Mick Wallace is a courageous politician who dares to ask questions few others do.
The attack on Nordstream was a terrible attack on European vital infrastructure, it was an act of Environmental Terrorism – A disastrous release of methane. Why is the EU showing so little interest in finding out who did it.? Are they afraid that they won't like the answer..?
The attack on #NordStream was a terrible attack on European vital infrastructure, it was an act of Environmental Terrorism – A disastrous release of #Methane – Why is the #EU showing so little interest in finding out who did it.? Are they afraid that they won't like the answer..? pic.twitter.com/J6x3zWHtt2
Ease is not the issue, for most, it is lack of basic courtesy and consideration of the very simple rules of engagement here on TS. Sign of the times, I fear …
A country with a Baltic base that's home to small, quiet, submarines with the ability to move undetected in the region carrying dive teams that specialise in seabed operations.
Cui bono?
A country with the stated intent of freezing Western Europe into submission.
“Few conflicts have been so shaped by the chief actors’ sense of their own national story as the Ukrainian war that began in February. It is the competing grand narratives of the past, not just in Russia and Ukraine, but in Germany, France, Poland, the Baltics, the UK, the US, and even the global south, that make this war so hard to resolve”
History is everything. Much of that Guardian article is pretty superficial.
In this 38 minute interview with Aaron Maté, Nicolai Petro discusses "the overlooked influence of Ukraine's far-right nationalist movement and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's recent admission that the Minsk Accords — the international formula for ending the post-2014 Donbas civil war — "was an attempt to give Ukraine time" to prepare for a conflict with Russia, rather than make peace. Petro is the author of the new book, "The Tragedy of Ukraine."
Petro is the Silvia-Chandley Professor of Peace Studies and Nonviolence and Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island, in the United States. He also served as the US State Department's special assistant for policy on the Soviet Union under President George HW Bush.
I'm sure people being shelled, tortured, raped, looted by Russian invaders, will be very interested to intellectualise over what Classical Greek Tragedy can Teach us About Conflict Resolution.
This guy is full of shit – victim blaming and saying parties within Ukraine bear similar responsibility to Russia – the latter being the only one of the two that launched a war and brutal invasion of its neighbour. He discusses the minutiae of internal Ukrainian events, while brushing over Russia's internal repression, dictatorship and repeated pattern of interference and military assault of its neighbours.
when foreigners casually drop ‘bombing of kyiv’ these pics always come to mind. this is what #RussianColonialism did to chechnya and grozny when they tried to leave the empire in 2000. a war crime of horrific scale, but the rest of the world was like ‘meh’, so moscow continued pic.twitter.com/ysiKKArGFz
Well, that's almost 40 minutes of my life I will never get back.
The only notable thing about this interview with professor Nicolai Petro, is the weird leading questions from sour Putin apologist Aaron Mate. Mate kept trying to push this dry bones professor to agree with his propaganda talking points.
The good professor pushed back on Aaron Mate's propaganda talking points. Admittedly very weakly, but push back he did.
That Western Ukraine is fascist
@ 7:48 minutes "I don't define everyone in government as a neo-nazi or fascist. That's not correct."
That the people of the Donbas, wanted to join Russia.
@ 32:00 minutes "It is not fair to say that they wanted to be part of Russia"
Whether "The Ukrainian state will ever exist again"
@ 36:10 minutes "Well it exists today. And I think there will be a Ukraine, certainly in the foreseeable future.
P.S. I thought Aaron Mate’s Dramatic headline to this interview was slanted and laughably misleading as to what was actually discussed.
“How Ukraine’s far-right, with NATO backing, block peace”
Hi Adam,
Are you saying, Aaron Mate deliberately put up a more dramatic headline than the actual content warranted, because he knew the Facebook algorithm would direct pro-war conspiracy theorists like aj to it?
A more balanced and nuanced view from Bomber Bradbury. The cause of this war is not just Putin and Russia ( as some posters on this site want to claim), but…..
let’s not ignore the coup in Kazakstan, the Wests involvement with the Ukrainian coup and the years of shelling and conflict in the Donbas that all lead up to this nor should we ignore the war mongers selling weapons being accelerants here.
You have mentioned this a few times now. Just for a sense of context, can you provide firm count of the death toll on both sides of this conflict in the Donbas, for say the 3 or 4 years prior to the invasion this year – and the same count for this year 2022 after Russia invaded in order to 'protect' said civilians?
The figures before Russia came in were 14000 according to the UN report which from mem i think came out in 21 .This number is often attributed though to just the deaths from DPR /LPR but this is not the case if i have my facts right The 14000 includes all the protagonists including the nationalist forces although the bulk of them were from the Donbas because of course for a long time outgunned .
Russian siloviki may be setting information conditions to justify the nationalization of oligarchs’ resources to sponsor Russia’s war effort. Wagner financier Yeveniy Prigozhin attended the funeral of a deceased Wagner Group mercenary in St. Petersburg on December 24, where he stated that Russia needs to confiscate luxury possessions and accommodations from elites who ignore or do not support the war effort out of fear of losing their privileged lifestyles.[7] Prigozhin added that these affluent individuals support a vision where ”Western curators” dominate Russia in return for the sponsorship of their lifestyles and compared today’s Russian oligarchy to Ukraine’s or to 1990s Russia. Prigozhin ignited a scandal regarding the burial of the Wagner serviceman in recent weeks to push his political objectives — such as the legalization of Wagner in Russia — and his statements advocating redistribution of wealth at the funeral gained significant traction on the Russian internet.[8] Wagner-affiliated milbloggers widely supported Prigozhin’s criticism of Russian officials and praised his support for the war effort.[9] Prigozhin may be using such populist proposals to elevate his authority in Russian society or influence a return of stricter nationalization measures.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also indirectly attacked Russian oligarchs on December 22, however, stating that Russians who drain Russia’s money from abroad and do not have a connection with the country “represent a danger” to Russia.[10] Putin claimed that while the vast majority of Russian businessmen are patriots, there are some who do not share the sentiment. Putin concluded that “everyone strives not only to stay, to live and work in Russia but to work for the benefit of our country.” Putin previously nationalized big businesses in the early 2000s to consolidate his authoritarian kleptocracy and may be attempting leverage nationalization to coerce elites to support his war in Ukraine or seize their property to fund military expenses.[11]
Suspicious Russian deaths this month: A.Buzakov, Director General, Admiralty Shipyards for Russia’s Defense Ministry, cause unknown O.Maslov, Russia’s chief military representative NATO, cause unknown P.Antov, MP in the legislative assembly of the Vladimir region, fell out window https://t.co/RJiXZQKLrO
Ah. Yep. Now that you have pointed it out, I remembered that was the same effect last time. But they have added a prefix field. I should be able to exclude that from being remembered.
I find I learn a lot more about issues like the Ukraine if I avoid both Russian and NATO propagandists. I read writers without clear ideological connections to either side.
One I follow M.K. Bhadrakumar. He was an Indian diplomat whose
diplomatic career was devoted to assignments on the territories of the former Soviet Union and to Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Other overseas postings included South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey.
He writes mainly on
Indian foreign policy and the affairs of the Middle East, Eurasia, Central Asia, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific.
The whole point is that the western commentariat largely forgets that Russia’s core agenda is not about territorial conquest — much as Ukraine is vital to Russian interests — but about NATO expansion.
What people learn in echo chambers is the sound of a pandemonium of parrots flying into each other and climbing up the walls in desperation to get out but unable to find the rabbit hole that sucked them in in the darkness of their cognitive dissonance.
I agree. Even blogs like this one, TDB, Kiwiblog and Whaleoil or whatever it is now, are often echo chambers, and if some one dares to swim against the tide or criticise the supported team, they are often moderated with a threat to be banned if they do not discontinue.
[You nailed it, almost! Undoubtedly, you will be able to support your serious accusation with at least three fine examples here on TS. If not, I will let you out of this echo chamber and give you the freedom that you crave so clearly. For now, you’re in Pre-Mod, where we can look after you and give the care and attention that you clearly need – Incognito]
And exactly as I said I'm now being banned (or threatened to be) or moderated or whatever. Do you seriously think that Kiwiblog is not an echo chamber for the blue team? As this is for the red team?
I can't be bothered looking back through comments for examples that you would discount or not satisfy you anyway.
It doesn’t matter what I think. What matters is what you claim and can back up or not here on TS. I don’t give a toss about KB or any other blogsite.
FYI, the main reason for your Mod note was not the echo chamber bit but the moderation and ban threats for those who criticise ‘the red team’. This is blatant BS as many a Post and comment here is (highly) critical of the Labour Party, the Labour-led Government, or of MPs, Ministers, or even the PM, for example. The kaupapa of this site is robust debate and informed and founded criticism is an essential part of that. Otherwise how would we have constructive debate and about what?
You say that you can’t be bothered. I say that you know that you cannot support your accusation.
Whether I would discount any attempts or not is moot and a cop out.
The worst outcome for you would have been a temporary ban for wasting Moderator time. However, you have chosen to leave permanently, i.e., you are not banned but you took a permanent self-ban, which saves me having to put your details in the Black List.
It is ok for some to insult, smear, abuse and slander, but if you, I or the others who speak, question the narrative in even the most diplomatic language, we can expect moderation and threats of banning.
Free speech.
What a joke!
[This is just wonderful! Parrots in an echo chamber parrot each other to become self-martyrs. This Mod parrot has the same response: provide at least 3 fine examples on TS of threats of moderation and banning when “speak[ing], question[ing] the narrative in even the most diplomatic language”.
You parrots seem to think that free speech means absolutely no rules, no boundaries, and no consequences. You seem to think that free speech is unconditional. You are a blot on free speech!
Obviously, you knew this was coming, so you will be prepared and have your examples handy. However, to avoid you further abusing your commenting privileges here – after more than 10,000 comments over almost 12 years here on TS , not counting all your aliases – and taking your ideas of free speech too far, I put you in Pre-Mod – Incognito]
At the start I mentioned both Russian and NATO propaganda. Living in New Zealand, I am exposed to mucH more NATO and UkraniN propaganda obviously, given our mainstream media filters.
