March 2021 marked ten years since the start of the popular revolution in Syria that began with the Arab Spring and the longing of the Syrian people for a brighter future denied them under the brutal dictatorship of the Assad regime.
By the end of 2011 the Syrian dictator, Bashar Assad, with the support of his allies Iran and Russia, were engaged in a genocidal counter-revolution against the Syrian people.
As we move into 2022 the genocide conducted by Bashar Assad and his foreign allies against the Syrian people still continuing. I wanted to mark the passing of this milestone by sharing the following video.
I'm not a doctor, nor do I have any medical training.
Nonetheless, I've spent some time looking into a number of experienced, international, frontline doctors using alternatives to treat Covid 19.
Doctors, of which, have been claiming great success.
I've gather together a substantial amount of interesting and helpful info which I intend to share with you all via a series of posts.
To begin with, I would like to share a short (35min) Zoom discussion between an Australian politician and an experienced, frontline American doctor discussing the benefits of early treatment of Covid 19.
In this discussion you will learn about the treatments he has found to be so incredibly successful.
Moreover, how a number of them are easily obtainable (here in NZ) over the counter. Additionally, what to ask your doctor for if you or your loved ones unfortunately become infected and fall ill.
You will learn (just like any illness) how early intervention/treatment is essential to quicker and better outcomes.
You will hear how the results of these better outcomes have saved many lives.
that's nice. But this is a political blog with a robust debate ethic, and if someone wants to claim during a public health crisis that a doctor has case studies on alternative treatments, then they can put up the evidence. If it's true, I'll actually be interested to look at them.
To clarify. I've seen this dynamic in alternative health circles a lot, over many years. People say there is evidence eg case studies, but it turns out they read an article saying there were case studies, they didn't actually read any. But the FB rumour mill quickly becomes about how this doctor is doing all these amazing things. This is a very common dynamic and it's a big part of why alternative health communities have such poor science and medical literacy and why they have such a bad reputation regarding false information.
If Tyson and Fareed have solid case studies they can put some of them online, in an accessible form, for free. I have no problem with people needing to make a living and selling an ebook to do that, but if they've got all the evidence behind a paywall it's a big red flag. The onus is on The Chairman here to put up the actual evidence.
To clarify. I've seen this dynamic in alternative health circles a lot, over many years. People say there is evidence eg case studies, but it turns out they read an article saying there were case studies, they didn't actually read any
Yes, I hear you and totally agree. However I would like to point out that in this instance it comes direct from the horse's mouth, opposed to being totally online hearsay.
I was alluding to the case studies along with the patient testimonies the doctor referred to in the initial link above (at around 28.27 in) which he offered to submit to the Australian MP.
That's correct, I haven't personally seen these studies but I am aware they have been published in a book (as shown above) and also offered to the Australian MP as shown via my initial link. So I don't doubt there existence.
Furthermore, I doubt a doctor would offer and publish case studies that didn't actually back his amazing claim. But I totally understand why people would want to see them.
I can offer another doctors published (in a medical journal) work on the same subject – early treatment. He also claims to have had great success.
Were you aware of the reputation of Bitchute, The Chairman? I am really surprised that anyone, esp here on TS, would quote from such a poor source. Also astounded that you feel that the question of Ivermectin needs further discussion. Perhaps you could also source some material on whether patches worn on the soles of one's feet could be good to treat Covid. /s
Overall, we rate BitChute extreme right and Questionable based on the promotion of conspiracy theories, propaganda, hate speech, poor sourcing, fake news, and a lack of transparency. This source is not credible for accurate information and may be offensive to some (most).
Were you aware of the reputation of Bitchute, The Chairman? I am really surprised that anyone, esp here on TS, would quote from such a poor source
Your logic is fairly wobbly here. There is vile and objectionable material to be found all over the entire internet – does this automatically disqualify everything on it?
Nor is Bitshute a 'publisher' in the conventional sense of the word. It's an open platform that people use when they can't be bothered with the censorship they encounter elsewhere. As a result there will be a wildly mixed mass of material that you get to apply your own critical discrimination to, without some faceless entity having pre-done the job for you.
True…but then although I do read the stuff the people put up here, my experience has been reading through, for most of this year, the anti vaxx stuff put up on another MB. My conclusion was that if the person putting up the views needed to find a home on Bitchute then most likely it was because they had failed to find a home on more reputable sites. Put it this way in all my searching through anti vax or Covid treatment links I have yet to find a link on Bitchute to research that you find published in The Lancet or by the NHI.
I know the stuff about the publisher aspect……Bitchute does have a reputation to get over if it is in the market for rational research.
My view is probably snobbish as well…..I am sure that the readers on TS know how to find the likes of Bitchute and arguments for and against the Ivermectin issue.
The almost breathless ‘Look what I have found’ is a bit of a red flag for me as a skeptic from way back (if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is’).
“In this discussion you will learn about the treatments he has found to be so incredibly successful.
Moreover, how a number of them are easily obtainable (here in NZ) over the counter. Additionally, what to ask your doctor for if you or your loved ones unfortunately become infected and fall ill.
You will learn (just like any illness) how early intervention/treatment is essential to quicker and better outcomes.
You will hear how the results of these better outcomes have saved many lives.”
Note that I carefully confined myself to your original claim that 'if it's on Bitshute then it must be junk'. Whether or not the linked video makes sense or not is a separate discussion that's over to you and anyone else who watches it.
I'll keep an eye on it. It's not really a good idea here to post a video in lieu of an argument. People can get away with it once or twice, but there is a limit.
I agree, which is why I didn’t mod. But he also said he’s going to do more of these and I think there’s a limit in on using TS to drop social media type comments. If he explains what’s in the video people can discuss it.
