In a move likely to trigger Putin pacifiers here, I see that Germany is now sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine and is allowing other European nations to send theirs. Also, the US is sending US is sending 31 Abrams tanks. Along with all the Bradleys, Strykers, and other high-end APCs, Ukraine is soon going to have some serious kick-arse weaponry that will cause the Russians a lot of problems.
And Britain is considering giving Ukraine long range missiles that will enable them to hit military targets inside Russia, and potentially do a proper job of taking out the Kerch bridge
I think that it has now been recognised that the quickest path to peace is for the Russians to be totally defeated in Ukraine, and Ukraine is now getting the tools that will enable them to do that.
Yes, I agree with you. It is a pity that Russia has been escalating this conflict.
But Russia has set more red lines than a first-year uni assignment which the west has ignored and Russia has done nothing about.
And, Putin and his regime will be freaked out about the spooky US intelligence. At the start of the war, the US was releasing emails from Russian military commanders etc complaining about how the US was reading their emails. So, Putin and his regime will know that the US likely knows exactly where they are at any time, and will likely be the first target of any retalatory strike.
NATO, the West & the US abandoned the 1st Strike action/ Policy in the late 60's or in 70's, at pretty much at the request of Germany & couple of other European countries when it was realised MÀD was completely pointless.
Now NATO has a Political & Defence Posture of gradual response.
The use of WMD's when I did my CBRND Cse's, pretty much said that WMD Response is last on the list when we look at the employment & use of such Weapons to understand why you would use them in the 1st place.
If Tsar Poot's goes down to this path, it's all over Red Rover for him.
The biggest concern would be holding be holding back the Poles & the Baltic States as they still want revenge after 80 odd years for what Russia did in 1939!
Which btw, I think could the biggest concern atm if Russia does launch another Armoured Assualt/s from Belarus again. The Poles may very well go fuck this EU & NATO Bullshit & charge head first into Belarus or down the Lviv corridor to support the Ukrainian's?
The reckoning is that Poland (note there is a right wing Polish Government in Power atm, which isn't as bad as the one in the 30's which was a shocker) isn't exactly comfortable of Russia being on its door step again. No matter what old mate from Belarus says atm & quite frankly I don't trust a word coming out of his mouth either atm.
If the Ukrainians get a weapon with the range and accuracy to destroy the Crimean bridge then the chances are they'll regain Crimea. The war is poised at the moment. The attritional battles around Bakhmut have caused heavy losses to both sides – the Ukrainians appear to have lost heavily in Soledar in particular.
Russian losses however appear to be catastrophic. There is so much video evidence online showing very heavy losses being inflicted on Russian forces who seem to be using a variation of human wave tactics.
"…Our data shows that, as of late December, 42,000–43,000 inmates had been recruited. By now, this is probably upwards of 50,000. Out of that number, 10,000 are now fighting at the front, because the rest have either been killed or wounded, or went AWOL, or deserted, or surrendered…"
So 80% effective loss rate in a few months.
Other reports indicate the Russian manpower wastage across the entire front can get as high as 1000 a day. As I have said, the Ukrainians are also losing heavily, but nothing like the Russians.
A unseasonably warm winter seems to have denied the Ukrainians a chance to attack before the mass of Russia's new conscripts enter the fray. Looking at the force composition of both sides in these winter battles they seem to largely be territorial and local defense units. I would guess the best and most professional units are being rested and rebuilt for what is going to be the decisive phase of the war this coming Northern spring/summer.
These modern tanks will come with fire control systems and thermal optics far superior to anything the Russians have, and will be significant force multipliers. However, weapon systems alone seldom if ever have a strategic impact. The Tiger tank made no difference in WW2. Superior tactics and a sound strategy is more important.
There has been little strategic value for the Russians in attacking the likes of Bakhmut and Soledar, and the Ukrainains have been using these pointless attacks as an opportunity to wear down the Russian forces.
There is a clear pattern to the ebb and flow of this conflict. At the moment we are in the first phase where the Ukrainians wear down Russian forces by conducting fighting withdrawals from inconsequential areas.
When they have worn down the Russians enough, they will go to the second phase, and back on the attack and regain huge swathes of territory.
But, they are not entirely on defensive, and are getting close to capturing Kreminna.
This is much more strategically important than the nonsense the Russians are engaged with at the moment. That is because taking Kremmina will enable the Ukrainians to flank the Russian defence lines, and force the Russians to cede a lot more territory in order to reestablish sound defence lines..
I would be careful assuming these attritional battles are necessarily all in Ukraines favour. We don't know for sure how heavy the losses are on either side, and while common sense tells us the Russians must be suffering heavier losses, the first world war also informs us that in big artillery siege battles the losses are often more even than you'd think. One thing that has astonished me has been how poor the Ukrainian field works are, or at least the ones I have seen in videos. They lack overhead cover, proper fire steps, parapets/parados, duckboards – all stuff that indicates that this is still an army of amateur volunteers. However, it may just be that these are all we get to see on the telly – the best fortifications may be unfilmed for obvious reasons, but still it is a worry.
Even if the Russians are suffering very heavy manpower attrition, it doesn't necessarily follow that the Ukraine can outlast the Russians in straight Verdun style slogging match since Russia has a much bigger population and in very Panem style it is sacrificing it's convicts and ethnic minorities to protect the urban ethnic Russian middle class whilst the Ukraine is sacrificing it's volunteers – their graphic designers, IT startup owners, patriotic students etc etc in defense of their homeland.
The Russian command remains hopelessly fragmented and whilst Putin can call up any number of mobiks it is an open question as to if his generals can equip them properly to be anything more than straw for the furnace.
The war remains in the balance, lets all hope and pray (and donate money) for a Ukrainian victory this year.
My understanding is they withdraw when the costs start getting too high. And I understand Russia can outlast Ukraine in a war of attrition if the Ukrainain losses are too high, even if they are less than Russian losses. So, the Bradleys et al will allow the Ukrainians a lot more protection, which will be a good thing.
Some of the defences are very good. Look at what they are doing at the Belarusian border, for instance. I guess it is a factor of how much time they have available to prepare defences.
Part of what they are doing in some of these areas is to withdraw, and force the Russians to advance across open fields, which ends up often being a slaughter.
The nature of the Ukrainian defeat at Soledar is hard to work out since reliable information is so thin on the ground.
However, there is about enough information to suppose the attack there came as a surprise to the Ukrainians who had the area weakly held with territorial units. They reinforced the position to late and were forced to commit mobile reserves to a hasty counter-attack, suffered a repulse, and were forced to retreat from the town. But the thing is it was a defeat, not a voluntary withdrawal.
These guys here seems reasonably up to date and accurate for AFU deployments, and you can see from this map the Ukrainians have been forced to deploy significant armoured reserves to stabilise the situation around Soledar.
From what my close associates have told me, the Ukrainian's were caught off guard by the shear numbers of mass infantry thrown at them around the Solader Area.
Only the Local Armour/ Mobile Reserves have been committed, ie at Divisional Level & below.
Solader & the surrounding area is becoming an old fashioned WW1 style Defensive Battle.
The Ukrainian Artillery/ Missile Artillery & UAV's units are doing all the talking in the Solader Area.
The bulk of the Ukrainian Armoured Corp & it's Panzer Grenadiers (Mech Infantry) have gone to ground. So watch this space once the ground starts firming up.
The Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia appears to have been planned by general Cecilski Hogmanayi Melchettovich with a clumsily telegraphed unsupported frontal attack resulting in very heavy casualties.
It is going to be interesting to see how long it is before even Putin's police state gets significant popular blowback.
This video shows why the Ukrainians would not have wanted to withdraw from Soledar. The Ukrainian earthworks lack cover and are exposed to accurate artillery fire. The slightly elevated position they are dug to hold is the dominant terrain feature west of Soledar for some distance. Should they lose control of this feature – here or anywhere between Silj and Paraskoviivka – the Russian could bring the E50 supply route under fire. This road, along with the T0504 road which now apparently already under observed fire, are the main all weather supply routes into Bakhmut. Orientation – Silj is visible at 1:16, Soledar at 1:40.
Yeah. I see a lot of that UAV survellience from the Ukrainians as well.
The takeaway for me is that I would hate to be stuck in a trench in one of those conflicts when a UAV might drop a bomb on me at any moment, or might give my coordinates so artillery can drop a shell exactly on my position.
A lot of the Russian fortifications don't look much different though. I guess it is just the haste of the situation. As I said, have a look at the Ukrainian fortifications on the Belarusian border that they have been working on for months, or what the Russians are doing at the border between Kherson Oblast and Crimea. It is on a completely different scale.
Putin pacifiers, wow! did you make that name up all by yourself you ignorant shrill, send 200 tanks and it won't make any difference to the outcome of this conflict, have you got air cover for the few measly tanks etc the West can send, answer is NO, they will become sitting ducks and turned into glass, You and the foul mouthed joe90 and the sanctimonious sanctuary and the cog in the wheel have been bleating on since the beginning of the conflict that Russia is on the ropes, Putin is all but done and the nazi infested Ukraine is whopping Russia, absolutely no evidence of that unless you only read western propaganda which you swallow and spit out without critical analysis. All the sanctions have backfired, Europe is turning into a financial backwater and 85% of the Planet is doing business with Russia, you are on the wrong side of history on this issue.
You say this "But Russia has set more red lines than a first-year uni assignment which the west has ignored and Russia has done nothing about". care to confirm this rubbish with facts?
Too late it's already been done .. Metals and glass don't seem to have anything in common. Glass is generally transparent and fragile while metals are opaque and extremely strong; but under the right conditions, metals can form glass, and when they do, what results is an opaque, durable, scratch- and corrosion-resistant material that is often stronger than steel. Metallic glass is so versatile it can be used in iPhone cases, the lubricant-free gears of Moon rovers, and electrical transformers. Recently, experiments on the International Space Station that NASA’s Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications (SLPSRA) division funded have revealed aspects of metallic glass formation that could open the door to even greater possibilities
Putin is all but done and the nazi infested Ukraine is whopping Russia
This is enough for me to know that you are likely a toxic Russian troll. Get acquainted with some facts instead of spouting nonsense. Russia has its own nazis who Putin has used for his own ends. So, if he is really worried about Nazis, he needs to stop using them, and clean up his own country. From the link:
The origins of this relationship date to the late 1990s, when Russia was shaken by a wave of racist violence committed by neo-Nazi skinhead gangs. After Putin’s accession to the presidency in 2000, his regime exploited this development in two ways…..
Second, the Kremlin launched “managed nationalism”, an attempt to co-opt and mobilise radical nationalist militants, including neo-Nazis, as a counterweight to an emerging anti-Putin coalition of democrats and leftist radicals.
Overall, we rate BitChute extreme right and Questionable based on the promotion of conspiracy theories, propaganda, hate speech, poor sourcing, fake news, and a lack of transparency. This source is not credible for accurate information and may be offensive to some (most).
No-one will take much notice of you if you can't enter into sensible discussion and back up what you say with evidence. Just saying something doesn't make it true no matter how often or obnoxiously you say it.
In WW2 Ukraine collaborator militia willingly massacred many Jews horribly during German occupation, which would have been taught to children under Russian rule postwar. More recently, an ultranationalist movement ran paramilitary militia in the Donbras conflict between Ukraine and Russian-funded separatists, and attracted allegations of rape and torture
…allegations of rape and torture from Amnesty and the UN.
The ultranationalists, by a violent terror campaign, stymied Ukraine government efforts to implement the internationally-supported Minsk accord, which aimed to reduce the Donbas conflict. One of the accord conditions was to retain Russian as an official language. They also had a couple of top members in high positions in the government.
The ultranationalists were also white supremicists with a penchant for Nazi memes, and they spread their ideas online. Our very own mosque shooter was a fan, and even went to visit.
In 2019, Ukranians voted in a Jew from the Russian-speaking east, standing on an anti-corruption platform as President, and the ultranationalists got very few votes in the legislature. Therefore, the vast majority of Ukrainians pre-invasion did not support the ultranationalists.
The ultranationalist paramilitary were rolled up at some stage into the general Ukraine army and overt Nazi ideas were discouraged. Zelenskyy knew that any hint of Nazism would sink Western support, specifically from Germany.
Ukraine has been open to outside observation of their army's behaviour, and prosecuted its own soldiers when they acted badly. Western support and the support of their own civilian poulation is critical, so no point in atrocities. To be fair, the Azov Battalion, the flagship ultranationalist paramilitary unit in 2016, has fought in the worse areas, and suffered heavy losses.
You don't need, bucket loads of Airpower, the Ukrainian's just need to obtain Air Parity of a number of Sectors like they did in the Autumn Offensive using a mixture fixed, Rotary & UAV aircraft.
Then throw in GBAD (Ground Base Air Defence), EW, SF Strategic OPs on top of your usual SEAD Ops & Ground Base Recc'e Ops.
There is more than 90% chance of the next Ukrainian Offensive being a success again depending on where they hit the Russians again.
The Head of the Ukrainian's Theatre Reserve Forces is a former Senior Officer of the Russia Armoured Corp & he is also the head of the Ukrainian Armoured Corp. He is no mug to Armoured Warfare, also was the lead planner & Commander of the Autumn Offensive.
If the Yanks get really annoyed they'll lend Zelensky a Spirit with a full bomb load. The Russians wouldn't like it – but they wouldn't be able to see it – making complaining about it difficult.
The Spirit is a curious beast – very low radar profile. Chances are Russian radar systems can't identify it, much less target it, and its bomb load is huge, about 18 tonnes – enough to one-shot the Kerch Bridge for example.
One flyby by something Russia can't see ought to be fairly deniable – and the faster the war wraps up the better.
Summer arrival of about 105 tanks, remind me how many tanks Russia has? the pesky Ruskies ain't going to sit around waiting for them, come Summer it will be over or we will be in WW111 and guess what, Russia will win that war because the idiot west is draining their armaments into the corrupt Ukraine where already weapons are turning up in other Countries ..
And the Javelins have done a fantastic job in wiping out most of Russias more advanced tanks, so now they tend to use a lot of old T62s and T72s which aren’t exactly great against more modern technology.
And what difference have those few HIMARS made? Totally stuffed up the Russian logistics because they have had to move a lot of their storage out of range, which complicates things for them a lot.
What Ukraine will likely do is focus those Western tanks on a specific point where they can create a breakthrough. The western tanks are much better than the Soviet equivalents. That, and a squad of Bradleys and Strykers focused on a weak point will prove a huge problem for the Russians.