What more independent sources do you rely on for news from Ukraine and Russia?
It's a nice trick, confuting western news with Putin's propaganda, but it is profoundly disingenuous.
Perhaps you don't understand quite what it is that you are doing. Take a pro-western source, like Radio Free Europe. They report fact. They gather it, and verify it, it is news, not propaganda. It is true that they may not exert themselves to find true pro-Kremlin stories – but they are not obliged to. The same rules are supposed to apply to parliamentary debate here in NZ – the opposition is entitled to reveal unpleasant truths, but gets no sympathy when they lie.
Now consider the abundant Russian propaganda. It does not adhere to anything approaching journalistic principles, on the contrary, much of it is made from whole cloth, shot within Russian borders with actors or 'celebrities. These things are not equivalent – the Russian sources are compromised, and if you don't treat them critically you'll be compromised too.
And you call for independent sources. Who do you imagine independent journalists are? The ones supported by foundations that facilitate opaque funding streams? Or the genuine independent journalists that sell to wire services like AP or Reuters? Your sources of choice seem to be the former – not much independence happening there.
To understand how western media propaganda works, I recommend you read Naom Chomsky to comprehend how our leaders manufacture consent through the corporate mainstream media.
I read writers without clear ideological connections to either side
Just had a look at his twitter feed. For someone so unbiased, everything resembles verbatim kremlin propaganda. And he is continually retweeting 100% kremlin propaganda, bought and paid for (i.e. TASS, RT). Plus tweeting Russian Ministry of Defence press releases, links from kremlin official website etc.
No echos there. It's like an anechoic chamber, it is.
Are you able to debate without hurling smears, abuse and slander?
You don't debate with folk unwilling to condemn a terror state that bombards, launches missile attacks, and drops incendiaries on civilian populations with the sole purpose of murdering people in their beds.
Well I am personally happy that Russia is losing this war quite horribly Putin's ineptitude combined with his hubris and his Generals incompetence has seen Russia lose the its best trained and equipped troops and the majority of its quality ground equipment. Sanctions have crippled Russian efforts to refresh almost all modern arms. Ukraine and the west have been successfully boiling the frog for a while now
I've been hearing that for a good long time, and yet despite massive support,( an unprecedented nearly 50 billion dollars,) US provided surveillance, satellite intelligence,thousands and thousands of various pieces of armory and lethal weapons, years of Nato training and arming, additional mercenaries ,and sanctions designed to cripple Russia's economy, Russia is still standing and is still fighting in Ukraine
Sort of like Steven Joyce said about NZ. In 2017 wasn't it? There were plenty of other saying the NZ economy was totally down the dunny in 2017 when National didn't get in.
Well so far Russia has ignored the UN General Assembly at every point. What chance do you think of a Security Council resolution that they would not veto – or even consider adhering to?
We were discussing military aid such as the US gives regularly to Israel .Even their dearest friend and string puller Israel has never received 50 billion within an 8 month period.
And you have to resort to the Iraq war , which the US was overtly engaged in , rather than covertly
The US and the west will run out of money to give long before Russia will loose.
Or let me put it this way, the US American will run out of patience with their government giving their tax dollars away on a war that is no more winable then Afganistan or Iraq, or Somalia for that matter.
So the question is, will the US break apart first or Russia. My money is on the US.
The other question is who of the victorious and glorious 101st keyboard brigades in the west is happy to send their kids into the killing fields to feed the hunger of the cannon? Someones got to do the dying. I guess we will find out soon. War is a racket, and the poor as always will pay the bills.
Francesca, Russia has already lost, it's only a matter of time.
But Francesca if you asking; How long will it take for the war to end?
The war in Ukraine will continue as long as Putin keeps attacking and Ukraine keeps resisting.
My estimation is that the Ukrainians will never stop resisting.
Even if the West stops backing Ukraine with modern arms and equipment, the Ukrainians will continue to fight a gorilla war against the Russian invader. In that case the war will follow the trajectory of the Vietnam or Afghanistan war. With the same result, the war will drag on for years, until Russian withdrawal.
On a seemingly completely unrelated matter; I was reading the history of the First King Charles.
King Charles the First was charged with treason against Parliament. But one of the more peculiar of the other related charges brought against KC1, was continuing the war after it was lost. A charge even the Royalist army generals supported.
The Russians are on the run , they've run out of missiles several times over, they haven't got the men or wherewithal to keep on going , their economy has been in tatters since Obama's time , Putin is dying, has been for years, a palace coup is imminent, since 2014 at least, Russian soldiers are surrendering, dying of cold,without weapons or food or cold weather gear, China and India have turned against them, told Putin off, thrown away the key.And all this since about March 2022.With all their generals killed and only untrained 50 year old conscripts thin on the ground, no more missiles , I would have thought the far superior Ukrainian army, with right and Nato (synonymous)on their side would have been in Crimea by now, let alone Moscow.Whats the hold up?
You are making a straw man argument. I have never claimed any of those things.
In my opinion the Russian Federation has more than enough military capacity and potential to continue attacking Ukraine indefinitely.
So what?
Despite America's huge military capacity and potential eventually the US withdrew from Vietnam. The US had the capacity to carry on the war in Vietnam for another decade, easily and possibly even indefinitely.. Some commentators in the US argued that if the US had just "Stayed the course" the US would have eventually won in Vietnam. Afghanistan proved that theory wrong.
Americans thought they would win in Afghanistan, if they just, "Stayed the course". The Afghanistan war became the longest war in US history and the US still lost.
As long Russia keeps attacking the Ukrainians will keep resisting.
Like the US in Vietnam and Afghanistan, the RF despite their huge military resources and potential will eventually withdraw because to continue will have no point.
What the current contraversy about "Drag" has at its roots.
"once they donned blackface, white men could “sing, dance, speak, move, and act in ways that were considered inappropriate for white men.” When men appear in drag, they can sing, dance, speak, move, and act in ways that some people still consider inappropriate for men. If we have moved past blackface, it’s hard to understand why we cannot move past drag."
That's an excellent piece .I've always felt that drag is a colossal piss take at the expense of women .Hypersexualised , soft porn, male fantasy projections should not target children .
Absolutely – we managed to learn how to read without the assistance of some bloke calling himself "Suzi Slutski" or similar and dressed in nightclub gear at 10am. You have to wonder why children should be taught not to trust the evidence of their eyes and ears when it comes to the sex of the people they might meet.
Godwin's law, short for Godwin's law (or rule) of Nazi analogies, the longer a dispute goes on the probability of a comparison to Nazis or Adolf Hitler approaches 1.
That's not "Godwin's Law". Godwin's Law uses analogies to Hitler, or the Nazies, in debates which have nothing to do with either. Ed made a statement about Nazies in Ukraine, which was intended as astatent of fact, and not analogous to anything, though of course any statement of that type may be contested.
Russia has spent 8 years trying to steal one of Ukraine's most valuable economic resources; the estimated 60 billion tonne coal reserve that's vital to Ukrainian industry.
Your source? I thought we were expected to provide links for unsubstantiated claims.
I know you are aware there was a coup d'etat in 2014, in which the democratically elected government of the Ukraine as removed by far right agitators, supported by the neoconservative cabal in the U.S.
There was a coup d'etat in 2014, in which the democratically elected government of the Ukraine as removed by far right agitators, supported by the neoconservative cabal in the U.S.
You can keep shooting the many messengers, but historical fact is just that.
No-one here should be fool enough to think all sides were lily-white in their motives and conduct. A nation struggling to emerge from being an exploited colony of the Russian Empire was notoriously corrupt and dysfunctional – as all ex-marxist states are. At the same time successive Ukrainian govts from 2002 onward had sought better economic ties with the EU – a trend that is also undeniable on the facts.
Yanukovych's democratic mandate evaporated when he backed away from this movement to escape this Russian noose around their neck. And no amount of Western meddling would have made any difference if there had not also been a critical mass of ordinary Ukrainian people willing to openly protest and risk death for this cause.
Of course Poots immediate response to these events was not negotiation, not diplomacy but to invade and annexe Crimea – and act of such egregious bad faith that it inexorably set us on the path to the the present slaughter.
Maybe somewhere in your imagination you are still protesting the Vietnam war, or perhaps still grieving for the fall of the Soviet Union – but this juvenile narrative in your head that – everything Russian = blameless and wonderful; and everything Western = vile and corrupt – is as cartoonish as would be the converse narrative.
Of course typing out anti-US, anti-Western narratives on the internet has long been a certain path to collecting hard-left purity points. Triple score if you hang trigger words like 'neo-conservative' and 'hard-right' into the mix. And what is more in this western liberal democracy you hate so much, we typically indulge you in this. Here we are almost a year into this and here you are still getting a free pass to repeat whatever nonsense and disinformation you like.
When of course – as you know full well – the same privilege would not be accorded to you if you lived in Russia. (Which if you were sincere in what you tell us – you would have already moved there and be telling us first hand how wonderful it is.)
Here we are almost a year into this and here you are still getting a free pass to repeat whatever nonsense and disinformation you like.
What do you suggest? Censoring, cancelling, banning, something else? If anything, on what grounds, i.e., grounds that contravene TS Policy and/or are deliberate nonsense and misinformation beyond reasonable doubt?
When of course – as you know full well – the same privilege would not be accorded to you if you lived in Russia.
This seems to suggest that it is ok to give out free passes and commenting privileges even to peddlers of nonsense and misinformation.
There’s a lot of confusion and internal conflict in your comments lately that evolve around free speech.
I suggest you might have read more into that than intended. As you well know I have consistently argued for free speech (within the usual bounds and consequences).
This seems to suggest that it is ok to give out free passes and commenting privileges even to peddlers of nonsense and misinformation.
Well take for example Ed's claim below at 12:28pm – that Russian language is banned in Ukraine. Obvious nonsense and easily debunked. As far as I am concerned the correct response to disinformation is to provide the evidence and counter the argument. Nowhere have I suggested our resident crew of pro-Poots tankies should be banned or censored.