This should have been a loud wake up call for all of those folk who are idling under the illusion that the Pfizer Product is safe and effective because Pfizer did proper research and stuff…and the all powerful FDA were closely monitoring the quality of that research and stuff…
However, and y'all can check, the MSM uptake of this powerful bit of work was practically zero until…this.…
Open letter from The BMJ to Mark Zuckerberg
Dear Mark Zuckerberg,
We are Fiona Godlee and Kamran Abbasi, editors of The BMJ, one of the world’s oldest and most influential general medical journals. We are writing to raise serious concerns about the “fact checking” being undertaken by third party providers on behalf of Facebook/Meta.
In September, a former employee of Ventavia, a contract research company helping carry out the main Pfizer covid-19 vaccine trial, began providing The BMJ with dozens of internal company documents, photos, audio recordings, and emails. These materials revealed a host of poor clinical trial research practices occurring at Ventavia that could impact data integrity and patient safety. We also discovered that, despite receiving a direct complaint about these problems over a year ago, the FDA did not inspect Ventavia’s trial sites.
The BMJ commissioned an investigative reporter to write up the story for our journal. The article was published on 2 November, following legal review, external peer review and subject to The BMJ’s usual high level editorial oversight and review.[1]
But from November 10, readers began reporting a variety of problems when trying to share our article. Some reported being unable to share it. Many others reported having their posts flagged with a warning about “Missing context … Independent fact-checkers say this information could mislead people.” Those trying to post the article were informed by Facebook that people who repeatedly share “false information” might have their posts moved lower in Facebook’s News Feed. Group administrators where the article was shared received messages from Facebook informing them that such posts were “partly false.”
Readers were directed to a “fact check” performed by a Facebook contractor named Lead Stories.[2]
We find the “fact check” performed by Lead Stories to be inaccurate, incompetent and irresponsible.
Well, blow me down with a feather if that wee missive didn't provoke a response…but not predominantly from MSM…who seem a little wary of facts that don't fully support the "safe and effective" narrative.
And to add to this censorship story there are now a legion of medical researchers who are reporting that 'reputable' journals are openly censoring articles on content grounds alone. In other words if the journal editor doesn't agree with the conclusions they either get told to re-write it to suit or it doesn't get published.
These are researchers with long and successful publishing records, many cites, and strong peer reviews – and now they're silenced.
Think about this for a moment. It essentially means that because we cannot know which papers have been 'doctored' to meet editors requirements – the entire field of published medical literature should now be really thrown in the bin as unverifiable and untrustworthy.
Yet medical journals often contain poor science. Basic scientists who work in biology and chemistry are regularly scornful of the, mostly, applied science that appears in medical journals. The journals have, for example, published many reports of treatments applied to single cases and to series of cases, which rarely allow confident conclusions because of the absence of controls. Journals have also been part of what might be called an `unscientific' method of encouraging treatments that seem to make anatomic, physiological, or biochemical sense, without insisting that they be properly evaluated in practice.
The history of medicine is littered with treatments that seemed to make sense but which ultimately did more harm than good. Sir Arbuthnot Lane, who was mercilessly parodied in George Bernard Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma, removed the colons of Londoners who were severely fatigued and rich enough to meet his high fees. The operation was supposedly removing toxins. A tenth of his patients were killed by the operation. I belong to a generation who had their tonsils removed to no benefit. While my wife, when having our first child in 1982, was given an enema and had her pubic hair shaved—procedures which are unpleasant and of no benefit.
Medicine itself probably deserves most criticism for its unscientific behaviour but journals are the major link between science and practice. In recent year, journals have been severely criticized for publishing studies that are scientifically weak (in that their conclusions are not supported by their methods and data) and irrelevant to practitioners (and so patients).
Agreed. Poor quality science has been a recognised problem for a while now – especially in the medical and social science fields. Poorly designed experiments and trials, non-rigorous handling of data, an over-reliance of statistical packages to produce results without the deep understanding necessary to apply them correctly – are at least three big causes of non-useful papers.
In particular it’s very easy to design a trial, inadvertently or otherwise, that fails to pick up a signal and reports ‘no useful effect’. As an analogy, imagine you were building a radio receiver from a handful of electronic components – there will be a myriad ways to get it wrong and only one way to make it work. Yet if the receiver you build does not hear any signals, this does not mean there are no transmitters out there. Similarly a medical trial that reports ‘no result’ demands we scrutinise it very carefully to determine if it was capable of delivering any result.
This doesn’t mean that all research is bunk, but that extracting meaningful information from it is hard. Much harder than most people like to imagine.
But these technical issues aside, my point relates to blatant censorship and content altering on the part of journal editors. If this continues unchecked it renders their journal untrustworthy and everything it ever published worthless.
And also to add to the mix, my experience generally, was we got the results we paid for. And i could also add that quite a few kiwi medical experts that pop up in the MSM, that many would recognise here, conducted trials where we all knew what the results would be . I saw the payments and the international travel etc.
And some of us more moderate vaccine hesitant folk have been warning about this issue. I remember posting here on TS during the 2019 measles epidemic when a local leading light in vaccines stated categorically that measles killed one case in a thousand, when the actual UK pre vaccine rate was 2 in ten thousand. Case in point was the massive pile on I received here with an accusation, that still sticks that I am anti-vax. I aid then that it was just this response that drove folk down holes.
There is a small minority who have responded to this systematic censorship by MSM and social media by diving down some seriously deep and smelly rabbit holes.
Nor is Bitshute a 'publisher' in the conventional sense of the word. It's an open platform that people use when they can't be bothered with the censorship they encounter elsewhere. As a result there will be a wildly mixed mass of material that you get to apply your own critical discrimination to, without some faceless entity having pre-done the job for you.
It seems we now live in a time that when any doctor (regardless of how credible they are) goes against the great narrative they are automatically labelled a quack.