The combined GDP of the west is multitudes bigger than Russia. So the west can afford to keep this going a lot longer than Russia can.
That was a load of Bollocks, the Muppets still had road pads on the tracks & thence they couldn't climb the hill without a decent run up nor negotiate the corner safety!
Shit, if I did that in the old M113 APC as a driver! I would be wearing a size 9 to my Kidneys but an imprint of a .50cal or Gollock on my helmet & Scorpion Driver would've probably been Charged or had his daylights punch out of him!!!
lol at the pro-Putin copium. You just keep believing that.
Just like HIMARS would make no difference, western artillery like the Pz2000 would make no difference, NLAW would make no difference, so western tanks will obviously make no difference. Why, they can't even get up an icy slope! Silly western tank!
Honestly if western gear is so awful, surely then it would make no difference if the west gave the Ukrainians ATACMS, F-16s and JDAMS?
The M1 tank isn't a Wunderwaffe, it is just a tank. But it is way better tank than those 1950s and 1960s designed tincans the Ruskies are driving around in and it is a lot more mobile than your wishful thinking hopes.
It's a weird irony that while humans pump out billions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every day there is a shortage of the stuff for the brewing industry.
Part of what we do is supply equipment for extracting Nitrogen from the atmosphere. Nitrogen is easy because it is by far the largest proportion of gas in the atmosphere.
Although C02 is a greenhouse gas, in proportionate terms, it is a very small proportion of the atmosphere, which makes it much more difficult to extract economically.
Get used to flat beer as the amount of CO2 released in to the atmosphere by beery burps and fizzy farts must be enormous. Surely that is another human source of the dread gas that can be stopped entering the atmosphere …… How humans are prevented from breathing it out is a bit more problematic!
What did Adrian Orr say? We need about 70.000 people unemployed in order to get inflation under control? Well i guess they have to start somewhere on that number.
When did he say that Sabine? I'm not aware of any time at which he was so specific and the closest I am aware of is ""Returning to low inflation will, in the near-term, constrain employment growth and lead to a rise in unemployment,".
I think Warehouse Group's problems go back before interest rates started rising where they were coming out the wrong side of intense competition in all their categories. Big box retail hasn't been a happy place for a couple of years with too many players and companies are having to cut back.
From RNZ this morning – Hipkins meeting the Auckland Chamber of Commerce
It's music to the ears of former political rival Simon Bridges, now Auckland Business Chamber CEO, who said it'll give business "some confidence", and that Hipkins was "off to a good start". "I think it's incredibly refreshing to see from a new PM that he gets it."
Hidden barbs there from one of the several former National leaders who Jacinda Ardern saw off … and remind me – just what is Bridges background in commerce given that the right's commentariat go on about Labour and the running of businesses?
National might just be a tad nervous in case Hipkins and the Auckland C of C actually find some common ground which will make National's whinging less relevant.
I subscribe to the RNZ daily newsletter. I have tried to provide the link but apparently my browser does not support "paste" So here is the whole article
Mōrena,
Chris Hipkins’ first big meetings as prime minister are a series of charm offensives with Auckland businesses, seeking to understand what their priorities and issues are.
“I’ll be there to ask questions of them and to listen to them, in order to accelerate the important relationship that’s needed between business and government, in order to benefit all New Zealanders and to continue to grow our economy,” he said.
It’s music to the ears of former political rival Simon Bridges, now Auckland Business Chamber CEO, who said it’ll give business “some confidence”, and that Hipkins was “off to a good start”.
“I think it’s incredibly refreshing to see from a new PM that he gets it.”
Hipkins brushed off criticism his first meetings were with business leaders, and not Labour’s traditional supporters like unions, saying he’ll have meetings “with a large cross-section of people over the coming weeks and months”.
Even the Greens cut ‘Chippy’ some slack, co-leader Marama Davidson saying it was perhaps “an area where he particularly feels he’s neglected”.
So what do businesses actually want? RNZ spoke to some to find out.
I think we can all be happy that Bridges is out of the picture. In hindsight he was much better politically than either Labour or National Party supporters gave him credit for.
[We are not mind readers here and you must explain what you are talking about with a link, if necessary. Lift your game if you want to make it to Election Day on this site – Incognito]
With "Pride" coming up next month – we hope it is more civilised than this. It will be interesting to see if we are allowed to have any same sex events at all.
Yes UncookedSelachimorpha, The "cheek" of Willis to infer wages have and will add to inflation, when wages are last to move in any cycle.
Businesses do three things which create stress.
Bank Businesses tighten their loan strategies and raise rates. They are part of the Fire Economy.
Larger Business shed costs through staff redundancies, and close less productive branches to online strategies or automation.
Small Businesses, which have less fat and usually home loans in the game, have none of these options and are often the target of the local disaffected criminal attacks and thefts, which become a weapon to politically target the Government.
This is world wide and made much worse by Russia's invasion of Ukraine causing spikes in oil and grain costs.
The new PM going on a "listening " tour of Auckland Small Business/ Chamber of Commerce RT is a smart move imo. He can take that info back to Cabinet to justify the changes in priorities to help mitigate inflation and the impacts of it. He has shown smarts.
Good point about the differences between small businesses and large corporates.
So often National and their wealthy friends defend the interests of large corporates with their megaprofits, by pointing to the interests of struggling small businesses, pretending it’s all the same thing.
In fact small business would probably also benefit if the megaprofits of large corporates were redirected to benefit wider society more.
Greedy duopoly in NZ takes the piss. Kiwis cannot afford to eat properly in our land of plenty. Chippy needs to start kicking arse and taking names. Regulate the duopolists, fine them, imprison them, nationalise the supermarkets, I don’t know, just do something to stop them ripping us all off.
Aye. The duopolists with their cutesy, feelgood, promotional ads. FAKE as fuck. Just ripoff gougers. Labour could get major votes by doing something . Action time !
Ireland is in the EU, which subsidises food production and facilitates food transport across Europe, bringing down costs. Mainland UK has suffered shocking food inflation since Brexit strangled easy goods exchange with Europe.
Ive gotten this secondhand and cant find it online but did Nicola Marie Antionette Willis say on NatRad to paraphrase something like this that "its Labours fault for increasing the minimum wage too much and now they cant give the poorer people any more help to afford the costs of inflation without causing more inflation ".
If true, she really is an idiot, is she Sunaking or Kwarztening ?
Yep, she is that much of a moron. Whether or not the minimum wage had been raised in the past – a 5% increase now is still a 5% increase now in terms of inflation effects. And also evil, to be pointing the finger at the vulnerable, saying they are responsible for managing inflation.
National says it's a "great shame" Labour has increased the minimum wage by so much, because it means they can't do it now to help low-income Kiwis make ends meet without stoking inflation.
Pararēkau Island in the Manukau Harbour, just off the coast of Karaka, is the site of a proposed exclusive gated community, but preferred builder, Landmark Homes, is not doing the project any favours.
On Thursday morning, a link to the development on the company’s website was featuring what appears to be a parody video with new narration over the original footage.
“Just imagine, a rare opportunity waits you, to own the property of a lifetime,” the voiceover says. “Once covered in native forests where sunlight filtered through the lush foliage, and birds and insects thrived, we’ve done it again, bulldozed the entire f—— lot to make way for a limited number of sections that only the rich and privileged can afford.”
