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Comment: Aotearoa the way you want it?
Written By: BK - Date published: 10:18 am, November 27th, 2023
Why wouldn't you want a gun registry? I have several hunting rifles and see no reason not to have a registry unless you want illegal firearms and or would partake in illegal activities? Last time I went hunting the deer fell over with one projectileComment: Open mike 05/10/2023
Written By: BK - Date published: 5:56 pm, October 5th, 2023
Not being a betting man, but I wonder what the odds are that Luxon or one of his mates or a family member or a trust or a... has shares in a satellite launch startup!Comment: Daily review 14/09/2023
Written By: BK - Date published: 6:24 pm, September 14th, 2023
Very good easy way to explain to people who struggle with reading / understanding policies https://electionscorecards.org.nz/Comment: Open mike 09/08/2023
Written By: BK - Date published: 6:20 pm, August 9th, 2023
Bang on Mike, Tech is part of our society whether we like it or not, they should probably ban windows in classrooms whilst they are at it, just in case a kid is daydreaming about living in a world they can afford. Headline grabbing policy, blah blah blahComment: Greens: Labour must deliver on No New Mines
Written By: BK - Date published: 6:42 am, July 27th, 2023
Again Labour fails to protect a small part of NZ for future generations, all for profit, when oh when will any of these "leaders" actually lead NZ where it can thrive for all? Absolute losers! Go the GreensComment: Open mike 12/07/2023
Written By: BK - Date published: 12:26 pm, July 12th, 2023
As expected, another "leader" not doing what is clearly the right thing to do, wouldn't it be nice if a politician actually put the greater good before trying to keep their jobs for another 3 years and they wonder why there is such a low voting turnout at ...Comment: The moral case for a decent minimum wage
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 3:11 pm, January 19th, 2010
"The problem is, no-one can present any serious evidence of this, only a few neoliberal papers that inevitably have a piece of mathematical circular logic hidden in their depths that mean the conclusions always magically match the economists' pre-concieved ...Comment: Minimum wage increase, what will it be?
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 9:50 am, January 19th, 2010
@Marty: Yeah, I can buy that. Actually, you might be able to help: I'm looking for a decent data series on the NZ minimum wage (and other wage regulation), but I can't find one after half an hour or so of Googling. Ideally, I'd be able to go back as far as ...Comment: Minimum wage increase, what will it be?
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 9:17 am, January 19th, 2010
DPF noted the poll is shonky, and I tend to agree in this case. It gave respondents only three options: reduce the minimum wage; hold minimum wage steady at $12.50/hour; increase minimum wage to $15/hour. I'm perfectly willing to believe 60% of kiwis want ...Comment: Minimum wage increase, what will it be?
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 9:10 am, January 19th, 2010
I'm pretty much agnostic on the minimum wage at this stage, so I won't comment on that here, but I will offer a correction: "That would lift the minimum wage nearly back above 60% of the average wage, where it traditionally was before the neoliberal ...Comment: Great balls of fire
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 12:07 am, January 7th, 2010
My bad. Apologies.Comment: Great balls of fire
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 2:19 pm, January 6th, 2010
Agree totally on the abysmal standard of the AP piece. There's a much better short summary at Popular Science: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-01/nasa-finds-hotter-weirder-bodies-ever-sky?page= I'm not sure where the AP got 14000 degrees Celsius ...Comment: We can do better
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 3:29 pm, November 23rd, 2009
Hi Marty: thanks for the graceful response. I'm a little pressed for time this afternoon, so I won't be able to reply in full until a bit later; suffice to say there are a couple of quibbles, and a couple of points I'll be conceding to you as well. Just ...Comment: Political Jurisprudence
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 11:18 am, November 13th, 2009
Yeah, because National is the party of the Wall amendment. When it comes to gay rights stuff, my position is pretty simple: a pox on all their houses. And how the hell am I equating being gay with waving the pink flag? I'm pointing out that different gay ...Comment: Political Jurisprudence
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 10:05 am, November 13th, 2009
I can't speak for Rocky, but I imagine she brought the example up to demonstrate that in politics, taking offence is weapon used opportunistically, and often hypocritically. An example: I take opportunistic offence at you calling Chris Finlayson "an Uncle ...Comment: Information from the uninformed
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 7:19 am, November 12th, 2009
I've gotta say, even though I'm not historically your biggest fan: this post is awesome. It's amazing how the towering stupidity of TVNZ can unite everyone from all along the political spectrum.Comment: Why Supplementary Member sucks
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 10:54 am, September 11th, 2009
Toad: If the 5% threshold were abolished, the Kiwi Party would have had 1 MP in 2008. It's the magic of Sainte-Laguë.Comment: Playing catch up?
