A chilling pattern emerged: soldiers routinely used the phones of victims to call home to Russia, often only hours after they were killed.
By analyzing the phone numbers dialed by Russian soldiers and uncovering social media profiles associated with their family members, The Times confirmed the identity of two dozen paratroopers as members of the 234th Regiment. In many cases, we interviewed their relatives and spoke to some of the soldiers themselves, two of whom confirmed they were in the 234th and served in Bucha. We cross-referenced our findings with personal data sourced from leaked and official Russian databases provided by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit group focused on global security.
https://archive.vn/vQSnr (nyt)
Speaking of Tankies, it always amuses me how they really think that Putin is a communist who wants to bring back the USSR. Essentially this is the equivalent of supporting Franco's Spain and Pinochet's Chile in the 1970's. Putin has trashed the USSR and communism multiple times for starters.
I agree these despicable shits every one of them. I could name them, but I won't on threat of being banned, but you know who you are
You scumbags while sitting down to enjoy your Christmas dinner in New Zealand, will give little thought to this Russian Federation Christmas eve atrocity. If this atrocity did impinge your consciousness, it would only be to find ways to justify or deny it.
Merry Christmas friends. Peace on Earth and good will to all.
I've had a pretty rubbish few years (this month especially — car died in Wellington and then got Covid) but appreciate this site for the community and interesting dialogue
He Manaaki nui ki a koe
Rob