I watched the news with a number of people last night. One story was about the Auckland Airport Bookshop being made aware they were selling Conspiracy magazines with anti vaxx stories. The reporter held one of these magazines up and gave an example of what conspiracy's they contained. The bookstore when confronted by the news team regarding the magazines, said they didn't check the content ( why should they?); apologised profusely, and said the magazines had been removed from the shelves.
Two observations: the import of that news item was lost on the people watching it with me.
And, the reporter forgot to add the magazines mentioned usually provide links to source information for most articles.
I observed a similar trend when I posted a video clip on this blog with contentious content.
We are talking about TV news! They could have also combined it with Maori language week and had reporters dancing around a bonfire crying out '' e hoa, e hoa…ahi, ahi. Kapai.
I can understand the need to suppress certain information in a pandemic, because we need to have people on board with vaccinations. But tv one news out there shaming the poor shop owners who would fear cancelation is apalling journalism. And of course there will likely be the Streisand effect from this story. Plus helping to fuel division with anti vaxers feeling targeted.
I can understand the need to suppress certain information in a pandemic, because we need to have people on board with vaccinations. But tv one news out there shaming the poor shop owners who would fear cancelation is appalling journalism. And of course there will likely be the Streisand effect from this story. Plus helping to fuel division with anti vaxers feeling targeted.
Perhaps the owner of the bookstall should have, instead of apologising, accused the TV crew of indulging regularly in the practice they were complaining about.
Then he should have taken to the TV camera with a sledgehammer. If the TV station weren't cheapskates they might have been able to flatten $20,000+ worth of camera and they wouldn't be bothered again.
I saw that piece and couldn't believe what I was seeing, it was like something out of the Cultural Revolution. The righteous thinkers publicly shame a business owner for selling magazines containing views not endorsed by public officials. The owner immediately kowtows to the righteous thinkers, well aware of the risk that public opprobrium exposes them to.
If a magazine arrived with an article outlining how to assassinate politicians would a similar item on TV news be seen to be righteous thinkers publicly shaming a business owner for selling magazines containing views not endorsed by public officials?
But assassinating politicians is a criminal offence and possibly if a how to magazine was being sold in a shop, it would met the threshold of current hate speech laws ie inciting violence.
I am not sure that the argument is false equivalence…..many orgs do not provide alternative anti vaxx views as a public service, a sort of moral gesture. I think there are arguments for and against. If the argument was for an investigative type look at the latest in ant vaxx views eg Some thing like the Loopy article from David Farrier
as against uncritically repeating the 5G, magnets, people 'gonna die' from the vaccine in less than 5 years, then I think there is an argument and I am not so sure.
Yes where do you draw the line? So anti vaxx messages with a potential to kill compared with anti establishment assassination conspiracy messages with a potential to kill……… Though with many anti vaxxers not flying the market would be much smaller.
The idea that most airport bookshops have a wide range of quality books and mags is an interesting one though. Apart from the excellent book shop at Wgtn airport, and admittedly I have not been there for almost a year, many airport bookshops seem to specialise in the lurid covered, shock, horror books & expose type mags. Such a book and mag snob I am I will grant you that.
Incitement to violence is illegal, with good reason. Publishing opinions that many people vehemently disagree with is not illegal, also with good reason.
Yeah I noticed that dimension too. I'm ambivalent though. I met Jonathan Eisen, the publisher of Uncensored, had a conversation with him & our mutual buddy Bill Watson. Both those guys being yank immigrants turned kiwis long ago.
Jon Eisen published an excellent book called Suppressed Inventions back in the '90s. Being an afficionado of alt history alongside being a voracious reader of history since I was a child, I knew that suppression of alternative narratives had always been a fundamental part of mass psychology. The book also covered cancer cures suppressed by the establishment in the early 20th century. The establishment doesn't care how many folk testify to their miracle cures – they're so addicted to their favourite line of bullshit that they'll happily suppress those folk.
Otoh I only ever bought a couple of copies of Uncensored. Jon functioned as editor as well as publisher & he's just too uncritical for me. I don't mind them featuring narratives from the minority of covid deniers at all. However when they promote disinformation that can be proven so via evidence it crosses the moral line. So I have no problem with govt censorship.
Devil's in the detail – he works both sides of the divide. Govt uses bureaucrats who can't tell the difference between right and wrong. Minority is mostly lacking in scientific training, quoting evidence from experts who have strayed beyond their actual field of expertise & are merely showboating.
The truth will out – but it's out there somewhere. Competing claims in the media may or may not point the way to it.
I saw that piece and couldn't believe what I was seeing, it was like something out of the Cultural Revolution.
Yup. We're seeing segments of our media completely lose any sense of professionalism here. These are bell-weather moments PM and we have to speak out against them.
(A minor point you may wish to note for future reference.)
"Bellwether
Noun
A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends. The term derives from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram (a wether) leading a flock of sheep. … Bellwether stocks therefore serve as short-term guides."
I'm not sure what the big deal is, Lauren Southern banned, Don Brash banned, Jordan Petersons book pulled from shelves (Mein Kampf was still available) and plenty, not all of course, on this site were thinking its marvellous
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Sen. Krzysztof Brejza’s mobile phone was hacked with sophisticated spyware nearly three dozen times in 2019 when he was running the opposition’s campaign against the right-wing populist government in parliamentary elections, an internet watchdog found.
Text messages stolen from Brejza’s phone — then doctored in a smear campaign — were aired by state-controlled TV in the heat of that race, which the ruling party narrowly won. With the hacking revelation, Brejza now questions whether the election was fair.
It’s the third finding by the University of Toronto’s nonprofit Citizen Lab that a Polish opposition figure was hacked with Pegasus spyware from the Israeli hacking tools firm NSO Group. Brejza’s phone was digitally broken in to 33 times from April 26, 2019, to Oct. 23, 2019, said Citizen Lab researchers, who have been tracking government abuses of NSO malware for years.