And there’s more: “Bordered by 16 acres of nature reserve, we justify our destruction. Secure your waterfront section now, even though beaches should be available to everyone. Knowing all of this, breathe in the fresh salty air and drink a glass of red wine.
This is an interesting study of the linguistic differences of the leaders in two countries the early pandemic times. One country was NZ and the other was the US.
Abstracting from the Abstract
……
'By way of background and in order to contextualise the research, we compared and contrasted Trump’s and Ardern’s leaderships using the toxic triangle framework of destructive leadership. We then focused on the leader behaviour element of the triangle by using computerised text analysis (CTA) to analyse Trump’s and Ardern’s public pronouncements during the critical early stages of the pandemic. Based on a similarity index (S), we identified linguistic markers associated with destructive leader behaviours and negative outcomes (Trump) and non-destructive leader behaviours and positive outcomes (Ardern)'
There is interesting material on the toxix trianagle, computerised text analysis
'Based on the LIWC manual’s description of these variables, Ardern’s language indicates formal, logical and hierarchical thinking patterns delivered in a personal, humble and vulnerable way. On the other hand, Trump’s words indicate thinking patterns that are less formal and logical, delivered in a less personal way lacking in humility and vulnerability and with a higher overall positive emotional tone. Trump’s speech is also marked by a lack of humility, formality and logic. Conversely, Ardern’s speech was marked by authenticity, formality, logic and a lower overall emotional tone (see Figure 2)'
The takeaway for me is to wonder how we can use the knowledge about this toxic way of speaking by 'innoculating' listeners away from being taken in by it. People were taken in by Trump and some saw Ardern's speech as too personal, calm, measured and some times too self effacing (pers.comm with Shanreagh) (I guess the type that are used to the in your face, booming speech of types like Trump.
And for all those who poo-pooed the comms degre that the foremer PM JA had the results of following good comms ethics/protocols are clear. Even though for Labour Pty press releases as a whole may have been pitched at too high an age group, as I have said many times before.
So much good stuff
‘This finding indicates that Ardern explained her government’s response to the pandemic in
terms of reasoning and causation and with greater certainty and less tentativeness than Trump;’ p10
'Scholars have long-warned of the perils associated with destructive leadership. Preventing or intervening in destructive leadership constitutes a major priority and challenge in politics, public administration and business in order to deal effectively with future crises that are knowable (such as new pandemics, climate or a political crisis) as well as those that are unknowable (but for which a potentially destructive leader may be unsuited). Failure to learn from crises has allowed the negative consequences of destructive leadership in the pandemic to spill-over and entangle individuals, institutions, firms, industries and entire economies and societies with grave repercussions nationally and internationally at an immense economic and human cost. The identification and analysis of linguistic markers as a basis for intervention or prevention could be an objective, simple and scalable tool that might help mitigate against the occurrence of such crises in the future'
Perhaps after a while our PM's speeches could be run through these linguistic markers to detect good or bad patterns. We could do the same for Luxon's. This is not manipulating but best practice in getting the message across.
It has occurred to me that all of all the pundits and MSM political talking heads and journalists who have offered opinions on the Ardern era, not one has acknowledged the fact that due to her actions 10-15,000 New Zealanders are alive today (and many who have died had many more months of life than they otherwise would have) than if we'd just gone with an open border, "business led" response.
The fact that the right wing media has spent so much time frantically re-writing the covid response to the point that this sort of deliberate amnesia is possible is a damning indictment of the MSM, and of the values and ethics of those in it.
… all the pundits and MSM political talking heads and journalists who have offered opinions on the Ardern era, not one has acknowledged the fact that due to her actions 10-15,000 New Zealanders are alive today…
And that is probably a conservative number too.
Hipkins should highlight this example of deliberate MSM failure whenever he gets the opportunity.
Who cares if they are pissed off and turn against him. Once the voters get the inherent message loud and clear, it will be the media culprits who will be the losers.
time to start making jenna linch and jessica muclh stafrt earning their pay. night after night they get up on their soapbox and deride the govdetnment and no one ever takes them to task. now when there is good news and they dont report it then take them to task on fb and twitter.they are getting away with blue murder and have to be brought to heel..who do they think they are. this page i snot social media and no one ever reads it except would be policy wonks who want a job in the labour party research unit. time for people to get stuck in to the real forces of reaction and stop the airy fairy waffling
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TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
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In a move likely to trigger Putin pacifiers here, I see that Germany is now sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine and is allowing other European nations to send theirs. Also, the US is sending US is sending 31 Abrams tanks. Along with all the Bradleys, Strykers, and other high-end APCs, Ukraine is soon going to have some serious kick-arse weaponry that will cause the Russians a lot of problems.
And the Ukrainians will soon be getting ground launched small diameter bombs with a range of 150km so most occupied areas in Ukraine and Crimea will likely soon be in range.
And Britain is considering giving Ukraine long range missiles that will enable them to hit military targets inside Russia, and potentially do a proper job of taking out the Kerch bridge
I think that it has now been recognised that the quickest path to peace is for the Russians to be totally defeated in Ukraine, and Ukraine is now getting the tools that will enable them to do that.
Well, thats the story of escalation.Starts with javelins, ends in nukes.
I think you'll find it is the other way round.
Yes, I agree with you. It is a pity that Russia has been escalating this conflict.
But Russia has set more red lines than a first-year uni assignment which the west has ignored and Russia has done nothing about.
And, Putin and his regime will be freaked out about the spooky US intelligence. At the start of the war, the US was releasing emails from Russian military commanders etc complaining about how the US was reading their emails. So, Putin and his regime will know that the US likely knows exactly where they are at any time, and will likely be the first target of any retalatory strike.
And Russia's key ally, China has told Putin to stop all the nuke talk.
Most now think Putin's threats were just a bluff, which is a view consistent with evidence to date.
What a dishonest take.
It started when Russia invaded its sovereign neighbour.
Escalated further with Russia's warcrimes in Bucha.
More escalation with the complete destruction of Mariupol and murder of tens of thousands of the civilian residents by Russia..
More escalation with phony referendums and illegal annexations of Ukrainian territory.
Then another big escalation with Russia's attacks on civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.
NATO, the West & the US abandoned the 1st Strike action/ Policy in the late 60's or in 70's, at pretty much at the request of Germany & couple of other European countries when it was realised MÀD was completely pointless.
Now NATO has a Political & Defence Posture of gradual response.
The use of WMD's when I did my CBRND Cse's, pretty much said that WMD Response is last on the list when we look at the employment & use of such Weapons to understand why you would use them in the 1st place.
If Tsar Poot's goes down to this path, it's all over Red Rover for him.
The biggest concern would be holding be holding back the Poles & the Baltic States as they still want revenge after 80 odd years for what Russia did in 1939!
Which btw, I think could the biggest concern atm if Russia does launch another Armoured Assualt/s from Belarus again. The Poles may very well go fuck this EU & NATO Bullshit & charge head first into Belarus or down the Lviv corridor to support the Ukrainian's?
The reckoning is that Poland (note there is a right wing Polish Government in Power atm, which isn't as bad as the one in the 30's which was a shocker) isn't exactly comfortable of Russia being on its door step again. No matter what old mate from Belarus says atm & quite frankly I don't trust a word coming out of his mouth either atm.