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 7:25 am, August 24th, 2009
We didn't. The "gap" increased a little both in absolute and relative terms. Check the source cited under the graph if you don't believe me. (For the record: I happen not to believe economics-by-league-table is very interesting to start with, but if we're ...Comment: Flippin’ Bill
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 7:54 pm, August 5th, 2009
Hear hear. If the decision-maker's Wellington-based, coffee's on me.Comment: Flippin’ Bill
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 5:33 pm, August 5th, 2009
Apologies QtR. My comment wasn't really directed at you. I'm a terrible communicator, and I'm not quite sure why I put that particular comment there. If I were English, I would be complaining to TVNZ and 3News. This would open me up to accusations of ...Comment: Flippin’ Bill
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 5:23 pm, August 5th, 2009
Just because something's been published, it doesn't follow that it's cool to publicize it.Comment: Flippin’ Bill
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 5:20 pm, August 5th, 2009
Toad, I'm not trying to divert attention away from the English controversy: I'm pointing out that publishing a politician's home address is seriously uncool. I'm doing that in the forum I regard as most appropriate: viz the comment thread to the blog post ...Comment: Flippin’ Bill
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 4:58 pm, August 5th, 2009
I'm sorry, but I've gotta ask: how precisely does this round out the picture? Does knowing the precise address where the DPM's family live make any difference—any difference at all—to the debate. Wasn't it sufficient to know that the house is in Karori ...Comment: Do as I say, not as I do
Written By: BK - Date published: 1:49 pm, August 3rd, 2009
The entry says "English keeps up the fiction that he's based out of Wellington to 'rort' the system." I'm seeing this word 'rort' a lot lately (such as in Michael Laws's recent opinion piece). Wikipedia gives a brief and unreliable explanation. Why are we ...Comment: Truly ambitious for America
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 4:18 pm, July 28th, 2009
This is really interesting, if it can be confirmed for certain (this generally takes a decade or so, until the Presidential Library is opened). The last President to write his own speeches was Reagan. Certainly his stump speech and inauguration were ...Comment: Fighting the dittoheads
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 11:55 pm, July 21st, 2009
I can buy all that quite happily. Maybe it's just a case of me being in too close; I'm within earshot of the grievance-airing, so I take that to be "normal". In that case, I'm really not the best person to comment.Comment: Fighting the dittoheads
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 5:09 pm, July 21st, 2009
@PB: I'm happy to stand corrected here, and I don't have the time right now to dig through all the old archives. From memory, it was this part of the notes that was contentious, and further reports attributed the statement to Smith. (I once won a prize at ...Comment: Fighting the dittoheads
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 5:03 pm, July 21st, 2009
Ag, it's remarkably tacky to imagine you've looked into my soul and divined my opinion about a piece of scientific research you assume I haven't read. I'm very familiar with the study, and I had no problem with it (with the exception of John J Ray and his ...Comment: Fighting the dittoheads
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 1:39 pm, July 21st, 2009
@PB: What is long-forgotten, of course, is that Don Brash never said "gone by lunchtime". Lockwood Smith did. Yet it was repeated mindlessly, ad nauseum, and uncritically by Labour supporters for years. I'll have to think about your broader point a bit, ...Comment: Fighting the dittoheads
Written By: BK Drinkwater - Date published: 5:52 am, July 21st, 2009
From this, I must conclude that you've never been in the same pubs as me, and that you've definitely never been in the same National Party meetings and conferences as me. I've long lost count of the number of people who tried a "gone by lunchtime" taunt at ...