I often watch the Freeview Al Jazeera channel, mainly for their up-to-the-minute hourly & 1/2 hourly global news bulletins, but also for some of their documentaries & regular current affairs items. Some of their Middle East reporters got hacked a year or two ago with Pegasus; the attacks were traced back to the UAE (I think by Citizen Lab).
In a documentary looking at the hacked phones & how they were discovered they also looked into the background of the 3 NSO founders. They were all employed originally by the Israeli Secret Service, IIRC. They were suspected of operating as an unofficial commercial arm of Mossad.
According to several reports, software created by NSO Group was used in targeted attacks against human rights activists and journalists in various countries, was used in state espionage against Pakistan, and played a role in the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi by agents of the Saudi government.
In October 2019, instant messaging company WhatsApp and its parent company Meta Platforms (then known as Facebook) sued NSO and Q Cyber Technologies under the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). NSO claims that it provides authorized governments with technology that helps them combat terror and crime.
The Pegasus spyware is classified as a weapon by Israel and any export of the technology must be approved by the government.
… On 3 November 2021 the United States added the NSO Group to its Entity List, for acting “contrary to the foreign policy and national security interests of the US” and it effectively bans the sale of hardware and software to the company. On 23 November 2021, NSO Group were sued by Apple, Inc. for their activities in relation to Apple products.
The Abraham Accords deal, ushered in by billionaire sheikdoms' bestie Jared Kushner, is predicated on unelected regional despots maintaining their power and position. Israel flogs them the spyware they need to counter their opponents and to gather the wood they need on activists, journalists, and lawyers to nip any nascent democratic rumblings in the bud.
It's a tense time, and lots of stuff is flying around. I'm going to ask that if people want to post videos, they make the time to explain what is in the video. If it's on a hot topic, then more detail is required. This is especially important if using the video to make a point. It's not enough to post a video and expect others to spend 30 or 60 mins watching in order to understand what you mean.
Obviously humour, music and pukeko videos are exempt from this.
Looks like Europe is in on the pivot away from Asia, so the USA are no longer alone.
Electric cars have gone mainstream in Europe – they accounted for nearly a fifth of all car purchases in the UK last month. Yet one piece has been missing up to now: European batteries. That is now changing.
On Tuesday night, Northvolt, a startup, produced its first lithium ion battery cell at a plant in northern Sweden. It is the first of a series of new factories that investors hope will allow Europe to carve out a big proportion of the electric vehicle market – and weaken the stranglehold built up by manufacturers in China, Japan and Korea.
The Northvolt Ett site will be the first European-owned plant to produce at so-called gigafactory scale. Gigafactories are generally considered to be those capable of producing enough batteries each year to provide about 15 gigawatt hours (GWh) of cumulative storage.
And "according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI)… there are 25 gigafactories planned for the continent by 2030… as the industry races to keep up with soaring demand for electric cars. Nine of those are owned by Asian manufacturers, which control most of the global supply.
Better amend that to a partial pivot away then! Yank capitalists are funding the Swedes too:
Despite its startup status, Northvolt has gained heavyweight financial backing from Volkswagen, the world’s biggest car producer, and the investment bank Goldman Sachs. Its $2.75bn (£2.1bn) funding round in June valued it at $12bn.
Talk about hands across the water! Who said globalism was dead?
The startup already boasts contracts worth $30bn with big European companies including the carmakers BMW, Volkswagen, Volvo Cars and Polestar, the truck manufacturer Scania, and the energy storage firm Fluence. Carmakers are belatedly ramping up electric vehicle production to meet tightening emissions targets as well as the challenge from their US rival, Tesla, which has built its own battery and car plant in Berlin.
I would say that nuclear capability already in place for the Dutch, who are trained in deployment as well as Germans, I think, is already enough. There can be no reason to station nuclear capability in Europe except as a threat against Russia. Both Sweden and Finland are now on the invitation list. Ukraine and the crazies that run the place now are a clear red line for Russia. Any NATO base there means missiles flying to Moscow will take a matter of a few minutes. The red line in your map is still far more than provoked the Cuban missile crisis. Russia has plainly stated that Ukraine in NATO is unacceptable. Anyone who cant understand the reasons why has lost the capacity to think critically. Pretending that they should just suck it up wont work and neither will refusing to talk. Theses are not options and never should be when a country expresses concerns about their security
The red line in your map is still far more than provoked the Cuban missile crisis.
Cuba is 145ks from the US border but sure, Russia is surrounded by the US nukes at Büchel, 1300ks from the Russian enclave at Kaliningrad Oblast, and Aviano, 1500ks from Kaliningrad Oblast.
Kaliningrad Oblast is a further 500ks from the Russian border.
How good is he, averages 43 against Australia (against overall average of 45) with the second highest test score against Australia (290) is how good he is but thats not the mark of the man
He can, eventually, put his feet up, enjoy a wine or two (or three) and maybe go out and encourage the next generation of Polynesian players to emulate, or better, his own outstanding record.
Its easy to tell someone from the South Island, they're generally better looking, more intelligent, exceptionally funny than their North Island counterparts and extremely modest as well
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The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
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What if Assad had stepped down in 2011?
March 2021 marked ten years since the start of the popular revolution in Syria that began with the Arab Spring and the longing of the Syrian people for a brighter future denied them under the brutal dictatorship of the Assad regime.
By the end of 2011 the Syrian dictator, Bashar Assad, with the support of his allies Iran and Russia, were engaged in a genocidal counter-revolution against the Syrian people.
As we move into 2022 the genocide conducted by Bashar Assad and his foreign allies against the Syrian people still continuing. I wanted to mark the passing of this milestone by sharing the following video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wko2OycG9XM
Good morning everyone.
I'm not a doctor, nor do I have any medical training.
Nonetheless, I've spent some time looking into a number of experienced, international, frontline doctors using alternatives to treat Covid 19.
Doctors, of which, have been claiming great success.