If the Ukrainians get a weapon with the range and accuracy to destroy the Crimean bridge then the chances are they'll regain Crimea. The war is poised at the moment. The attritional battles around Bakhmut have caused heavy losses to both sides – the Ukrainians appear to have lost heavily in Soledar in particular.
Russian losses however appear to be catastrophic. There is so much video evidence online showing very heavy losses being inflicted on Russian forces who seem to be using a variation of human wave tactics.
Olga Romanova, the head of Russia Behind Bars, a charity advocating prisoners’ rights says in a video published by the YouTube channel My Russian Rights,
"…Our data shows that, as of late December, 42,000–43,000 inmates had been recruited. By now, this is probably upwards of 50,000. Out of that number, 10,000 are now fighting at the front, because the rest have either been killed or wounded, or went AWOL, or deserted, or surrendered…"
So 80% effective loss rate in a few months.
Other reports indicate the Russian manpower wastage across the entire front can get as high as 1000 a day. As I have said, the Ukrainians are also losing heavily, but nothing like the Russians.
A unseasonably warm winter seems to have denied the Ukrainians a chance to attack before the mass of Russia's new conscripts enter the fray. Looking at the force composition of both sides in these winter battles they seem to largely be territorial and local defense units. I would guess the best and most professional units are being rested and rebuilt for what is going to be the decisive phase of the war this coming Northern spring/summer.
These modern tanks will come with fire control systems and thermal optics far superior to anything the Russians have, and will be significant force multipliers. However, weapon systems alone seldom if ever have a strategic impact. The Tiger tank made no difference in WW2. Superior tactics and a sound strategy is more important.
There has been little strategic value for the Russians in attacking the likes of Bakhmut and Soledar, and the Ukrainains have been using these pointless attacks as an opportunity to wear down the Russian forces.
There is a clear pattern to the ebb and flow of this conflict. At the moment we are in the first phase where the Ukrainians wear down Russian forces by conducting fighting withdrawals from inconsequential areas.
When they have worn down the Russians enough, they will go to the second phase, and back on the attack and regain huge swathes of territory.
But, they are not entirely on defensive, and are getting close to capturing Kreminna.
This is much more strategically important than the nonsense the Russians are engaged with at the moment. That is because taking Kremmina will enable the Ukrainians to flank the Russian defence lines, and force the Russians to cede a lot more territory in order to reestablish sound defence lines..
I would be careful assuming these attritional battles are necessarily all in Ukraines favour. We don't know for sure how heavy the losses are on either side, and while common sense tells us the Russians must be suffering heavier losses, the first world war also informs us that in big artillery siege battles the losses are often more even than you'd think. One thing that has astonished me has been how poor the Ukrainian field works are, or at least the ones I have seen in videos. They lack overhead cover, proper fire steps, parapets/parados, duckboards – all stuff that indicates that this is still an army of amateur volunteers. However, it may just be that these are all we get to see on the telly – the best fortifications may be unfilmed for obvious reasons, but still it is a worry.
Even if the Russians are suffering very heavy manpower attrition, it doesn't necessarily follow that the Ukraine can outlast the Russians in straight Verdun style slogging match since Russia has a much bigger population and in very Panem style it is sacrificing it's convicts and ethnic minorities to protect the urban ethnic Russian middle class whilst the Ukraine is sacrificing it's volunteers – their graphic designers, IT startup owners, patriotic students etc etc in defense of their homeland.
The Russian command remains hopelessly fragmented and whilst Putin can call up any number of mobiks it is an open question as to if his generals can equip them properly to be anything more than straw for the furnace.
The war remains in the balance, lets all hope and pray (and donate money) for a Ukrainian victory this year.
My understanding is they withdraw when the costs start getting too high. And I understand Russia can outlast Ukraine in a war of attrition if the Ukrainain losses are too high, even if they are less than Russian losses. So, the Bradleys et al will allow the Ukrainians a lot more protection, which will be a good thing.
Some of the defences are very good. Look at what they are doing at the Belarusian border, for instance. I guess it is a factor of how much time they have available to prepare defences.
Part of what they are doing in some of these areas is to withdraw, and force the Russians to advance across open fields, which ends up often being a slaughter.
The nature of the Ukrainian defeat at Soledar is hard to work out since reliable information is so thin on the ground.
However, there is about enough information to suppose the attack there came as a surprise to the Ukrainians who had the area weakly held with territorial units. They reinforced the position to late and were forced to commit mobile reserves to a hasty counter-attack, suffered a repulse, and were forced to retreat from the town. But the thing is it was a defeat, not a voluntary withdrawal.
These guys here seems reasonably up to date and accurate for AFU deployments, and you can see from this map the Ukrainians have been forced to deploy significant armoured reserves to stabilise the situation around Soledar.
A rare failure of operational intelligence.
From what my close associates have told me, the Ukrainian's were caught off guard by the shear numbers of mass infantry thrown at them around the Solader Area.
Only the Local Armour/ Mobile Reserves have been committed, ie at Divisional Level & below.
Solader & the surrounding area is becoming an old fashioned WW1 style Defensive Battle.
The Ukrainian Artillery/ Missile Artillery & UAV's units are doing all the talking in the Solader Area.
The bulk of the Ukrainian Armoured Corp & it's Panzer Grenadiers (Mech Infantry) have gone to ground. So watch this space once the ground starts firming up.
The Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia appears to have been planned by general Cecilski Hogmanayi Melchettovich with a clumsily telegraphed unsupported frontal attack resulting in very heavy casualties.
It is going to be interesting to see how long it is before even Putin's police state gets significant popular blowback.
This guy I follow who seems to have quite detailed insight and intelligence was saying in his latest videos that the Russians have been losing 3600 per day in that Zaporizhzhia offensive. Not working out too well for them.
Yep,Especially where they are drawing the Troops from as they still have to go via Moscow thanks to the Russian Military Rail Base logistic System.
Which is has ended badly for a few Tsar's & their respective Dumas.
This video shows why the Ukrainians would not have wanted to withdraw from Soledar. The Ukrainian earthworks lack cover and are exposed to accurate artillery fire. The slightly elevated position they are dug to hold is the dominant terrain feature west of Soledar for some distance. Should they lose control of this feature – here or anywhere between Silj and Paraskoviivka – the Russian could bring the E50 supply route under fire. This road, along with the T0504 road which now apparently already under observed fire, are the main all weather supply routes into Bakhmut. Orientation – Silj is visible at 1:16, Soledar at 1:40.
https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1618319380961714178?cxt=HHwWhIDTteO5tvUsAAAA
Yeah. I see a lot of that UAV survellience from the Ukrainians as well.
The takeaway for me is that I would hate to be stuck in a trench in one of those conflicts when a UAV might drop a bomb on me at any moment, or might give my coordinates so artillery can drop a shell exactly on my position.
A lot of the Russian fortifications don't look much different though. I guess it is just the haste of the situation. As I said, have a look at the Ukrainian fortifications on the Belarusian border that they have been working on for months, or what the Russians are doing at the border between Kherson Oblast and Crimea. It is on a completely different scale.