On the other hand it is also reasonable to point out that Russian law at present, convicts and sentences people to prison for the offence of merely calling the Ukrainian 'Special Operation' by it's proper name – a war. Actually criticising the war is likely to attract an attack of Russian gravity from third floor window.
I am genuinely not sure why you should think this inconsistent.
My comment was an invitation to you to elaborate and clarify and you obliged, so thank you.
It is still unclear to me what you suggest [we do] with commenters such as Ed who “repeat[s] whatever nonsense and disinformation [he] like[s]”. For example, how many times does the commentariat have to debunk his claims, especially the same claim that’s allegedly (!) easily debunked, before a Mod steps in?
Russian law is irrelevant here on TS and as such, I have no interest in it. What I am interested in is upholding the principles of free speech and the kaupapa of this site.
Well yes. I was only pointing out Ed's gross hypocrisy, running apologist lines for a regime that absolutely crushes free speech, while exploiting his privilege here for the same – to the max.
Maybe I should have just left this obvious contradiction unstated.
Yes, it is (gross) hypocrisy, but that is a very low threshold for anything. Spreading nonsense and disinformation is much more serious and this has my considerable attention and interest and yours too. So, what do we (…) do about it, if anything, except for calling out, countering, and/or debunking? That’s the real question, IMO.
I have no right of reply to RL’s fraudulent allegations against me.
Not until you’ve dealt with your Mod note and you’ve been wasting Moderator time and I’m getting impatient.
Jester and I have been censored and silenced for daring to question the neocon narrative.
Nope. Jester chose to leave on his own accord. You were both modded for making unsubstantiated accusations about censoring and silencing here on TS. Plenty of commenters here flip their lids about neocon, neoliberal, and neo-what-have-you – Jester and you are not special cases at all and by no means ‘activist heroes turning into martyrs’. If you think you’re fighting some kind of ‘holy war’ here like the anti-woke crusaders then you are seriously deluded.
Making up false accusations about censorship on TS almost guarantees self-martyrdom aka stupidity. The Venn diagram of such commenters and commenters not debating in good faith is two circles with a large overlap. This makes it easier for the Mods 😉
Yet the Ukraninian people, knowing that Yanukovich was "pro Russia", nevertheless elected him president.
As I understand matters, Yanukovich tried to obtain a deal with Europe, but latter kept putting obstacles in his path. I don't think they really wanted Ukraine in Europe – hardly surprising really given Ukraine's for corruption – but it's my guess they were negotiating to keep the Americans happy.
Also it's my understanding that the separatists were not originally looking to separate from Ukraine altogether. What they wanted was for a federal arrangement which would give them some leeway to live in accordance with their own Russian culture. It was the illegal ousting of Yanukovich that triggered that sentiment. However the fascists weren't having any of "that sort of nonsense" and started a war against them.
Well just maybe the counterfeit Ukrainian govt in 2014 shouldn't have sent the tanks in to eliminate Russian Ukrainians .Not a good way to make friends and influence people
Ukraine’s language law, which has been implemented in phases, establishes Ukrainian as the country’s sole state language. The law requires Ukrainian to be primarily used in business, school and media settings. However, it does not ban the use of Russian or other languages.
Most Ukrainians speak both and continue to do so perfectly legally. The laws referred to established Ukrainian as the official state language. Most nations have similar laws.
You're kind of fudging the law changes in Ukraine .Regional language status was granted to Russian and other minority languages in 2012., recognising the preponderance of Ukrainian Russians in certain regions.
It was the Party of Regions who got this bill through, under Yanukovich who had been voted in largely by the Eastern and the Southern regions, obviously a majority at that time
That meant Russian could be used in courts , schools and govt institutions in regions where those minorities exceeded 10%.
This was changed in 2019 when Ukrainian was made compulsory in all areas of public life including political parties.
Exceptions were made for the official languages of the EU, and some minorities, but Russian , Yiddish!!! and Belarusian were expressly excluded., which drew criticism from the Venice Commission and Human Rights Watch , and several EU members
Ukraine could have become a federation with semi autonomous regions but instead chose to fan the flames of nationalism, a point not missed by many Jews
We have three official languages and Russia has 24, Serbia 10,Canada 2.all in recognition of the various resident minorities.Ukraine has a sizeable Russian minority, the largest outside Russia.I get that Ukraine has been squeezed over the centuries with constantly changing borders, and the larger Empires dominating.But nationalism , such as it expressed itself during the second world war has a very ugly and dangerous side indeed , one that the US that other ugly empire is only too ready to exploit for its own purposes
and lets have a reputable source for a change please
You’ll have to issue a list of what you consider to be reputable , can be very subjective
What a wanker … if you please
Charming as it always is to be called a wanker by a preening faux leftist that idolizies genocidal dictators, and refreshing as it is to see you dig deep enough to find a source not entirely comprised of the pathetic Kremlin fictions you typically prefer (Wikipedia! but a great leap forward in your case rofl), it was not your untenable claim about Russian language that I tasked you to support – that particular fiction having been thoroughly debunked upthread by another commentor.
Well just maybe the counterfeit Ukrainian govt in 2014 shouldn't have sent the tanks in to eliminate Russian Ukrainians .Not a good way to make friends and influence people
It is distasteful to lie as you do, but it shows your quality I suppose, that you are incapable of recognizing the legitimacy of the government of Ukraine.
The assertion you needed to support however was that that government had sent in tanks to eliminate Russian Ukrainians. We understand of course, that a person that lies as often as yourself is wont to lose track, and await your withdrawal and apology – your enthusiasm clearly got the better of you and your respect for fact proved unable to restrain it.
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Yesterday the Herald ran an op-ed from Mayor Wayne Brown titled “The case for light rail is lighter than ever” and a few things stood out. However, it’s getting more and more tricky to make a strong economic case for spending up to $29 billion on a single route of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Samantha Harrington Imagine it’s a cold February night and your furnace breaks. You want to replace it with an electric heat pump because you’ve heard that tax credits will help pay for the switch. And you know that heat pumps can reduce ...
In 2005, then-National Party leader based his entire election campaign on racism, with his infamous racist Orewa speech and racist iwi/kiwi billboards. Now, Christopher Luxon seems to want to do it all again: Fresh off using his platform at this week's Rātana celebrations to criticise the government's approach to ...
Inflation is showing little sign of slowing down, posing a problem for freshly minted PM Chris Hipkins. According to that old campaigner Richard Prebble, Hipkins should call a snap election. If he waits till October, he risks being swept away. The dilemma for the new leader is that fighting an election ...
Buzz from the Beehive A great deal has happened since January 19. Among other things, a new Prime Minister and deputy have been sworn in and our leaders (past, present and aspiring) have delivered speeches at Ratana. Newshub reported that politicians of all stripes had descended upon Rātana for the ...
It’s a big day for New Zealand; our 41st Prime Minister has taken office and the new, “Chippy” era of politics is underway. Or, on the other hand, the Labour Party continues to govern with an overall majority and much the same leadership team in place. Life goes on and ...
New Zealand has another Prime Minister who does not have a basic grasp of the three articles of the Treaty of Waitangi. THOMAS CRANMER writes: It is simply astonishing that New Zealand’s next Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, is unable to give even a brief explanation of the three articles ...
A statue of a semi-naked Nick Smith puts the misogyny debate into perspective. GRAHAM ADAMS writes … In the wake of Ardern’s abrupt resignation, the mainstream media are determined to convince us she was hounded from office mainly because she is a woman and had to fall on her sword ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is ...
An editorial in the NZ Herald last week, titled “Nimbyism goes bananas as housing intensifies“, introduced Herald readers to a couple of acronyms that go along with the now-familiar NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard): “bananas” (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone) “cave” dwellers (citizens against virtually everything). The editorial ...
Back in the dark autumn of 2020, when the prospect of Covid was freaking the country out, Finance Minister Grant Robertson set himself and Treasury a series of questions about what a post-Covid economy might look like. Those were fearful days, and the questions in part reflected a series ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yet another day has passed without Ministers of the Crown posting something to show they are still working for us on the Beehive website. Nothing new has been posted since January 17. Perhaps the ministers are all engaged in the bemusing annual excursion ...
Incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has already indicated he intends making the tax system “fairer”. That points to the route a government facing an election could take to tilt the odds towards winning in its favour, given Labour’s support in the last months of the Ardern era had been ...
NewsHub has a poll on the cost-of-living crisis, which has an interesting finding: the vast majority of kiwis prefer wage rises to tax cuts: When asked whether income has kept up with the cost of living, 54.8 percent of people surveyed said no and according to 58.6 percent of ...
Labour has begun 2023 with the centre-left bloc behind in the polls and losing ground. That being so, did his colleagues choose Chris Hipkins as the replacement for Jacinda Ardern because they think he has a realistic shot at leading them to victory this year, or because he‘s the best ...
Two Flags, Two Masters? Just as it required a full-scale military effort to destroy the first attempt at Māori self-government in the 1850s and 60s (an effort that divided Maoridom itself into supporters and opponents of the Crown) any second attempt to establish tino rangatiratanga, based on the confiscatory policies ...
The first of Kiwirail’s big network shutdowns to fix the foundations on our tracks is now well underway with the Southern Line closed between Otahuhu and Newmarket. This is following on from the network wide Christmas/New Year shutdown, during which Kiwirail say that nearly 1,300 people working across 69 different ...
This is a re-post from the Citizens' Climate Lobby blogIn last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Congress included about $20 billion earmarked for natural climate solutions. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for deciding how those funds should be allocated to meet the climate ...
You’ve really got to wonder at the introspection, or lack thereof, from much of the mainstream media post Jacinda Ardern stepping down. Some so-called journalists haven’t even taken a breath before once again putting the boot in, which clearly shows their inherent bias and lack of any misgivings about fueling ...