I've gather together a substantial amount of interesting and helpful info which I intend to share with you all via a series of posts.
To begin with, I would like to share a short (35min) Zoom discussion between an Australian politician and an experienced, frontline American doctor discussing the benefits of early treatment of Covid 19.
In this discussion you will learn about the treatments he has found to be so incredibly successful.
Moreover, how a number of them are easily obtainable (here in NZ) over the counter. Additionally, what to ask your doctor for if you or your loved ones unfortunately become infected and fall ill.
You will learn (just like any illness) how early intervention/treatment is essential to quicker and better outcomes.
You will hear how the results of these better outcomes have saved many lives.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/5RwZOawv6HYe/
Allowing this post of a dodgyDoctor who has been warned for spreading covid misinformation is morally reprehensible.
please fix email address
Alternatively, suggesting suppressing potentially life saving info is not only morally reprehensible, it's outrageously disgusting.
One mans so called dodgy doctor is another mans life saving practitioner.
This doctor has saved lives and has the case studies along with patient testimonies to prove it.
Please link to these (and if they're in other information, a cut and paste too please).
Seems that if you're genuinely interested it'll cost you about 12 bucks to access that.
https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-COVID-19-Darkness-Successfully-Patients-ebook/dp/B09MTRCYVR
that's nice. But this is a political blog with a robust debate ethic, and if someone wants to claim during a public health crisis that a doctor has case studies on alternative treatments, then they can put up the evidence. If it's true, I'll actually be interested to look at them.
To clarify. I've seen this dynamic in alternative health circles a lot, over many years. People say there is evidence eg case studies, but it turns out they read an article saying there were case studies, they didn't actually read any. But the FB rumour mill quickly becomes about how this doctor is doing all these amazing things. This is a very common dynamic and it's a big part of why alternative health communities have such poor science and medical literacy and why they have such a bad reputation regarding false information.
If Tyson and Fareed have solid case studies they can put some of them online, in an accessible form, for free. I have no problem with people needing to make a living and selling an ebook to do that, but if they've got all the evidence behind a paywall it's a big red flag. The onus is on The Chairman here to put up the actual evidence.
(and that ebook hasn't been published yet).
Yes, I hear you and totally agree. However I would like to point out that in this instance it comes direct from the horse's mouth, opposed to being totally online hearsay.
I was alluding to the case studies along with the patient testimonies the doctor referred to in the initial link above (at around 28.27 in) which he offered to submit to the Australian MP.
So the doctor says he has case studies but you haven't actually seen them and they're not in the public domain?
That's correct, I haven't personally seen these studies but I am aware they have been published in a book (as shown above) and also offered to the Australian MP as shown via my initial link. So I don't doubt there existence.
Furthermore, I doubt a doctor would offer and publish case studies that didn't actually back his amazing claim. But I totally understand why people would want to see them.
I can offer another doctors published (in a medical journal) work on the same subject – early treatment. He also claims to have had great success.
I've no idea why people should receive early treatment when we all know people are just bio-hazards – disease vectors.
Far better to isolate the vector and then just see what happens. If they become non-hazardous, then all good.
Were you aware of the reputation of Bitchute, The Chairman? I am really surprised that anyone, esp here on TS, would quote from such a poor source. Also astounded that you feel that the question of Ivermectin needs further discussion. Perhaps you could also source some material on whether patches worn on the soles of one's feet could be good to treat Covid. /s
https://www.adl.org/blog/bitchute-a-hotbed-of-hate
From media bias fact check https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/bitchute/
Were you aware of the reputation of Bitchute, The Chairman? I am really surprised that anyone, esp here on TS, would quote from such a poor source
Your logic is fairly wobbly here. There is vile and objectionable material to be found all over the entire internet – does this automatically disqualify everything on it?
Nor is Bitshute a 'publisher' in the conventional sense of the word. It's an open platform that people use when they can't be bothered with the censorship they encounter elsewhere. As a result there will be a wildly mixed mass of material that you get to apply your own critical discrimination to, without some faceless entity having pre-done the job for you.
True…but then although I do read the stuff the people put up here, my experience has been reading through, for most of this year, the anti vaxx stuff put up on another MB. My conclusion was that if the person putting up the views needed to find a home on Bitchute then most likely it was because they had failed to find a home on more reputable sites. Put it this way in all my searching through anti vax or Covid treatment links I have yet to find a link on Bitchute to research that you find published in The Lancet or by the NHI.
I know the stuff about the publisher aspect……Bitchute does have a reputation to get over if it is in the market for rational research.
My view is probably snobbish as well…..I am sure that the readers on TS know how to find the likes of Bitchute and arguments for and against the Ivermectin issue.
The almost breathless ‘Look what I have found’ is a bit of a red flag for me as a skeptic from way back (if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is’).
“In this discussion you will learn about the treatments he has found to be so incredibly successful.
Moreover, how a number of them are easily obtainable (here in NZ) over the counter. Additionally, what to ask your doctor for if you or your loved ones unfortunately become infected and fall ill.
You will learn (just like any illness) how early intervention/treatment is essential to quicker and better outcomes.
You will hear how the results of these better outcomes have saved many lives.”
Wow!
Note that I carefully confined myself to your original claim that 'if it's on Bitshute then it must be junk'. Whether or not the linked video makes sense or not is a separate discussion that's over to you and anyone else who watches it.
I'll keep an eye on it. It's not really a good idea here to post a video in lieu of an argument. People can get away with it once or twice, but there is a limit.
As far as I can see The Chairman clearly stated his own position over multiple paras and then used the video as a supporting reference.
I agree, which is why I didn’t mod. But he also said he’s going to do more of these and I think there’s a limit in on using TS to drop social media type comments. If he explains what’s in the video people can discuss it.
Nor is Bitshute a 'publisher' in the conventional sense of the word.
No. But the British Medical Journal is.