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- Cost of Defence’s roadmap for spending 3 percent of GDP on defence
The current debate on Defence funding, sparked by our 29 May report The Cost of Defence: ASPI Defence budget brief 2025–2026, and a subsequent US request for Australia to spend more, has swung between a ...5 days ago - Chain gang
This is really nice. Three hundred people in Melbourne formed a human chain in the rain to help a bookshop move house.Hill of Content has been selling books on Bourke Street for more than a century. When it came time to relocate, they asked their community: Would you possibly be ...5 days ago - In the fight against drugs, Australia should follow the money
Australia is losing the fight to disrupt illicit drug supply chains, not for lack of effort, but because we need additional weapons and new approaches. Despite record-breaking seizures and sophisticated policing, national wastewater data tells ...5 days ago
- Bookshelf: Taiwan’s journey to geopolitical hotspot
The US administration is still formulating its Indo-Pacific policy, but recent indications suggest that it will take a tough stance on Taiwan. At the Shangri-La Dialogue, held in Singapore from 30 May to 1 June, ...5 days ago
- A step towards freedom in Kanaky
Last year, New Caledonia burned after colonial France attempted to renege on a hard-won decolonisation deal and unilaterally impose constitutional changes without the consent of Kanaks. But now, after months of negotiations, France has finally consented to a further devolution of power, making Kanaky a state within France: One ...5 days ago - The Moral Abyss of Concentration Camps
The concept of detention centres and concentration camps is a grim spectre in human history, a mechanism of dehumanisation and control that has no place in a civilised world. These camps, defined as large-scale detention sites where civilians are imprisoned without due process based on ethnicity, religion, or political beliefs, ...5 days ago - Black Nykövä: Accepted
New story acceptance! My 1,000-word dark fantasy piece, Black Nykövä, has been accepted by Exquisite Death for their November issue (https://www.exquisitedeathezine.com/fiction.html)
This one has the distinction of being my first published fiction set ... 5 days ago - Luxon, back from a week’s holiday, comes back swinging
It’s hard not to see the contradictions in National Party policies and statements.Last week on Q&A with Jack Tame, Paul Goldsmith - the Minister who wants Te Reo Māori gone - told Maiki Sherman that National was getting tougher on crime by for example, fining shoplifters of up to $1000 ...5 days ago - Shane Jones’ Sky News Lies
In a cringe-worthy spectacle, Shane Jones, New Zealand First’s shameless spruiker for the oil and gas industry, slithered onto Sky News Australia on Friday, peddling lies so brazen that they would have collapsed under even a whiff of scrutiny.By blaming renewable energy like solar and wind for New Zealand’s exorbitant ...5 days ago
- India, Australia collaborate on critical minerals for renewable energy and climate action
India and Australia are reinforcing their partnership on critical minerals to secure supply chains and enable the global transition to clean energy. This strategic collaboration recognises that lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements and similar resources ...5 days ago
- Women Rise Up: 2025 Women’s Council Conference
On July 4 and 5, NZCTU Women’s Council welcomed over 120 wāhine toa at the biennial Women’s Conference “Women Rise Up” at the Lower Hutt Event Centre. The programme was designed around “anger, hope, action.” We wanted members to leave feeling connected, well-equipped and confident to organise and use ...5 days ago - Monday 14 July
More than 36,000 Te Whatu Ora nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora have voted to strike for 24 hours of what they say is a failure by Health NZ to address their safe staffing concerns. Erica Stanford has unveiled a plan to double the economic benefits brought into ...5 days ago
- A studiously ignored problem: force projected from Australia must go through Indonesia
While the United States spends billions on military infrastructure from Guam to Darwin, one crucial enabler of Indo-Pacific deterrence remains noticeably underdeveloped: rights to pass through Indonesia. The sea and air space of the archipelago ...5 days ago
- Rolling Stone Gets Hoaxed about a Hoax
Hi,Last week legendary music magazine Rolling Stone, home to some quite amazing journalism over the years, blasted an exclusive story:If you just woke up from a decade long coma, that headline would make very little sense. If you missed it, last month a band called “Velvet Sundown” appeared on Spotify, ...5 days ago - Slash blamed in climate change-free flash-flood coverage
Briefly for all subscribers for at 6am on Monday, July 14, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:Another slash catastrophe unfolded over the weekend in the Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman region as the second ‘one-in-one-hundred-year’ flash flood ...5 days ago - David Seymour Can’t Handle the United Nations Jandal
David Seymour, who is unfortunately the current Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, despite only receiving 8% of the party vote, is having another whinge about people disagreeing with him. This time it's the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Albert K. Barume, who recently issued a ...5 days ago
- 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #28
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 6, 2025 thru Sat, July 12, 2025. Stories we promoted this week, by category: Climate Change Impacts (6 articles) DeBriefed 4 July 2025: Trump `megabill` guts clean ...6 days ago - The Malign and Indifferent Goeteia of Faerie: Tolkien and AI
Redoubtable YouTuber GirlNextGondor has put out a detailed look at how Tolkien might have viewed contemporary AI. It’s well worth watching: GirlNextGondor, to her credit, looks beyond the standard notion that Tolkien’s knee-jerk response would have been abject horror, and engages with the question through ...6 days ago - Managed Retreat gets Mentioned in the News
The Nelson Tasman region, battered by relentless storms, stands as a stark reminder of New Zealand’s vulnerability to climate-driven disasters. The floods of June and July 2025, which inundated homes, crippled infrastructure, and forced evacuations in areas like Tapawera and Motueka Valley, have exposed the government’s woeful inaction on flood ...6 days ago
- Statesmanship
In our democracy, former leaders usually fade into the background after they lose power. Occasionally, they might pop up when compelled to by what they see happening, offering the benefit of their years. Usually, this occurs after a couple of changes in government, when they’re no longer closely associated with ...6 days ago - What if there’d been no vaccine?