Over the weekend I was interviewed by a media outlet about the threats that Jacinda Ardern and her family have received while she has been PM and what can be expected now that she has resigned. I noted that the level of threat she has been exposed to is unprecedented ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is able to steer ...
The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central towards the ...
Following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern last week, her replacement, Chis Hipkins, has said: Over the coming week, Cabinet will be making decisions on reining in some programs and projects that aren’t essential right now That messaging is similar to what Jacinda Ardern said late last year and as ...
Much of what will mark the early days of Chris Hipkins’ Prime Ministership would have happened anyway. By December, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister were making it clear the summer break and early days of this year were going to be spent on a reset of government policy. ...
Going to try to get into the blogging thing again (ha!) what with an election coming up and all that. So today I thought I'd start small and simple, by merely tackling the world's (second) richest man.I'm no fan of Elon Musk. You don't want to know why, but I'll ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 15, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 21, 2023. Story of the Week State of the climate: How the world warmed in 2022With a new year underway, most of the climate data for ...
Well, that was a disappointment. As of today, the New Zealand Labour Caucus opted for Chris Hipkins as our new Prime Minister, and I cannot help but let loose a cynical cackle. ...
Get ready for a major political reset once Chris Hipkins is sworn in as Prime Minister this week. Labour’s new leader is likely to push the Government to the right economically, and do his best to jettison the damaging perceptions that Labour has become “too woke” on social issues. Overall, ...
Things have gone sideways… and it’s only the third week of January? It was political earthquake time. For some the Prime Minister made a truly significant announcement. For others – did you have this on your bingo card? – a body double did so (sit tight, you’ll understand later, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Because our hard-working Ministers of the Crown are engaged in Labour Party caucus stuff in Napier, no doubt jockeying to ensure they keep their jobs or get a better one, Point of Order was not surprised to find no fresh news on the Beehive website this ...
By the end of 2019, Jacinda Ardern was a political superstar heading towards an election defeat. She was an icon, internationally beloved, on track to be an ex-prime minister before the age of forty. It was the year of the Christchurch terror attack when Ardern’s response to the atrocity saw ...
People complain about their jobs being meaningless. Does it matter?David Graeber, author of Bullshit Jobs: The Rise of Pointless Work and What We Can Do About It, would have smiled at Elon Musk’s sacking half the Twitter workforce. Musk seems to be confirming the main thesis of the book, that ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. ...
Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. So, although Ardern has named an ...
I warned about the trap of virtue signaling in my article Virtue signaling over Ukraine. This video is still relevant – but have we moved on since then? The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was universally condemned at the time. Or was it? Certainly, the political atmosphere ...
Earlier this week Point of Order carried a post by Geoffrey Miller on how Japan under a new security blueprint is doubling its defence spending. The plans see Japan buying up advanced weaponry – including long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US – and spending more on ...
Anyone else suffering back-to-work-blues? We’re battling, but still upright. Haere tonu! Today’s cover image is of sunset over Tirohanga Whānui Bridge, sourced from Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Jolisa pondered the fate of AT’s ‘Statements of Imagination’. Tuesday’s post was a guest post by Grady ...
Open access notables Bad news delivered by an all-star cast of familiar researchers: Another Year of Record Heat for the Oceans. From the abstract: In 2022, the world’s oceans, as given by OHC, were again the hottest in the historical record and exceeded the previous 2021 record maximum. According to IAP/CAS data, ...
The resignation of Jacinda Ardern has already made more global headlines than you might expect for that of the PM of a small commonwealth nation like say Sierra Leone (population 6.5 million) or Singapore (population 5.5 million). But international observers might not be too surprised by Ardern’s announcement that ...
One of my earliest political memories is the resignation of Prime Minister David Lange in August 1989. I remember this because of a brown felt-tipped pen drawing I did of the Beehive, the building that houses the Executive of the New Zealand Government. More than thirty years later, we ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hard on the heels of our Buzz from the Beehive earlier today, the PM has made two announcements – the 2023 general election will be held on Saturday 14 October and she will not be campaigning to win a third term as Prime Minister. She will ...
Jacinda Ardern had an outsized impact on New Zealand’s international relations. While all Prime Ministers travel internationally, Ardern’s calendar was fuller than most. Ardern’s first major foreign trip came within weeks of her election in 2017, to the APEC summit in Vietnam. The meeting gave Ardern her first in-person encounter ...
She gave it her all. No New Zealand Prime Minister has ever dominated the political scene at home as she has done, or has established an international profile to match hers. No New Zealand Prime Minister has had to confront such a sequence of domestic and international catastrophes – from ...
Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation announcement today has left a lot of us with a lot of complicated feelings. In my case, while I've been highly critical of Ardern's government, I'm still sorry to see her go. We've had far too many terrible things happen during her term as Prime Minister ...
The decision by Jacinda Ardern to end her term as Prime Minister on February 7 has come as a stunning surprise. It turns the task of a centre-left government winning re-election this year from difficult to nigh on impossible. No-one else among the Labour caucus has Ardern’s ability to explain ...
Jacinda Ardern’s first press conference as Labour leader in August 2017 was a defining moment in the past decade of New Zealand politics. A young woman (by the standards of politics) who had long been tipped for higher office, she had underperformed as a minister and Andrew Little’s noble resignation ...
An Astonishing Rapport: Jacinda Ardern's "Politics of Kindness" raised so many progressive possibilities. Her own tragedy, and New Zealand's, is that so few of them were realised.MUCH WILL BE WRITTEN in the coming days about "The Ardern Years", some of it sympathetic and insightful, most of it spiteful and wrong.For ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Members of Parliament for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand have today written to Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Khamenei to condemn the ongoing violence and killing of women’s rights and democracy protesters, and to call on him to intervene immediately. ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
The Government is making an initial contribution of $150,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Tairāwhiti following ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “While Cyclone Hale has caused widespread heavy rain, flooding and high winds across many parts of the North Island, Tairāwhiti ...
Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor has classified this week’s Cyclone Hale that caused significant flood damage across the Tairāwhiti/Gisborne District as a medium-scale adverse event, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “We’re making up to $100,000 available to help coordinate efforts as farmers and growers recover from the heavy ...
A vaccine for people at risk of mpox (Monkeypox) will be available if prescribed by a medical practitioner to people who meet eligibility criteria from Monday 16 January, says Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. 5,000 vials of the vaccine have been obtained, enough for up to 20,000 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Ward, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Queensland Five years ago, bulldozers with chains cleared forests and woodlands almost triple the size of the Australian Capital Territory in a single year. Brazil? Indonesia? No – much closer: Queensland. In 2018-19, ...
Auckland Transport has apologised for confusing messaging that suggested attendees of tonight’s Elton John concert should drive. In a post on Facebook last night, AT said “driving to the concert is recommended” – a suggestion that prompted backlash due to the lack of parking options near the stadium. The announcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Tingay, John Curtin Distinguished Professor (Radio Astronomy), Curtin University Asteroid 20223 BU’s path in red, with green showing the orbit of geosynchronous satellites.NASA/JPL-Caltech There are hundreds of millions of asteroids in our Solar System, which means new asteroids are discovered ...
In his memoir Spare, Prince Harry revealed he attended the future King and Queen of England’s wedding with a frostbitten penis. A veteran of Antarctic expeditions says it’s not an issue that crops up often, if at all.Now that the avalanche of coverage about the Duke of Sussex’s memoir ...
A new poem by Wellington poet and publisher Ash Davida Jane. objects in the mirror are closer than they appear if a dog digs in the right spot and unearths a rib what do I care if a woman grows from that bone take her in and tend to her ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Grove Press, $25) Everyone’s chowing down on fiction ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide schankz/Shutterstock Have you ever worried if the play between your cats was getting too rough? A new study published in Scientific Reports has investigated play and fighting ...
More water than anything else, the cucumber is the perfect counter to intense and fiery flavours. Cucumber is without a doubt the most refreshing vegetable*, the antidote to hot summer days. At 95% water, a cucumber is basically an edible, crunchy, waste-free water bottle. Beside water, the cucumber has almost ...
REVIEW:By Rowan Callick Radio Australia was conceived at the beginning of the Second World War out of Canberra’s desire to counter Japanese propaganda in the Pacific. More than 70 years later its rebirth is being driven by a similarly urgent need to counter propaganda, this time from China. Set ...
The yellow brick road to Mt Smart stadium looks to be packed this weekend as thousands travel to dual Elton John concerts In the words of pop royal Elton John, “I think it’s going to be a long, long time” - in this case for the 40,000 odd concert-goers driving ...
The decision by Sport Northland to deny 'Stop Co-Governance', a community group, use of their Whangarei venue to hold a public meeting is illegal and defies the rights given to all Kiwis to voice their political opinions. This case, yet again, illustrates ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rolf Gerritsen, Professorial Research Fellow, Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University The supposed dimensions of the “crisis” in Alice Springs have been exhaustively portrayed in the media, both nationally and in the Northern Territory. The stories abound: shopfront windows repeatedly broken, groups of ...
Children’s Commissioner, Judge Frances Eivers: "Myself and previous Commissioners have been clear that the use of motels at all is deplorable, and a symptom of a system that is failing children. "Concerns around the practice have been raised repeatedly ...
Everything you need to know to get through the chaotic commute to to the Elton John concert in Tāmaki Mākaurau this weekend. Fans heading to Elton John’s concerts at Mt Smart Stadium this weekend have been advised to drive or walk thereby Auckland Transport (AT). In a Facebook post ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tamara Borovica, Research assistant and early career researcher, Critical Mental Health research group, RMIT University Shutterstock If your new year’s resolutions include getting healthier, exercising more and lifting your mood, dance might be for you. By dance, we don’t ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Andrews, Professor and Academic Director (Indigenous Research), La Trobe University ShutterstockAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people. Many people do not know about the early activism undertaken ...
Finance minister Grant Robertson has opted to go list-only for the upcoming election, meaning he will not seek to be re-elected as MP for Wellington Central. It opens up the door for a swift exit from politics should Labour lose the election; without an electorate, no byelection would be triggered ...