Check out this picture of the Hindenburg line from 1917…
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Hindenburg_line_Bullecourt.jpg
Putin pacifiers, wow! did you make that name up all by yourself you ignorant shrill, send 200 tanks and it won't make any difference to the outcome of this conflict, have you got air cover for the few measly tanks etc the West can send, answer is NO, they will become sitting ducks and turned into glass, You and the foul mouthed joe90 and the sanctimonious sanctuary and the cog in the wheel have been bleating on since the beginning of the conflict that Russia is on the ropes, Putin is all but done and the nazi infested Ukraine is whopping Russia, absolutely no evidence of that unless you only read western propaganda which you swallow and spit out without critical analysis. All the sanctions have backfired, Europe is turning into a financial backwater and 85% of the Planet is doing business with Russia, you are on the wrong side of history on this issue.
You say this "But Russia has set more red lines than a first-year uni assignment which the west has ignored and Russia has done nothing about". care to confirm this rubbish with facts?
. <— this is a period. Please try to use it more often. Also, if you have a method of turning metal into glass I’d patent it.
Too late it's already been done .. Metals and glass don't seem to have anything in common. Glass is generally transparent and fragile while metals are opaque and extremely strong; but under the right conditions, metals can form glass, and when they do, what results is an opaque, durable, scratch- and corrosion-resistant material that is often stronger than steel. Metallic glass is so versatile it can be used in iPhone cases, the lubricant-free gears of Moon rovers, and electrical transformers. Recently, experiments on the International Space Station that NASA’s Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications (SLPSRA) division funded have revealed aspects of metallic glass formation that could open the door to even greater possibilities
[Banned for 2 weeks for plagiarism – Incognito]
Copypasta without attribution. Nice. (nasa.gov)
Mod note
. This is a full-stop. I gave up on periods years ago.
This is enough for me to know that you are likely a toxic Russian troll. Get acquainted with some facts instead of spouting nonsense. Russia has its own nazis who Putin has used for his own ends. So, if he is really worried about Nazis, he needs to stop using them, and clean up his own country. From the link:
In contrast have a look at the results of the last Ukrainian election where the far right gained around 2% of the vote.
And, for goodness sake, Zelensky is a Jew.
Zelensky is a coke head clown puppet, so what if he is also a jew. or is that meant to carry some weight?
Mmmmmm. you've got a source for the first of yr descriptors or it is just rant & rave designed to demean someone in the eyes of the public.
I'm picking the latter
The snorter ..
https://www.bitchute.com/video/obVgksibBbsa/
Bitchute link! My god.
Tony as you can see we don't really rate Bitchute.
Here is a link to the entry in Media bias fact check
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/
Summary
This is the link to the full report. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/bitchute/
Perhaps check your sources for credibility before linking or publishing from them when you come back.
OMG is "Tony" for real?![laugh laugh](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.png?x42494)
1) Its not Zelensky.
2) He doesn't wear suits… ever! As far as I can tell.
Is ‘Tony’ one of the crowd who think the moon is made of cheese?
Zelensky has worn suits, but while the war continues he wears fatigues – showing he is in the fight I presume.
Like Churchill and his boiler-suits.
No-one will take much notice of you if you can't enter into sensible discussion and back up what you say with evidence. Just saying something doesn't make it true no matter how often or obnoxiously you say it.
Jews who fought for Nazi Germany ..
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-24-mn-12209-story.html
Hey TS, you say the Nazis only got 2% of the Ukrainian vote, that's 800,000 people which is no small number..
315,568 votes or 2.15%
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Ukrainian_parliamentary_election
In WW2 Ukraine collaborator militia willingly massacred many Jews horribly during German occupation, which would have been taught to children under Russian rule postwar. More recently, an ultranationalist movement ran paramilitary militia in the Donbras conflict between Ukraine and Russian-funded separatists, and attracted allegations of rape and torture
Sorry, pressed publish far too soon.
…allegations of rape and torture from Amnesty and the UN.
The ultranationalists, by a violent terror campaign, stymied Ukraine government efforts to implement the internationally-supported Minsk accord, which aimed to reduce the Donbas conflict. One of the accord conditions was to retain Russian as an official language. They also had a couple of top members in high positions in the government.
The ultranationalists were also white supremicists with a penchant for Nazi memes, and they spread their ideas online. Our very own mosque shooter was a fan, and even went to visit.
In 2019, Ukranians voted in a Jew from the Russian-speaking east, standing on an anti-corruption platform as President, and the ultranationalists got very few votes in the legislature. Therefore, the vast majority of Ukrainians pre-invasion did not support the ultranationalists.
The ultranationalist paramilitary were rolled up at some stage into the general Ukraine army and overt Nazi ideas were discouraged. Zelenskyy knew that any hint of Nazism would sink Western support, specifically from Germany.
Ukraine has been open to outside observation of their army's behaviour, and prosecuted its own soldiers when they acted badly. Western support and the support of their own civilian poulation is critical, so no point in atrocities. To be fair, the Azov Battalion, the flagship ultranationalist paramilitary unit in 2016, has fought in the worse areas, and suffered heavy losses.
So 'Ukraine is a Nazi state' is not true.
You don't need, bucket loads of Airpower, the Ukrainian's just need to obtain Air Parity of a number of Sectors like they did in the Autumn Offensive using a mixture fixed, Rotary & UAV aircraft.
Then throw in GBAD (Ground Base Air Defence), EW, SF Strategic OPs on top of your usual SEAD Ops & Ground Base Recc'e Ops.
There is more than 90% chance of the next Ukrainian Offensive being a success again depending on where they hit the Russians again.
The Head of the Ukrainian's Theatre Reserve Forces is a former Senior Officer of the Russia Armoured Corp & he is also the head of the Ukrainian Armoured Corp. He is no mug to Armoured Warfare, also was the lead planner & Commander of the Autumn Offensive.
If the Yanks get really annoyed they'll lend Zelensky a Spirit with a full bomb load. The Russians wouldn't like it – but they wouldn't be able to see it – making complaining about it difficult.
It just won't be the Spirit Russia need to worry about if Poot's does the Full Monty!
I think just about anything that Fly's in NATO will be Launched at Russia & Belarus. And what's left of his Navy would be sunk.
Then there is Poles & the Baltic States who would like nothing, but seek revenge on the Russians no matter how dice roll.
The Spirit is a curious beast – very low radar profile. Chances are Russian radar systems can't identify it, much less target it, and its bomb load is huge, about 18 tonnes – enough to one-shot the Kerch Bridge for example.
One flyby by something Russia can't see ought to be fairly deniable – and the faster the war wraps up the better.
Abrams tanks in winter
lol
Don't worry. I think it is more likely they will arrive in the summer. So, not likely to be a problem.
Summer arrival of about 105 tanks, remind me how many tanks Russia has? the pesky Ruskies ain't going to sit around waiting for them, come Summer it will be over or we will be in WW111 and guess what, Russia will win that war because the idiot west is draining their armaments into the corrupt Ukraine where already weapons are turning up in other Countries ..
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/28/the-us-and-europe-are-running-out-of-weapons-to-send-to-ukraine.html
How many Soviet era tanks do you think the Ukrainians have? Didn't you see how much they captured in the Kharkiv offensive? It looks like the Russians have donated more weapons to Ukraine than anyone else.
And the Javelins have done a fantastic job in wiping out most of Russias more advanced tanks, so now they tend to use a lot of old T62s and T72s which aren’t exactly great against more modern technology.