You might remember back to the 2nd November 2021 when this august publication put up this…Covid-19: Researcher blows the whistle on data integrity issues in Pfizer’s vaccine trial .
This should have been a loud wake up call for all of those folk who are idling under the illusion that the Pfizer Product is safe and effective because Pfizer did proper research and stuff…and the all powerful FDA were closely monitoring the quality of that research and stuff…
However, and y'all can check, the MSM uptake of this powerful bit of work was practically zero until…this.…
Open letter from The BMJ to Mark Zuckerberg
Dear Mark Zuckerberg,
We are Fiona Godlee and Kamran Abbasi, editors of The BMJ, one of the world’s oldest and most influential general medical journals. We are writing to raise serious concerns about the “fact checking” being undertaken by third party providers on behalf of Facebook/Meta.
In September, a former employee of Ventavia, a contract research company helping carry out the main Pfizer covid-19 vaccine trial, began providing The BMJ with dozens of internal company documents, photos, audio recordings, and emails. These materials revealed a host of poor clinical trial research practices occurring at Ventavia that could impact data integrity and patient safety. We also discovered that, despite receiving a direct complaint about these problems over a year ago, the FDA did not inspect Ventavia’s trial sites.
The BMJ commissioned an investigative reporter to write up the story for our journal. The article was published on 2 November, following legal review, external peer review and subject to The BMJ’s usual high level editorial oversight and review.[1]
But from November 10, readers began reporting a variety of problems when trying to share our article. Some reported being unable to share it. Many others reported having their posts flagged with a warning about “Missing context … Independent fact-checkers say this information could mislead people.” Those trying to post the article were informed by Facebook that people who repeatedly share “false information” might have their posts moved lower in Facebook’s News Feed. Group administrators where the article was shared received messages from Facebook informing them that such posts were “partly false.”
Readers were directed to a “fact check” performed by a Facebook contractor named Lead Stories.[2]
We find the “fact check” performed by Lead Stories to be inaccurate, incompetent and irresponsible.
Well, blow me down with a feather if that wee missive didn't provoke a response…but not predominantly from MSM…who seem a little wary of facts that don't fully support the "safe and effective" narrative.
And to add to this censorship story there are now a legion of medical researchers who are reporting that 'reputable' journals are openly censoring articles on content grounds alone. In other words if the journal editor doesn't agree with the conclusions they either get told to re-write it to suit or it doesn't get published.
These are researchers with long and successful publishing records, many cites, and strong peer reviews – and now they're silenced.
Think about this for a moment. It essentially means that because we cannot know which papers have been 'doctored' to meet editors requirements – the entire field of published medical literature should now be really thrown in the bin as unverifiable and untrustworthy.
the entire field of published medical literature should now be really thrown in the bin as unverifiable and untrustworthy.
This has been a problem since…ages…https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1383755/ 2006
The trouble with medical journals
Yet medical journals often contain poor science. Basic scientists who work in biology and chemistry are regularly scornful of the, mostly, applied science that appears in medical journals. The journals have, for example, published many reports of treatments applied to single cases and to series of cases, which rarely allow confident conclusions because of the absence of controls. Journals have also been part of what might be called an `unscientific' method of encouraging treatments that seem to make anatomic, physiological, or biochemical sense, without insisting that they be properly evaluated in practice.
The history of medicine is littered with treatments that seemed to make sense but which ultimately did more harm than good. Sir Arbuthnot Lane, who was mercilessly parodied in George Bernard Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma, removed the colons of Londoners who were severely fatigued and rich enough to meet his high fees. The operation was supposedly removing toxins. A tenth of his patients were killed by the operation. I belong to a generation who had their tonsils removed to no benefit. While my wife, when having our first child in 1982, was given an enema and had her pubic hair shaved—procedures which are unpleasant and of no benefit.
Medicine itself probably deserves most criticism for its unscientific behaviour but journals are the major link between science and practice. In recent year, journals have been severely criticized for publishing studies that are scientifically weak (in that their conclusions are not supported by their methods and data) and irrelevant to practitioners (and so patients).
Agreed. Poor quality science has been a recognised problem for a while now – especially in the medical and social science fields. Poorly designed experiments and trials, non-rigorous handling of data, an over-reliance of statistical packages to produce results without the deep understanding necessary to apply them correctly – are at least three big causes of non-useful papers.
In particular it’s very easy to design a trial, inadvertently or otherwise, that fails to pick up a signal and reports ‘no useful effect’. As an analogy, imagine you were building a radio receiver from a handful of electronic components – there will be a myriad ways to get it wrong and only one way to make it work. Yet if the receiver you build does not hear any signals, this does not mean there are no transmitters out there. Similarly a medical trial that reports ‘no result’ demands we scrutinise it very carefully to determine if it was capable of delivering any result.
This doesn’t mean that all research is bunk, but that extracting meaningful information from it is hard. Much harder than most people like to imagine.
But these technical issues aside, my point relates to blatant censorship and content altering on the part of journal editors. If this continues unchecked it renders their journal untrustworthy and everything it ever published worthless.
Thats true enough RL.
And also to add to the mix, my experience generally, was we got the results we paid for. And i could also add that quite a few kiwi medical experts that pop up in the MSM, that many would recognise here, conducted trials where we all knew what the results would be . I saw the payments and the international travel etc.
.
Mirrors the increasing rejection of journalistic norms in the mainstream media.
The fact that msm and big Social media platforms actively suppress and ignore these issues actually entrenches people in their positions.
Its foolish, for the better of everybody these things need to be publically acknowledged and debated.
…actually entrenches people in their positions.
And some of us more moderate vaccine hesitant folk have been warning about this issue. I remember posting here on TS during the 2019 measles epidemic when a local leading light in vaccines stated categorically that measles killed one case in a thousand, when the actual UK pre vaccine rate was 2 in ten thousand. Case in point was the massive pile on I received here with an accusation, that still sticks that I am anti-vax. I aid then that it was just this response that drove folk down holes.