Tory Whanau told The Spinoff’s When The Facts Change podcast that National’s transport spokesperson would push Wellington ‘backwards’ if he becomes transport minister.Wellington’s left-leaning mayor is worried her plans for the city could be scuppered by a new National-led government – and specifically by the party’s most likely candidate ...
Thousands of people are expected to flock to Auckland’s Western Springs on Monday for the triumphant return of the Laneway Festival. But with severe weather warnings in place, is it going to be reduced to a Splendour in the Grass-style “hellscape”? According to the organisers, no. In an email sent ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago A German Leopard 2 heavy battle tank of the type destined for Ukraine.Getty Images The recent decision by Olaf Scholz’s German government to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks – after ...
The Hauraki Gulf Alliance, a group of diverse organisations representing more than 1 million people, has rubbished proposals to continue trawling and dredging in New Zealand’s first marine park, the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. The Hauraki Gulf Fisheries ...
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission has shared experiences of children and young people in emergency housing ahead of New Zealand’s review under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Geneva this week. “The government ...
It’s felt like a long time between drinks, but everyone’s favourite/least favourite family are almost back on our screens. HBO today released a trailer for the upcoming fourth season of Succession and announced a March release date. Check out the trailer – which doesn’t give away too much, but successfully ...
Want to avoid being a bad visitor at the beach this summer? Just follow these simple steps.My partner’s whānau has had a bach in Whangaparāoa, 45 minutes north of Auckland, since the 1950s. They’ve been around long enough to become a part of the bay’s furniture. They know the ...
A slightly underrated track from Elton John gained real life resonance last night. Fans heading to his concerts at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland this weekend have been advised to drive or walk there by Auckland Transport as work on the rail network upgrade has closed the Penrose train station. One of ...
Morning Report - RNZ political editor Jane Patterson and deputy political editor Craig McCulloch run the ruler over the transition to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, and the co-governance debate. ...
Activists from the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) will gather right outside the main entrance of the Wellington Cup with props that symbolise the blood that is shed on the racetrack. ...
Waking up this morning was like a return to my summer break, where I was lulled out of my sleep by the sound of torrential rain. The North Island is in for a wet, windy and generally just bleak weekend. That’s particularly bad news for those of us at the ...
A lot of it is from Auckland as business leaders and a local MP make their requests. Further south, leading academics want plans for a new airport scratched, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
Parts of the nation’s capital have turned into a wasteland of red stickers, and ‘for lease’ signs. WellingtonNZ CEO John Allen has been given the challenge of breathing new life into the city’s economy, businesses, and image. He talks to Bernard about housing and hotel shortages, sewerage on the streets, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Baron, Associate Professor, Philosophy of Science, Australian Catholic University Counterfactuals are claims about what would happen, were something to occur in a different way. For instance, we can ask what the world would be like had the internet never been developed. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Duncan, Associate Professor, School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University Getty Images With a new prime minister sworn in and a cabinet reshuffle imminent, it’s no exaggeration to say the election year has begun with a bang. Already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lindy Willmott, Professor of Law, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock By the end of 2023, eligible people in all Australian states will be able to apply for voluntary assisted dying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly-Ann Allen, Associate Professor, School of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Monash University Shutterstock Teachers around Australia are preparing to head back to the classroom for 2023. But amid excitement about a new school year, there are ongoing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney Ian Alexander “Molly” Meldrum is 80 on January 29 2023. The Australian music industry would not be where it is today without his work as a talent scout, DJ, record producer, ...
The Bill that will create a new public media entity has been improved by the select committee that studied it, but it remains unfit for purpose. Kio Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, a think tank at the University of Auckland, had submitted that ...
Never mind the chief executives and TV cameras in the CBD – it was a small business grouping in west Auckland that had the new Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister as a captive audience, to talk through the challenges for struggling employers. Jonathan Milne reports.Mark Hauser and his ...
This morning, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child called out the failure of the New Zealand Government to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility. Referring to the current minimum age of criminal responsibility, the Committee stated ...
Eighty years after Jewish youths fought for their lives on the streets of the Warsaw Ghetto, the family of an Auckland Holocaust survivor is calling on New Zealanders to reject hatred and treat everyone with dignity, no matter their background. Alicja ...
Our box-fresh prime minister sat down Auckland’s CEO set for his first public audience yesterday. Duncan Greive was there.“I did say we wanted to get closer to business,” quipped our very new prime minister, Chris Hipkins. He sat alongside former National leader, now Auckland Business Chamber CE Simon Bridges, ...
In the northern part of Aotearoa, mangroves occupy mudflats and river mouths. They’re not always loved – but given our rising sea level, maybe they should be. It took a long time for Mere Kepa (Ngati Raka, Ngati Ira) to learn to love the manawa. She grew up around their ...
Kiwis are still buying oodles of new gas guzzlers, David Williams writesOpinion: I like a positive news story, especially when it comes to the environment – I really do. But it’s hard to reconcile progress on the Government’s clean car discount scheme with the urgency we need to reduce ...
David Ruck was held on remand for months after a judge determined he was likely to continue sending death threats if released, Marc Daalder reports A 45-year-old Christchurch man was sentenced to 14 months in prison last year after making several threats to kill Jacinda Ardern. David Anthony Ruck, who ...
FICTIONThe latest Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list, described by Steve Braunias 1 Kāwai by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99) The longlist for the 2023 Ockham New Zealand national book awards will be announced on Thursday, February 2, including 10 books competing for the $64,000 as winner of ...
Being an international hockey player and a business owner is busy work for Brooke Roberts, but it's taught her the values of self-belief and looking after yourself. And they're values that the Black Sticks have brought into a partnership with Women's Refuge this weekend. When Brooke Roberts was put in ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did the right thing in dashing off to Alice Springs this week in response to the publicity about that city’s crime crisis. But in doing so, he set up a test ...
A leading economist says New Zealand has never had a "proper conversation" about what immigration is for, which is creating uncertainty for both immigrants and businesses in the country. ...
Te Tai Hauāuru MP and Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe will not stand for the Māori electorate in October's general election and will instead move to the Labour Party list. ...
Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick has written to the new prime minister, thanking him for making Auckland one of his first priorities as leader. Chris Hipkins spent the day in Tāmakai Makaurau meeting with business leaders, as well as attending the tangi for Māori activist Titewhai Harawira. In the letter ...
RNZ Pacific The Indonesian military says a tribunal has sentenced an army major to life in prison for his involvement in the brutal murder of four Papuan civilians in the Mimika district. Their mutilated bodies were found in August 2022. Benar News reports that human rights activists and victims’ relatives ...
Forest & Bird is deeply disappointed that bottom trawling, dredging and Danish seining will still be allowed under the Hauraki Gulf Fisheries Plan , released in draft form last week . “We need to move beyond ripping up the seafloor to catch ...
Before a fresh group of Treasure Island castaways wash ashore next week, we predict what their go-to words of wisdom might say about how their gameplay. When the Treasure Island: Fan v Faves castaways find themselves marooned on a deserted Fijian beach, it’s likely they’ll need to call on some ...
By Meri Radinibaravi in Suva Fiji’s Constitution does not require everything related to the government to be called Fijian, says Attorney-General Siromi Turaga. Speaking during a media conference, he said there was no right or wrong way to describe a title or name a government. He said FijiFirst party general ...
Alice Webb-Liddall has watched a lot of netball in her life. This was hands down the most confusing five minutes she’s ever seen.This morning at the crack of dawn, I and presumably no more than 10 or so other New Zealand netball tragics woke up to watch the Silver ...
Pacific Media Watch A prominent Papuan journalist has said a recent bombing near his home is the latest in a string of attacks against him, reports ABC Pacific Beat. Victor Mambor said he heard motorbikes ride past his home before a bomb exploded about 3 metres from his house on ...
RNZ Pacific Police interviewing of FijiFirst Party general secretary and former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has reportedly been suspended but will continue later. FBC News reports the interview with Sayed-Khaiyum will continue. The police Chief of Intelligence and Investigations, Assistant Commissioner Surend Sami, told the state broadcaster the suspension is to ...
Councils representing more than a million New Zealanders are calling on the new Prime Minister to take a fresh look at a model for water reform that works. The member councils of Communities 4 Local Democracy He hapori mō te Manapori (C4LD) said that ...
The new prime minister enjoyed what he described as a “constructive” meeting with senior members of the business community in Auckland this morning. The hour-long, closed doors discussion was Chris Hipkins’ first engagement since being elected leader of the Labour Party and, therefore, prime minister. Speaking to media after the ...
His groundbreaking work conducted in Christchurch in the 1960s was never pursued. Now a legal loophole could make NZ a global leader in LSD research.This story was first published on Stuff. When Mark Livingstone was going through his father’s possessions after his death in 1970, he discovered a small ...
CPAG has long thought that Working for Families (WFF) needed to be renamed to put children at its centre, not work. In a letter to the editor today (26 January) Chris Brown of Tauranga came up with a title that accurately reflected the reality of low ...
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From eggs to houses and (almost) everything in between.If there’s one thing New Zealand doesn’t currently have a shortage of, it’s shortages. It’s a word so commonly seen at the supermarket or in the news at the moment that it’s stopped looking like a real word. For a while, ...
*This story was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission* Prime Minister Chris Hipkins speaks to media after meeting with business leaders in Tāmaki Makaurau this morning. Hipkins says Auckland is incredibly important to the New Zealand economy, and our gateway to the world. He says his meeting with business ...
Mick Wallace is a courageous politician who dares to ask questions few others do.
Please add a link if you are quoting from something.
Here is the link to his tweet.
Thank you. I like how easy it is to paste tweets here.
Ease is not the issue, for most, it is lack of basic courtesy and consideration of the very simple rules of engagement here on TS. Sign of the times, I fear …
When you quote, you link
E iti noa ana, nā te aroha
The food is really good.