And what difference have those few HIMARS made? Totally stuffed up the Russian logistics because they have had to move a lot of their storage out of range, which complicates things for them a lot.
What Ukraine will likely do is focus those Western tanks on a specific point where they can create a breakthrough. The western tanks are much better than the Soviet equivalents. That, and a squad of Bradleys and Strykers focused on a weak point will prove a huge problem for the Russians.
The combined GDP of the west is multitudes bigger than Russia. So the west can afford to keep this going a lot longer than Russia can.
weapons meant for ukraine end up …..
https://www.euractiv.com/section/all/short_news/weapons-sent-to-ukraine-may-have-ended-up-in-finnish-underground/
That was a load of Bollocks, the Muppets still had road pads on the tracks & thence they couldn't climb the hill without a decent run up nor negotiate the corner safety!
Shit, if I did that in the old M113 APC as a driver! I would be wearing a size 9 to my Kidneys but an imprint of a .50cal or Gollock on my helmet & Scorpion Driver would've probably been Charged or had his daylights punch out of him!!!
lol at the pro-Putin copium. You just keep believing that.
Just like HIMARS would make no difference, western artillery like the Pz2000 would make no difference, NLAW would make no difference, so western tanks will obviously make no difference. Why, they can't even get up an icy slope! Silly western tank!
Honestly if western gear is so awful, surely then it would make no difference if the west gave the Ukrainians ATACMS, F-16s and JDAMS?
The M1 tank isn't a Wunderwaffe, it is just a tank. But it is way better tank than those 1950s and 1960s designed tincans the Ruskies are driving around in and it is a lot more mobile than your wishful thinking hopes.
It's a weird irony that while humans pump out billions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every day there is a shortage of the stuff for the brewing industry.
If only…..
Part of what we do is supply equipment for extracting Nitrogen from the atmosphere. Nitrogen is easy because it is by far the largest proportion of gas in the atmosphere.
Although C02 is a greenhouse gas, in proportionate terms, it is a very small proportion of the atmosphere, which makes it much more difficult to extract economically.
I was just thinking I wish George Carlin was still with us, I bet he would have made a joke with this.
Get used to flat beer as the amount of CO2 released in to the atmosphere by beery burps and fizzy farts must be enormous. Surely that is another human source of the dread gas that can be stopped entering the atmosphere …… How humans are prevented from breathing it out is a bit more problematic!
The shortage of eggs and the many Countdown supermarkets with empty egg shelves I can live with, but if they run out of beer that's serious!
Not me. I like 2 eggs a day, but only 2 beers a week.
This is not a good start to the year. I think media Works were also laying off staff.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2023/01/fears-grow-the-warehouse-group-may-axe-190-jobs.html
What did Adrian Orr say? We need about 70.000 people unemployed in order to get inflation under control? Well i guess they have to start somewhere on that number.
When did he say that Sabine? I'm not aware of any time at which he was so specific and the closest I am aware of is ""Returning to low inflation will, in the near-term, constrain employment growth and lead to a rise in unemployment,".
What is your evidence for the 70,000 figure?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/adrian-orr-beating-inflation-will-mean-higher-unemployment/WO3WLQQUGWEC5NVK3AQTR2BN5A/
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2022/12/economist-proposes-alternative-solution-to-inflation-as-up-to-70-000-people-forecast-to-lose-jobs.html
Economist proposes alternative solution to inflation as up to 70,000 people forecast to lose jobs
I cannot see anything in that story of Orr saying that we need 70,000 people to become unemployed. That is the claim I was asking Sabine to justify.
That story has a claim that if unemployment went from X to Y it would mean something like that but it doesn't have Orr saying he wants it.
Is orr in the reserve bank?
Doesnt the reserve bank have a say.
I think Warehouse Group's problems go back before interest rates started rising where they were coming out the wrong side of intense competition in all their categories. Big box retail hasn't been a happy place for a couple of years with too many players and companies are having to cut back.
From RNZ this morning – Hipkins meeting the Auckland Chamber of Commerce
It's music to the ears of former political rival Simon Bridges, now Auckland Business Chamber CEO, who said it'll give business "some confidence", and that Hipkins was "off to a good start". "I think it's incredibly refreshing to see from a new PM that he gets it."
Hidden barbs there from one of the several former National leaders who Jacinda Ardern saw off … and remind me – just what is Bridges background in commerce given that the right's commentariat go on about Labour and the running of businesses?
National might just be a tad nervous in case Hipkins and the Auckland C of C actually find some common ground which will make National's whinging less relevant.
Where did your quote come from? Where is your link?
I subscribe to the RNZ daily newsletter. I have tried to provide the link but apparently my browser does not support "paste" So here is the whole article
Mōrena,
Chris Hipkins’ first big meetings as prime minister are a series of charm offensives with Auckland businesses, seeking to understand what their priorities and issues are.
“I’ll be there to ask questions of them and to listen to them, in order to accelerate the important relationship that’s needed between business and government, in order to benefit all New Zealanders and to continue to grow our economy,” he said.
It’s music to the ears of former political rival Simon Bridges, now Auckland Business Chamber CEO, who said it’ll give business “some confidence”, and that Hipkins was “off to a good start”.
“I think it’s incredibly refreshing to see from a new PM that he gets it.”
Hipkins brushed off criticism his first meetings were with business leaders, and not Labour’s traditional supporters like unions, saying he’ll have meetings “with a large cross-section of people over the coming weeks and months”.
Even the Greens cut ‘Chippy’ some slack, co-leader Marama Davidson saying it was perhaps “an area where he particularly feels he’s neglected”.
So what do businesses actually want? RNZ spoke to some to find out.
Ta
I think it relates to this: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/483111/chris-hipkins-to-sit-down-with-business-leaders-there-to-ask-questions.
I think we can all be happy that Bridges is out of the picture. In hindsight he was much better politically than either Labour or National Party supporters gave him credit for.
[We are not mind readers here and you must explain what you are talking about with a link, if necessary. Lift your game if you want to make it to Election Day on this site – Incognito]
Mod note
With "Pride" coming up next month – we hope it is more civilised than this. It will be interesting to see if we are allowed to have any same sex events at all.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/114832273/jim-hubbard-cartoons
Spot on analysis.
Useless National, lying that raising the minimum wage will drive inflation. They make no complaints about the effect of outsized company profits doing the same (NZ company profits on track to jump 60% over 2 years). 60% increase in the minimum wage, anyone?
Plenty of evidence that raising minimum wages has little or no effect on inflation. And during high inflation it is even more important to maintain wages, especially at the bottom end of town.
Yes UncookedSelachimorpha, The "cheek" of Willis to infer wages have and will add to inflation, when wages are last to move in any cycle.
Businesses do three things which create stress.
Bank Businesses tighten their loan strategies and raise rates. They are part of the Fire Economy.
Larger Business shed costs through staff redundancies, and close less productive branches to online strategies or automation.
Small Businesses, which have less fat and usually home loans in the game, have none of these options and are often the target of the local disaffected criminal attacks and thefts, which become a weapon to politically target the Government.
This is world wide and made much worse by Russia's invasion of Ukraine causing spikes in oil and grain costs.
The new PM going on a "listening " tour of Auckland Small Business/ Chamber of Commerce RT is a smart move imo. He can take that info back to Cabinet to justify the changes in priorities to help mitigate inflation and the impacts of it. He has shown smarts.