There is a small minority who have responded to this systematic censorship by MSM and social media by diving down some seriously deep and smelly rabbit holes.
I stand with RedLogix on this. Thanks Red.
They may be the next YT, minus the censorship.
Craig Kelly and one of the demon sperm quacks?
Bless.
/
Interesting isn't, Joe?
It seems we now live in a time that when any doctor (regardless of how credible they are) goes against the great narrative they are automatically labelled a quack.
I watched the news with a number of people last night. One story was about the Auckland Airport Bookshop being made aware they were selling Conspiracy magazines with anti vaxx stories. The reporter held one of these magazines up and gave an example of what conspiracy's they contained. The bookstore when confronted by the news team regarding the magazines, said they didn't check the content ( why should they?); apologised profusely, and said the magazines had been removed from the shelves.
Two observations: the import of that news item was lost on the people watching it with me.
And, the reporter forgot to add the magazines mentioned usually provide links to source information for most articles.
I observed a similar trend when I posted a video clip on this blog with contentious content.
Did they take them outside and burn them?
I think that will be a New Year special.
If theyd done it in November they could have combined it with Guy Fawkes
We are talking about TV news! They could have also combined it with Maori language week and had reporters dancing around a bonfire crying out '' e hoa, e hoa…ahi, ahi. Kapai.
Perhaps the owner of the bookstall should have, instead of apologising, accused the TV crew of indulging regularly in the practice they were complaining about.
Then he should have taken to the TV camera with a sledgehammer. If the TV station weren't cheapskates they might have been able to flatten $20,000+ worth of camera and they wouldn't be bothered again.
I saw that piece and couldn't believe what I was seeing, it was like something out of the Cultural Revolution. The righteous thinkers publicly shame a business owner for selling magazines containing views not endorsed by public officials. The owner immediately kowtows to the righteous thinkers, well aware of the risk that public opprobrium exposes them to.
If a magazine arrived with an article outlining how to assassinate politicians would a similar item on TV news be seen to be righteous thinkers publicly shaming a business owner for selling magazines containing views not endorsed by public officials?
I think your example is false equivalence Pete.
I am not sure that the argument is false equivalence…..many orgs do not provide alternative anti vaxx views as a public service, a sort of moral gesture. I think there are arguments for and against. If the argument was for an investigative type look at the latest in ant vaxx views eg Some thing like the Loopy article from David Farrier
https://www.webworm.co/p/loopy
as against uncritically repeating the 5G, magnets, people 'gonna die' from the vaccine in less than 5 years, then I think there is an argument and I am not so sure.
I appreciate that perspective. Is publishing a "How I would …" or a "How to…" a criminal offence.
Yes where do you draw the line? So anti vaxx messages with a potential to kill compared with anti establishment assassination conspiracy messages with a potential to kill……… Though with many anti vaxxers not flying the market would be much smaller.
The idea that most airport bookshops have a wide range of quality books and mags is an interesting one though. Apart from the excellent book shop at Wgtn airport, and admittedly I have not been there for almost a year, many airport bookshops seem to specialise in the lurid covered, shock, horror books & expose type mags. Such a book and mag snob I am I will grant you that.
Incitement to violence is illegal, with good reason. Publishing opinions that many people vehemently disagree with is not illegal, also with good reason.
Yeah I noticed that dimension too. I'm ambivalent though. I met Jonathan Eisen, the publisher of Uncensored, had a conversation with him & our mutual buddy Bill Watson. Both those guys being yank immigrants turned kiwis long ago.
Jon Eisen published an excellent book called Suppressed Inventions back in the '90s. Being an afficionado of alt history alongside being a voracious reader of history since I was a child, I knew that suppression of alternative narratives had always been a fundamental part of mass psychology. The book also covered cancer cures suppressed by the establishment in the early 20th century. The establishment doesn't care how many folk testify to their miracle cures – they're so addicted to their favourite line of bullshit that they'll happily suppress those folk.
Otoh I only ever bought a couple of copies of Uncensored. Jon functioned as editor as well as publisher & he's just too uncritical for me. I don't mind them featuring narratives from the minority of covid deniers at all. However when they promote disinformation that can be proven so via evidence it crosses the moral line. So I have no problem with govt censorship.
Devil's in the detail – he works both sides of the divide. Govt uses bureaucrats who can't tell the difference between right and wrong. Minority is mostly lacking in scientific training, quoting evidence from experts who have strayed beyond their actual field of expertise & are merely showboating.
The truth will out – but it's out there somewhere. Competing claims in the media may or may not point the way to it.
I saw that piece and couldn't believe what I was seeing, it was like something out of the Cultural Revolution.
Yup. We're seeing segments of our media completely lose any sense of professionalism here. These are bell-weather moments PM and we have to speak out against them.
(A minor point you may wish to note for future reference.)
"Bellwether
Noun
A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends. The term derives from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram (a wether) leading a flock of sheep. … Bellwether stocks therefore serve as short-term guides."
…Wikipedia
Unbelievable… almost as bad as Stuff breathlessly outing that exec working the council… and they wonder why they cop abuse…
I'm not sure what the big deal is, Lauren Southern banned, Don Brash banned, Jordan Petersons book pulled from shelves (Mein Kampf was still available) and plenty, not all of course, on this site were thinking its marvellous
This is just a natural progression
Obey your betters peasants
https://vimeo.com/290924524
Pegasus, the best spyware a despot can get.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Sen. Krzysztof Brejza’s mobile phone was hacked with sophisticated spyware nearly three dozen times in 2019 when he was running the opposition’s campaign against the right-wing populist government in parliamentary elections, an internet watchdog found.
Text messages stolen from Brejza’s phone — then doctored in a smear campaign — were aired by state-controlled TV in the heat of that race, which the ruling party narrowly won. With the hacking revelation, Brejza now questions whether the election was fair.