Wallace is a bankrupt, misogynist tax fraud who left a €30 million trail of bad debt and supports terrorists and violent, despotic regimes.
https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2022/11/24/mick-wallace-criticises-protests-in-iran-and-propaganda-against-regime/
Nice sidestep to ignore the observation made about Nord Stream.
Who blew it up?
Cui bono?
A country with a Baltic base that's home to small, quiet, submarines with the ability to move undetected in the region carrying dive teams that specialise in seabed operations.
A country with the stated intent of freezing Western Europe into submission.
Self sabotage. Not likely.
The destruction of NordStream meant Russia lost its ability to lever Europe over gas.
Whereas Biden had a clear motive.
Interesting read to the war in Ukraine. More historical than contemporary.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/26/ukraine-war-revenge-of-history-how-geopolitics-shaping-conflict?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
“Few conflicts have been so shaped by the chief actors’ sense of their own national story as the Ukrainian war that began in February. It is the competing grand narratives of the past, not just in Russia and Ukraine, but in Germany, France, Poland, the Baltics, the UK, the US, and even the global south, that make this war so hard to resolve”
History is everything. Much of that Guardian article is pretty superficial.
In this 38 minute interview with Aaron Maté, Nicolai Petro discusses "the overlooked influence of Ukraine's far-right nationalist movement and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's recent admission that the Minsk Accords — the international formula for ending the post-2014 Donbas civil war — "was an attempt to give Ukraine time" to prepare for a conflict with Russia, rather than make peace. Petro is the author of the new book, "The Tragedy of Ukraine."
Petro is the Silvia-Chandley Professor of Peace Studies and Nonviolence and Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island, in the United States. He also served as the US State Department's special assistant for policy on the Soviet Union under President George HW Bush.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolai_N._Petro
I'm sure people being shelled, tortured, raped, looted by Russian invaders, will be very interested to intellectualise over what Classical Greek Tragedy can Teach us About Conflict Resolution.
This guy is full of shit – victim blaming and saying parties within Ukraine bear similar responsibility to Russia – the latter being the only one of the two that launched a war and brutal invasion of its neighbour. He discusses the minutiae of internal Ukrainian events, while brushing over Russia's internal repression, dictatorship and repeated pattern of interference and military assault of its neighbours.
Tried to put this in my reply…
Details.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1495323069539405826.html
https://www.numbers-stations.com/articles/soviet-and-russian-invasions-since-1917/
Well, that's almost 40 minutes of my life I will never get back.
The only notable thing about this interview with professor Nicolai Petro, is the weird leading questions from sour Putin apologist Aaron Mate. Mate kept trying to push this dry bones professor to agree with his propaganda talking points.
The good professor pushed back on Aaron Mate's propaganda talking points. Admittedly very weakly, but push back he did.
That Western Ukraine is fascist
@ 7:48 minutes "I don't define everyone in government as a neo-nazi or fascist. That's not correct."
That the people of the Donbas, wanted to join Russia.
@ 32:00 minutes "It is not fair to say that they wanted to be part of Russia"
Whether "The Ukrainian state will ever exist again"
@ 36:10 minutes "Well it exists today. And I think there will be a Ukraine, certainly in the foreseeable future.
P.S. I thought Aaron Mate’s Dramatic headline to this interview was slanted and laughably misleading as to what was actually discussed.
“How Ukraine’s far-right, with NATO backing, block peace”
Isn't that just Youtube at the minute. It's a bullshit place hard to get clicks if your considered not corporate enough.
Hi Adam,
Are you saying, Aaron Mate deliberately put up a more dramatic headline than the actual content warranted, because he knew the Facebook algorithm would direct pro-war conspiracy theorists like aj to it?
Nope, what I saying is that people are making OTT titles to get clicks.
Like this one "Does The Fusion Breakthrough Live Up To The Clickbait?"
talking about fusion break through/kinda/sorta
or this one "Betty White and Joan Rivers Lay Into Each Other"
Two female comedians being legends.
A more balanced and nuanced view from Bomber Bradbury. The cause of this war is not just Putin and Russia ( as some posters on this site want to claim), but…..
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/12/27/the-new-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-us-military-industrial-complex-vs-covid-vs-catastrophic-climate-change-vs-late-stage-capitalism/
You have mentioned this a few times now. Just for a sense of context, can you provide firm count of the death toll on both sides of this conflict in the Donbas, for say the 3 or 4 years prior to the invasion this year – and the same count for this year 2022 after Russia invaded in order to 'protect' said civilians?
I would imagine numbers are highly contested by both sides.
Would you accept a UN document – or does is it only Russian sources that you believe?
The figures before Russia came in were 14000 according to the UN report which from mem i think came out in 21 .This number is often attributed though to just the deaths from DPR /LPR but this is not the case if i have my facts right The 14000 includes all the protagonists including the nationalist forces although the bulk of them were from the Donbas because of course for a long time outgunned .
Are you referencing this UN report?
Nope the one i was referencing went back to 2014
Just a coincidence.
https://www.wionews.com/world/russias-wealthy-lawmaker-and-critic-of-putins-ukraine-war-found-dead-in-india-546866
Russian siloviki may be setting information conditions to justify the nationalization of oligarchs’ resources to sponsor Russia’s war effort. Wagner financier Yeveniy Prigozhin attended the funeral of a deceased Wagner Group mercenary in St. Petersburg on December 24, where he stated that Russia needs to confiscate luxury possessions and accommodations from elites who ignore or do not support the war effort out of fear of losing their privileged lifestyles.[7] Prigozhin added that these affluent individuals support a vision where ”Western curators” dominate Russia in return for the sponsorship of their lifestyles and compared today’s Russian oligarchy to Ukraine’s or to 1990s Russia. Prigozhin ignited a scandal regarding the burial of the Wagner serviceman in recent weeks to push his political objectives — such as the legalization of Wagner in Russia — and his statements advocating redistribution of wealth at the funeral gained significant traction on the Russian internet.[8] Wagner-affiliated milbloggers widely supported Prigozhin’s criticism of Russian officials and praised his support for the war effort.[9] Prigozhin may be using such populist proposals to elevate his authority in Russian society or influence a return of stricter nationalization measures.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also indirectly attacked Russian oligarchs on December 22, however, stating that Russians who drain Russia’s money from abroad and do not have a connection with the country “represent a danger” to Russia.[10] Putin claimed that while the vast majority of Russian businessmen are patriots, there are some who do not share the sentiment. Putin concluded that “everyone strives not only to stay, to live and work in Russia but to work for the benefit of our country.” Putin previously nationalized big businesses in the early 2000s to consolidate his authoritarian kleptocracy and may be attempting leverage nationalization to coerce elites to support his war in Ukraine or seize their property to fund military expenses.[11]
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-december-24
Russian gravity strikes again!
If you aren't enough of a yes man, you get defenestrated
2022 Russian businessmen mystery deaths – Wikipedia
…. imagine won’t size properly with the tool….
[image resized – Incognito]
I have done a caching change to the site that I am unsure of.
Let me know of any weird effects…
right now, logged in, my Replies list thinks I am Mac1.
Ah. Yep. Now that you have pointed it out, I remembered that was the same effect last time. But they have added a prefix field. I should be able to exclude that from being remembered.
My Replies list is fine.
Mine too. 🙂
back to normal now.
"Many are called, but few are chosen."
lol.
I find I learn a lot more about issues like the Ukraine if I avoid both Russian and NATO propagandists. I read writers without clear ideological connections to either side.
One I follow M.K. Bhadrakumar. He was an Indian diplomat whose
He writes mainly on
https://www.indianpunchline.com/about-me/
His most recent piece is as insightful as ever.
https://www.indianpunchline.com/ukraine-war-tolls-death-knell-for-nato/
What people learn in echo chambers is the sound of a pandemonium of parrots flying into each other and climbing up the walls in desperation to get out but unable to find the rabbit hole that sucked them in in the darkness of their cognitive dissonance.
Echo chambers like the Washington Post, CNN and the Guardian.
I agree.
Echo chambers come in all styles & sizes.
What is the sound of one gum flapping?
I agree. Even blogs like this one, TDB, Kiwiblog and Whaleoil or whatever it is now, are often echo chambers, and if some one dares to swim against the tide or criticise the supported team, they are often moderated with a threat to be banned if they do not discontinue.
[You nailed it, almost! Undoubtedly, you will be able to support your serious accusation with at least three fine examples here on TS. If not, I will let you out of this echo chamber and give you the freedom that you crave so clearly. For now, you’re in Pre-Mod, where we can look after you and give the care and attention that you clearly need – Incognito]
Mod note
What are your sources Jester?
Really recommend Indian Punchline.
And exactly as I said I'm now being banned (or threatened to be) or moderated or whatever. Do you seriously think that Kiwiblog is not an echo chamber for the blue team? As this is for the red team?
I can't be bothered looking back through comments for examples that you would discount or not satisfy you anyway.
Goodbye.
It doesn’t matter what I think. What matters is what you claim and can back up or not here on TS. I don’t give a toss about KB or any other blogsite.
FYI, the main reason for your Mod note was not the echo chamber bit but the moderation and ban threats for those who criticise ‘the red team’. This is blatant BS as many a Post and comment here is (highly) critical of the Labour Party, the Labour-led Government, or of MPs, Ministers, or even the PM, for example. The kaupapa of this site is robust debate and informed and founded criticism is an essential part of that. Otherwise how would we have constructive debate and about what?
You say that you can’t be bothered. I say that you know that you cannot support your accusation.
Whether I would discount any attempts or not is moot and a cop out.
The worst outcome for you would have been a temporary ban for wasting Moderator time. However, you have chosen to leave permanently, i.e., you are not banned but you took a permanent self-ban, which saves me having to put your details in the Black List.
Goodbye to you too.
Yes, Jester you are correct.
It is ok for some to insult, smear, abuse and slander, but if you, I or the others who speak, question the narrative in even the most diplomatic language, we can expect moderation and threats of banning.
Free speech.
What a joke!
[This is just wonderful! Parrots in an echo chamber parrot each other to become self-martyrs. This Mod parrot has the same response: provide at least 3 fine examples on TS of threats of moderation and banning when “speak[ing], question[ing] the narrative in even the most diplomatic language”.