Good point about the differences between small businesses and large corporates.
So often National and their wealthy friends defend the interests of large corporates with their megaprofits, by pointing to the interests of struggling small businesses, pretending it’s all the same thing.
In fact small business would probably also benefit if the megaprofits of large corporates were redirected to benefit wider society more.
Greedy duopoly in NZ takes the piss. Kiwis cannot afford to eat properly in our land of plenty. Chippy needs to start kicking arse and taking names. Regulate the duopolists, fine them, imprison them, nationalise the supermarkets, I don’t know, just do something to stop them ripping us all off.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/131067124/new-zealand-student-on-exchange-in-ireland-shocked-by-insane-food-price-difference
Aye. The duopolists with their cutesy, feelgood, promotional ads. FAKE as fuck. Just ripoff gougers. Labour could get major votes by doing something . Action time !
Ireland is in the EU, which subsidises food production and facilitates food transport across Europe, bringing down costs. Mainland UK has suffered shocking food inflation since Brexit strangled easy goods exchange with Europe.
Ireland has recently introduced the EU Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) regulations to its food and agriculture supply chain.
I suspect our market would benefit from this kind of oversight
Andrew Tate a serial fantasist?
I'm shocked!
https://twitter.com/paulkenyonTV/status/1617582023895355394
Tick Tock
Tick Tock
Boom
So 90 seconds to Midnight – warmongers be stupid, climate deniers be dumb and anti-vaxxers have taken the cake.
Ive gotten this secondhand and cant find it online but did Nicola Marie Antionette Willis say on NatRad to paraphrase something like this that "its Labours fault for increasing the minimum wage too much and now they cant give the poorer people any more help to afford the costs of inflation without causing more inflation ".
If true, she really is an idiot, is she Sunaking or Kwarztening ?
Yep, she is that much of a moron. Whether or not the minimum wage had been raised in the past – a 5% increase now is still a 5% increase now in terms of inflation effects. And also evil, to be pointing the finger at the vulnerable, saying they are responsible for managing inflation.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/483135/minimum-wage-too-high-to-increase-further-without-fuelling-inflation-national-s-nicola-willis
Ahuh…just another version of Victim Blaming. And as usually..done by rightwing/authoritarians…
We must stop the Nacts….in their tracks
We have been warned!
Brilliant.
Pararēkau Island in the Manukau Harbour, just off the coast of Karaka, is the site of a proposed exclusive gated community, but preferred builder, Landmark Homes, is not doing the project any favours.
On Thursday morning, a link to the development on the company’s website was featuring what appears to be a parody video with new narration over the original footage.
“Just imagine, a rare opportunity waits you, to own the property of a lifetime,” the voiceover says. “Once covered in native forests where sunlight filtered through the lush foliage, and birds and insects thrived, we’ve done it again, bulldozed the entire f—— lot to make way for a limited number of sections that only the rich and privileged can afford.”
And there’s more: “Bordered by 16 acres of nature reserve, we justify our destruction. Secure your waterfront section now, even though beaches should be available to everyone. Knowing all of this, breathe in the fresh salty air and drink a glass of red wine.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/latest/131069086/group-builders-website-links-to-parody-video-by-mistake
This is an interesting study of the linguistic differences of the leaders in two countries the early pandemic times. One country was NZ and the other was the US.
Abstracting from the Abstract
……
'By way of background and in order to contextualise the research, we compared and contrasted Trump’s and Ardern’s leaderships using the toxic triangle framework of destructive leadership. We then focused on the leader behaviour element of the triangle by using computerised text analysis (CTA) to analyse Trump’s and Ardern’s public pronouncements during the critical early stages of the pandemic. Based on a similarity index (S), we identified linguistic markers associated with destructive leader behaviours and negative outcomes (Trump) and non-destructive leader behaviours and positive outcomes (Ardern)'
https://www.scienceopen.com/document_file/3a12d09f-6791-4e0a-a820-2577b2fe4885/PubMedCentral/3a12d09f-6791-4e0a-a820-2577b2fe4885.pdf
There is interesting material on the toxix trianagle, computerised text analysis
'Based on the LIWC manual’s description of these variables, Ardern’s language indicates formal, logical and hierarchical thinking patterns delivered in a personal, humble and vulnerable way. On the other hand, Trump’s words indicate thinking patterns that are less formal and logical, delivered in a less personal way lacking in humility and vulnerability and with a higher overall positive emotional tone. Trump’s speech is also marked by a lack of humility, formality and logic. Conversely, Ardern’s speech was marked by authenticity, formality, logic and a lower overall emotional tone (see Figure 2)'
The takeaway for me is to wonder how we can use the knowledge about this toxic way of speaking by 'innoculating' listeners away from being taken in by it. People were taken in by Trump and some saw Ardern's speech as too personal, calm, measured and some times too self effacing (pers.comm with Shanreagh) (I guess the type that are used to the in your face, booming speech of types like Trump.
And for all those who poo-pooed the comms degre that the foremer PM JA had the results of following good comms ethics/protocols are clear. Even though for Labour Pty press releases as a whole may have been pitched at too high an age group, as I have said many times before.
So much good stuff
‘This finding indicates that Ardern explained her government’s response to the pandemic in
terms of reasoning and causation and with greater certainty and less tentativeness than Trump;’ p10
The conclusion
'Scholars have long-warned of the perils associated with destructive leadership. Preventing or intervening in destructive leadership constitutes a major priority and challenge in politics, public administration and business in order to deal effectively with future crises that are knowable (such as new pandemics, climate or a political crisis) as well as those that are unknowable (but for which a potentially destructive leader may be unsuited). Failure to learn from crises has allowed the negative consequences of destructive leadership in the pandemic to spill-over and entangle individuals, institutions, firms, industries and entire economies and societies with grave repercussions nationally and internationally at an immense economic and human cost. The identification and analysis of linguistic markers as a basis for intervention or prevention could be an objective, simple and scalable tool that might help mitigate against the occurrence of such crises in the future'
Perhaps after a while our PM's speeches could be run through these linguistic markers to detect good or bad patterns. We could do the same for Luxon's. This is not manipulating but best practice in getting the message across.
It has occurred to me that all of all the pundits and MSM political talking heads and journalists who have offered opinions on the Ardern era, not one has acknowledged the fact that due to her actions 10-15,000 New Zealanders are alive today (and many who have died had many more months of life than they otherwise would have) than if we'd just gone with an open border, "business led" response.
The fact that the right wing media has spent so much time frantically re-writing the covid response to the point that this sort of deliberate amnesia is possible is a damning indictment of the MSM, and of the values and ethics of those in it.
And that is probably a conservative number too.
Hipkins should highlight this example of deliberate MSM failure whenever he gets the opportunity.
Who cares if they are pissed off and turn against him. Once the voters get the inherent message loud and clear, it will be the media culprits who will be the losers.
time to start making jenna linch and jessica muclh stafrt earning their pay. night after night they get up on their soapbox and deride the govdetnment and no one ever takes them to task. now when there is good news and they dont report it then take them to task on fb and twitter.they are getting away with blue murder and have to be brought to heel..who do they think they are. this page i snot social media and no one ever reads it except would be policy wonks who want a job in the labour party research unit. time for people to get stuck in to the real forces of reaction and stop the airy fairy waffling