It’s the third finding by the University of Toronto’s nonprofit Citizen Lab that a Polish opposition figure was hacked with Pegasus spyware from the Israeli hacking tools firm NSO Group. Brejza’s phone was digitally broken in to 33 times from April 26, 2019, to Oct. 23, 2019, said Citizen Lab researchers, who have been tracking government abuses of NSO malware for years.
https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-middle-east-elections-europe-c16b2b811e482db8fbc0bbc37c00c5ab
I often watch the Freeview Al Jazeera channel, mainly for their up-to-the-minute hourly & 1/2 hourly global news bulletins, but also for some of their documentaries & regular current affairs items. Some of their Middle East reporters got hacked a year or two ago with Pegasus; the attacks were traced back to the UAE (I think by Citizen Lab).
In a documentary looking at the hacked phones & how they were discovered they also looked into the background of the 3 NSO founders. They were all employed originally by the Israeli Secret Service, IIRC. They were suspected of operating as an unofficial commercial arm of Mossad.
According to several reports, software created by NSO Group was used in targeted attacks against human rights activists and journalists in various countries, was used in state espionage against Pakistan, and played a role in the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi by agents of the Saudi government.
In October 2019, instant messaging company WhatsApp and its parent company Meta Platforms (then known as Facebook) sued NSO and Q Cyber Technologies under the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). NSO claims that it provides authorized governments with technology that helps them combat terror and crime.
The Pegasus spyware is classified as a weapon by Israel and any export of the technology must be approved by the government.
…
On 3 November 2021 the United States added the NSO Group to its Entity List, for acting “contrary to the foreign policy and national security interests of the US” and it effectively bans the sale of hardware and software to the company. On 23 November 2021, NSO Group were sued by Apple, Inc. for their activities in relation to Apple products.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSO_Group
The Abraham Accords deal, ushered in by billionaire sheikdoms' bestie Jared Kushner, is predicated on unelected regional despots maintaining their power and position. Israel flogs them the spyware they need to counter their opponents and to gather the wood they need on activists, journalists, and lawyers to nip any nascent democratic rumblings in the bud.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/revealed-leak-uncovers-global-abuse-of-cyber-surveillance-weapon-nso-group-pegasus
It's a tense time, and lots of stuff is flying around. I'm going to ask that if people want to post videos, they make the time to explain what is in the video. If it's on a hot topic, then more detail is required. This is especially important if using the video to make a point. It's not enough to post a video and expect others to spend 30 or 60 mins watching in order to understand what you mean.
Obviously humour, music and pukeko videos are exempt from this.
Looks like Europe is in on the pivot away from Asia, so the USA are no longer alone.
And "according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI)… there are 25 gigafactories planned for the continent by 2030… as the industry races to keep up with soaring demand for electric cars. Nine of those are owned by Asian manufacturers, which control most of the global supply.
Better amend that to a partial pivot away then! Yank capitalists are funding the Swedes too:
Talk about hands across the water! Who said globalism was dead?
Satire is inevitable.
https://twitter.com/PressRuissa/status/1476134786997624844
I would say that nuclear capability already in place for the Dutch, who are trained in deployment as well as Germans, I think, is already enough. There can be no reason to station nuclear capability in Europe except as a threat against Russia. Both Sweden and Finland are now on the invitation list. Ukraine and the crazies that run the place now are a clear red line for Russia. Any NATO base there means missiles flying to Moscow will take a matter of a few minutes. The red line in your map is still far more than provoked the Cuban missile crisis. Russia has plainly stated that Ukraine in NATO is unacceptable. Anyone who cant understand the reasons why has lost the capacity to think critically. Pretending that they should just suck it up wont work and neither will refusing to talk. Theses are not options and never should be when a country expresses concerns about their security
Cuba is 145ks from the US border but sure, Russia is surrounded by the US nukes at Büchel, 1300ks from the Russian enclave at Kaliningrad Oblast, and Aviano, 1500ks from Kaliningrad Oblast.
Kaliningrad Oblast is a further 500ks from the Russian border.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/new-zealand-news-ross-taylor-announces-international-retirement-1294816
The Boss leaves on his own terms.
How good is he, averages 43 against Australia (against overall average of 45) with the second highest test score against Australia (290) is how good he is but thats not the mark of the man
This is:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/cricket-how-ross-taylor-coped-with-losing-the-captaincy/7XNUETYMG75AHJD3LS26GV33KE/
Scores over 200 runs in the test and wins the test and gets stripped of the captaincy, he could have gone off and made a bundle as a freelance T20 player but instead he regrouped, regained his love of the game and came back and supported his captains.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/martin-crowe-on-ross-taylor-s-road-to-loving-the-game-again-702923
From a 'dirty slogger' to a NZ great.
He can, eventually, put his feet up, enjoy a wine or two (or three) and maybe go out and encourage the next generation of Polynesian players to emulate, or better, his own outstanding record.
But whatever he does hes earned it.
So, 2021is staggering to a close.
Did it meet your expectations?
What would you like to see in 2022?
What would you not like to see?
What do you expect?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/experiences/cycling-holidays/127410428/why-the-south-islands-bike-trails-have-the-edge
Reason number 2046 why the South Island is, was and always will be superior to the North Island
I'm not saying the South Island should split from the North but I won't disagree with anyone else that thinks it
Reason number 1
population 1,196,000 (June 2021)
Yep even in towns theres room to breathe (apart from Nelson and Queenstown)
Not often I agree with you Puck, but you're on the mark here!
Its easy to tell someone from the South Island, they're generally better looking, more intelligent, exceptionally funny than their North Island counterparts and extremely modest as well
I'd be sorry to see the south island depart from the north. Where are all the knuckle draggers and tourist sharks going to reside
They will just stay in Southland, as before.
yeah but don't tell everyone.