You parrots seem to think that free speech means absolutely no rules, no boundaries, and no consequences. You seem to think that free speech is unconditional. You are a blot on free speech!
Obviously, you knew this was coming, so you will be prepared and have your examples handy. However, to avoid you further abusing your commenting privileges here – after more than 10,000 comments over almost 12 years here on TS , not counting all your aliases – and taking your ideas of free speech too far, I put you in Pre-Mod – Incognito]
Mod note
I can't be bothered looking back through comments for examples that you would discount or not satisfy you anyway.
Ban, censor and silence me if you want to.
[See you back on April Fools’ Day for making false accusations about censoring on TS and wasting Moderator time – Incognito]
Mod note
Those can be echo chambers, I agree.
But you betray your bias by not including an RT or a Sputnik etc in your list.
At the start I mentioned both Russian and NATO propaganda. Living in New Zealand, I am exposed to mucH more NATO and UkraniN propaganda obviously, given our mainstream media filters.
What more independent sources do you rely on for news from Ukraine and Russia?
It's a nice trick, confuting western news with Putin's propaganda, but it is profoundly disingenuous.
Perhaps you don't understand quite what it is that you are doing. Take a pro-western source, like Radio Free Europe. They report fact. They gather it, and verify it, it is news, not propaganda. It is true that they may not exert themselves to find true pro-Kremlin stories – but they are not obliged to. The same rules are supposed to apply to parliamentary debate here in NZ – the opposition is entitled to reveal unpleasant truths, but gets no sympathy when they lie.
Now consider the abundant Russian propaganda. It does not adhere to anything approaching journalistic principles, on the contrary, much of it is made from whole cloth, shot within Russian borders with actors or 'celebrities. These things are not equivalent – the Russian sources are compromised, and if you don't treat them critically you'll be compromised too.
And you call for independent sources. Who do you imagine independent journalists are? The ones supported by foundations that facilitate opaque funding streams? Or the genuine independent journalists that sell to wire services like AP or Reuters? Your sources of choice seem to be the former – not much independence happening there.
To understand how western media propaganda works, I recommend you read Naom Chomsky to comprehend how our leaders manufacture consent through the corporate mainstream media.
I guess you imagine I haven't read Chomsky Ed – I expect I was reading him before you were born.
But you really don't seem to understand how Russian propaganda works, which is how they invariably make you their patsy.
Just had a look at his twitter feed. For someone so unbiased, everything resembles verbatim kremlin propaganda. And he is continually retweeting 100% kremlin propaganda, bought and paid for (i.e. TASS, RT). Plus tweeting Russian Ministry of Defence press releases, links from kremlin official website etc.
No echos there. It's like an anechoic chamber, it is.
Who happens to be a prolific spreader of Russian propaganda via his own publication and pro-Kremlin rags Globalresearch and RT.
Looks like we disagree on this.
What's to disagree about.You're a consumer of Kremlin propaganda.
Are you able to debate without hurling smears, abuse and slander?
If your arguments are strong, rely on evidence- not abuse.
I note you use this system with many who disagree with you I this subject.
You seem to be confusing what appears to be a statement of fact ("You're a consumer of Kremlin propaganda"), with abuse and slander.
You don't debate with folk unwilling to condemn a terror state that bombards, launches missile attacks, and drops incendiaries on civilian populations with the sole purpose of murdering people in their beds.
You smear, abuse and slander them.
There is also that, true.
Well I am personally happy that Russia is losing this war quite horribly Putin's ineptitude combined with his hubris and his Generals incompetence has seen Russia lose the its best trained and equipped troops and the majority of its quality ground equipment. Sanctions have crippled Russian efforts to refresh almost all modern arms. Ukraine and the west have been successfully boiling the frog for a while now
I've been hearing that for a good long time, and yet despite massive support,( an unprecedented nearly 50 billion dollars,) US provided surveillance, satellite intelligence,thousands and thousands of various pieces of armory and lethal weapons, years of Nato training and arming, additional mercenaries ,and sanctions designed to cripple Russia's economy, Russia is still standing and is still fighting in Ukraine
How long do you think its going to take?
So about 2.5% of what the US spent on the Iraq invasion to date then. And around 2% of the estimated cost to the world economy from Russia's brutal invasion.
Estimates of Russia's expenditure to date are in the range of $80b – $300b
You never answered Francesca’s question.
I'll answer; not long if rumours of a run on Russian banks are to be believed.
Not long says Joe, without any kind of estimate.
Obama told us way back then that the Russian economy was in tatters
And yet, here they still are
Sort of like Steven Joyce said about NZ. In 2017 wasn't it? There were plenty of other saying the NZ economy was totally down the dunny in 2017 when National didn't get in.
How much of the cost to the world comes from the lunatic sanctions?
And there is the risk to the world of nuclear war because of US and UK brinkmanship.
Peace now.
The UN must call for an immediate ceasefire.
Well so far Russia has ignored the UN General Assembly at every point. What chance do you think of a Security Council resolution that they would not veto – or even consider adhering to?
A good point Red .It's almost as if the UN General Assembly has no power to change things
From your neck of the woods
https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/us-votes-against-un-adopted-anti-nazi-resolution-while-australia-abstains/
Goodness me US
We were discussing military aid such as the US gives regularly to Israel .Even their dearest friend and string puller Israel has never received 50 billion within an 8 month period.
And you have to resort to the Iraq war , which the US was overtly engaged in , rather than covertly
I heard the US has already committed 100 billion for the Ukraine war on BBC radio the other day. Not sure how much of this has been spent.
The US and the west will run out of money to give long before Russia will loose.
Or let me put it this way, the US American will run out of patience with their government giving their tax dollars away on a war that is no more winable then Afganistan or Iraq, or Somalia for that matter.
So the question is, will the US break apart first or Russia. My money is on the US.
from 2021 https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/27/politics/blinken-tapper-the-lead/index.html
and the follow up on this from 2022
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2022/12/23/2825535/us-admits-afghan-pullout-helped-arm-ukraine
The other question is who of the victorious and glorious 101st keyboard brigades in the west is happy to send their kids into the killing fields to feed the hunger of the cannon? Someones got to do the dying. I guess we will find out soon. War is a racket, and the poor as always will pay the bills.
Francesca, Russia has already lost, it's only a matter of time.
But Francesca if you asking; How long will it take for the war to end?
The war in Ukraine will continue as long as Putin keeps attacking and Ukraine keeps resisting.
My estimation is that the Ukrainians will never stop resisting.
Even if the West stops backing Ukraine with modern arms and equipment, the Ukrainians will continue to fight a gorilla war against the Russian invader. In that case the war will follow the trajectory of the Vietnam or Afghanistan war. With the same result, the war will drag on for years, until Russian withdrawal.
So how long will the war last?
It depends.
How long will Putin keep attacking?
P.S.
On a seemingly completely unrelated matter; I was reading the history of the First King Charles.
King Charles the First was charged with treason against Parliament. But one of the more peculiar of the other related charges brought against KC1, was continuing the war after it was lost. A charge even the Royalist army generals supported.
But Jenny , haven't you heard ?
The Russians are on the run , they've run out of missiles several times over, they haven't got the men or wherewithal to keep on going , their economy has been in tatters since Obama's time , Putin is dying, has been for years, a palace coup is imminent, since 2014 at least, Russian soldiers are surrendering, dying of cold,without weapons or food or cold weather gear, China and India have turned against them, told Putin off, thrown away the key.And all this since about March 2022.With all their generals killed and only untrained 50 year old conscripts thin on the ground, no more missiles , I would have thought the far superior Ukrainian army, with right and Nato (synonymous)on their side would have been in Crimea by now, let alone Moscow.Whats the hold up?
You are making a straw man argument. I have never claimed any of those things.
In my opinion the Russian Federation has more than enough military capacity and potential to continue attacking Ukraine indefinitely.
So what?
Despite America's huge military capacity and potential eventually the US withdrew from Vietnam. The US had the capacity to carry on the war in Vietnam for another decade, easily and possibly even indefinitely.. Some commentators in the US argued that if the US had just "Stayed the course" the US would have eventually won in Vietnam. Afghanistan proved that theory wrong.
Americans thought they would win in Afghanistan, if they just, "Stayed the course". The Afghanistan war became the longest war in US history and the US still lost.
As long Russia keeps attacking the Ukrainians will keep resisting.
Like the US in Vietnam and Afghanistan, the RF despite their huge military resources and potential will eventually withdraw because to continue will have no point.
What the current contraversy about "Drag" has at its roots.
"once they donned blackface, white men could “sing, dance, speak, move, and act in ways that were considered inappropriate for white men.” When men appear in drag, they can sing, dance, speak, move, and act in ways that some people still consider inappropriate for men. If we have moved past blackface, it’s hard to understand why we cannot move past drag."
https://juliebindel.substack.com/p/drag-story-hour-and-cultural-appropriation
That's an excellent piece .I've always felt that drag is a colossal piss take at the expense of women .Hypersexualised , soft porn, male fantasy projections should not target children .
Absolutely – we managed to learn how to read without the assistance of some bloke calling himself "Suzi Slutski" or similar and dressed in nightclub gear at 10am. You have to wonder why children should be taught not to trust the evidence of their eyes and ears when it comes to the sex of the people they might meet.
Doesn’t need to be overcomplicated.
The war started in 2014.
Did you know that detail?
No Ed, I'm really stupid.
I did actually.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law
Putin’s excuse for invading Ukraine is Godwin's law writ large.
[link added. Take a few days off for repeatedly ignoring the requested conventions here. – weka]
Ok, so all those who compare Putin to Hitler ,the childish Putler etc, have by Godwin's law also lost the internet debate
It really depends on the facts they produce.
Gassing his own citizens? Check.
That's not "Godwin's Law". Godwin's Law uses analogies to Hitler, or the Nazies, in debates which have nothing to do with either. Ed made a statement about Nazies in Ukraine, which was intended as astatent of fact, and not analogous to anything, though of course any statement of that type may be contested.
mod note.
From one of the comments below the tweet
"If Ukraine keeps fighting there will be no Ukraine .After Russia is done ,Hungary,Poland and the rest will take back their part of what remains"
Decommunisation!
Doesn't need to be complicated
And another comment below states that Ukraine ….
Yes, I'm sure they just love attacking their own citizens.
It was a civil war. Are you aware of the history of Ukraine?
Except they are Russians, not considered to be human , let alone citizens
Russia has spent 8 years trying to steal one of Ukraine's most valuable economic resources; the estimated 60 billion tonne coal reserve that's vital to Ukrainian industry.
Your source? I thought we were expected to provide links for unsubstantiated claims.
I know you are aware there was a coup d'etat in 2014, in which the democratically elected government of the Ukraine as removed by far right agitators, supported by the neoconservative cabal in the U.S.
Context is essential to understanding.
https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2016/06/13/the-2014-coup-d-etat-and-the-ukrainian-crisis/
https://ehu-lt.academia.edu/VladislavSotirovi%C4%87/CurriculumVitae
I think we can glean from the tenor of this article the necessary context to understand where your Prof. Sotirovic is coming from.
There was a coup d'etat in 2014, in which the democratically elected government of the Ukraine as removed by far right agitators, supported by the neoconservative cabal in the U.S.
You can keep shooting the many messengers, but historical fact is just that.
Fact.
You can use whatever labels you like – but the whole story of the Maidan Revolution is a lot more complex than the idiot simplification you want us to believe.
No-one here should be fool enough to think all sides were lily-white in their motives and conduct. A nation struggling to emerge from being an exploited colony of the Russian Empire was notoriously corrupt and dysfunctional – as all ex-marxist states are. At the same time successive Ukrainian govts from 2002 onward had sought better economic ties with the EU – a trend that is also undeniable on the facts.
Yanukovych's democratic mandate evaporated when he backed away from this movement to escape this Russian noose around their neck. And no amount of Western meddling would have made any difference if there had not also been a critical mass of ordinary Ukrainian people willing to openly protest and risk death for this cause.
Of course Poots immediate response to these events was not negotiation, not diplomacy but to invade and annexe Crimea – and act of such egregious bad faith that it inexorably set us on the path to the the present slaughter.
Maybe somewhere in your imagination you are still protesting the Vietnam war, or perhaps still grieving for the fall of the Soviet Union – but this juvenile narrative in your head that – everything Russian = blameless and wonderful; and everything Western = vile and corrupt – is as cartoonish as would be the converse narrative.
Of course typing out anti-US, anti-Western narratives on the internet has long been a certain path to collecting hard-left purity points. Triple score if you hang trigger words like 'neo-conservative' and 'hard-right' into the mix. And what is more in this western liberal democracy you hate so much, we typically indulge you in this. Here we are almost a year into this and here you are still getting a free pass to repeat whatever nonsense and disinformation you like.
When of course – as you know full well – the same privilege would not be accorded to you if you lived in Russia. (Which if you were sincere in what you tell us – you would have already moved there and be telling us first hand how wonderful it is.)
What do you suggest? Censoring, cancelling, banning, something else? If anything, on what grounds, i.e., grounds that contravene TS Policy and/or are deliberate nonsense and misinformation beyond reasonable doubt?
This seems to suggest that it is ok to give out free passes and commenting privileges even to peddlers of nonsense and misinformation.
There’s a lot of confusion and internal conflict in your comments lately that evolve around free speech.
I suggest you might have read more into that than intended. As you well know I have consistently argued for free speech (within the usual bounds and consequences).
Well take for example Ed's claim below at 12:28pm – that Russian language is banned in Ukraine. Obvious nonsense and easily debunked. As far as I am concerned the correct response to disinformation is to provide the evidence and counter the argument. Nowhere have I suggested our resident crew of pro-Poots tankies should be banned or censored.
On the other hand it is also reasonable to point out that Russian law at present, convicts and sentences people to prison for the offence of merely calling the Ukrainian 'Special Operation' by it's proper name – a war. Actually criticising the war is likely to attract an attack of Russian gravity from third floor window.
I am genuinely not sure why you should think this inconsistent.
My comment was an invitation to you to elaborate and clarify and you obliged, so thank you.
It is still unclear to me what you suggest [we do] with commenters such as Ed who “repeat[s] whatever nonsense and disinformation [he] like[s]”. For example, how many times does the commentariat have to debunk his claims, especially the same claim that’s allegedly (!) easily debunked, before a Mod steps in?
Russian law is irrelevant here on TS and as such, I have no interest in it. What I am interested in is upholding the principles of free speech and the kaupapa of this site.
Well yes. I was only pointing out Ed's gross hypocrisy, running apologist lines for a regime that absolutely crushes free speech, while exploiting his privilege here for the same – to the max.
Maybe I should have just left this obvious contradiction unstated.
Yes, it is (gross) hypocrisy, but that is a very low threshold for anything. Spreading nonsense and disinformation is much more serious and this has my considerable attention and interest and yours too. So, what do we (…) do about it, if anything, except for calling out, countering, and/or debunking? That’s the real question, IMO.
I have no right of reply to RL’s fraudulent allegations against me.
Jester and I have been censored and silenced for daring to question the neocon narrative.
Not until you’ve dealt with your Mod note and you’ve been wasting Moderator time and I’m getting impatient.
Nope. Jester chose to leave on his own accord. You were both modded for making unsubstantiated accusations about censoring and silencing here on TS. Plenty of commenters here flip their lids about neocon, neoliberal, and neo-what-have-you – Jester and you are not special cases at all and by no means ‘activist heroes turning into martyrs’. If you think you’re fighting some kind of ‘holy war’ here like the anti-woke crusaders then you are seriously deluded.
If people are not conversing in good faith, they are better off gone .
Making up false accusations about censorship on TS almost guarantees self-martyrdom aka stupidity. The Venn diagram of such commenters and commenters not debating in good faith is two circles with a large overlap. This makes it easier for the Mods 😉
I am unable to debate this point quickly with you as I have been put into moderation.
Indeed, and you know what to do, so get on with it.
Yet the Ukraninian people, knowing that Yanukovich was "pro Russia", nevertheless elected him president.
As I understand matters, Yanukovich tried to obtain a deal with Europe, but latter kept putting obstacles in his path. I don't think they really wanted Ukraine in Europe – hardly surprising really given Ukraine's for corruption – but it's my guess they were negotiating to keep the Americans happy.
Also it's my understanding that the separatists were not originally looking to separate from Ukraine altogether. What they wanted was for a federal arrangement which would give them some leeway to live in accordance with their own Russian culture. It was the illegal ousting of Yanukovich that triggered that sentiment. However the fascists weren't having any of "that sort of nonsense" and started a war against them.
Well just maybe the counterfeit Ukrainian govt in 2014 shouldn't have sent the tanks in to eliminate Russian Ukrainians .Not a good way to make friends and influence people
Or banned their language.
Another nonsense.
Most Ukrainians speak both and continue to do so perfectly legally. The laws referred to established Ukrainian as the official state language. Most nations have similar laws.
I am not sure I can answer you.
No, you cannot, as you have to deal with your Mod note first.
You're kind of fudging the law changes in Ukraine .Regional language status was granted to Russian and other minority languages in 2012., recognising the preponderance of Ukrainian Russians in certain regions.
It was the Party of Regions who got this bill through, under Yanukovich who had been voted in largely by the Eastern and the Southern regions, obviously a majority at that time
That meant Russian could be used in courts , schools and govt institutions in regions where those minorities exceeded 10%.
This was changed in 2019 when Ukrainian was made compulsory in all areas of public life including political parties.
Exceptions were made for the official languages of the EU, and some minorities, but Russian , Yiddish!!! and Belarusian were expressly excluded., which drew criticism from the Venice Commission and Human Rights Watch , and several EU members
Ukraine could have become a federation with semi autonomous regions but instead chose to fan the flames of nationalism, a point not missed by many Jews
https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/09/30/israels-president-confronts-ukrainians-with-their-past/
We have three official languages and Russia has 24, Serbia 10,Canada 2.all in recognition of the various resident minorities.Ukraine has a sizeable Russian minority, the largest outside Russia.I get that Ukraine has been squeezed over the centuries with constantly changing borders, and the larger Empires dominating.But nationalism , such as it expressed itself during the second world war has a very ugly and dangerous side indeed , one that the US that other ugly empire is only too ready to exploit for its own purposes
https://unacademy.com/content/upsc/study-material/general-awareness/countries-with-more-than-one-official-language/
*citation required.
And let's have a reputable source for a change, if you please.
Can’t tell if you’re wanting a citation from me
Wikipedia too Kremlinesque for you ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_policy_in_Ukraine#:~:text=According%20to%20article%2010%20of,entire%20territory%20of%20the%20country.
and lets have a reputable source for a change please
You’ll have to issue a list of what you consider to be reputable , can be very subjective
What a wanker … if you please
Charming as it always is to be called a wanker by a preening faux leftist that idolizies genocidal dictators, and refreshing as it is to see you dig deep enough to find a source not entirely comprised of the pathetic Kremlin fictions you typically prefer (Wikipedia! but a great leap forward in your case rofl), it was not your untenable claim about Russian language that I tasked you to support – that particular fiction having been thoroughly debunked upthread by another commentor.
Well just maybe the counterfeit Ukrainian govt in 2014 shouldn't have sent the tanks in to eliminate Russian Ukrainians .Not a good way to make friends and influence people
It is distasteful to lie as you do, but it shows your quality I suppose, that you are incapable of recognizing the legitimacy of the government of Ukraine.
The assertion you needed to support however was that that government had sent in tanks to eliminate Russian Ukrainians. We understand of course, that a person that lies as often as yourself is wont to lose track, and await your withdrawal and apology – your enthusiasm clearly got the better of you and your respect for fact proved unable to restrain it.