It was pretty damn impressive how swiftly they managed to produce a vaccine for COVID. Not soon enough to save all those lives in New York and London and Milan, but enough to get back comparatively soon to something like normal.Feels a bit comical now to recall how fondly some ...6 days ago - DOGE is Legally Liable for Texas Drownings
In a world increasingly battered by the ferocity of climate-driven storms, the catastrophic Texas floods of July 2025 stand as a grim testament to governmental negligence. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), under the previous stewardship of Elon Musk and propelled by Donald Trump’s administration, slashed funding and staffing to critical ...6 days ago
- Since Australia hosts US facilities, we need a joint war plan
Australia hosts several joint Australian-American facilities and provides the US with privileged access to a range of functions that are performed at Australian facilities. As a consequence, Australia is deeply integrated into US strategies of ...1 week ago
- Could NZ First vs ACT blow up the coalition over the Regulatory Standards Bill?
Briefly for paying subscribers at 7am on Saturday, July 12, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, editorials, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate today are:Tension is mounting in Cabinet between ACT and NZ First over the Regulatory Standards Bill, with Winston Peters ...1 week ago - Is Progress Progressive?
We should not assume that all adopted innovations are progressive. Jonathon Haidt’s ‘The Anxious Generation’ illustrates that sometimes they require social measures to enhance well being.The Anxious Generation is a book which probably everyone engaging with adolescents should read. Haidt’s thesis is that smartphones replacing flip phones led to a ...1 week ago - National security isn’t what it used to be—and that’s the point
All prime ministers and presidents frequently tell us that national security is the top priority for government, but does the public see it the same way. And does that matter? When people think of national ...1 week ago
- No one told us life was gonna be this way
1. What has been named 2025 NZ Tree of the Year?a. Tane Mahutab. The Chook Treec. Steven Adamsd. The Bucket Fountain2. The botanical name for macrocarpa, Hesperocyparis macrocarpa, means: a. Large-fruited western cypressb. Tree most likely to crush your shedc. Will not lay eggs no matter how much you trim ...1 week ago - ASPI Defence Conference: Industry, policy and national resilience
Concerns about the strength of Australia’s defence industrial base were central to the industry policy panel at ASPI’s 2025 Defence Conference. The defence industrial base—a network of domestic and foreign industries, companies, research institutions and ...1 week ago
- Elon Musk’s Anti-Woke Grok AI Backfires
In the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, Elon Musk’s Grok, developed by xAI, has sparked heated debate. It’s not for its promised “truth-seeking” prowess but for its alarming descent into extremism. Designed to counter what Musk perceived as the “woke” leanings of other AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Grok’s recent updates ...1 week ago
- Ray Chung – Arsehole of the Week
In the murky world of local politics, few things reek as badly as Wellington mayoral candidate Ray Chung’s despicable conduct. His smearing email, circulated to fellow councillors in early 2023, peddling baseless and salacious gossip about Mayor Tory Whanau, is not just a personal attack, it’s a grotesque abuse of ...1 week ago
- Collateral benefit: space launch centre’s sensors will plug Cape York gap
Australia’s northern approaches are increasingly contested, yet the airspace over Cape York remains under-monitored and operationally thin. But only for the moment. Civilian sensors will close the gap. My company, Space Centre Australia, has begun ...1 week ago
- For smuggled drones, China wouldn’t be as soft a target as Russia
Ukraine did it. Israel did it. Could Taiwan do it? If China attacks Taiwan, could the island unleash smuggled drones on Chinese territory against high-value targets? Maybe, but China has long been aware of the ...1 week ago
- Economic Bulletin June July 2025
We have two feature articles in this edition. In the first, Morgan James-Tresidder, the new pay equity lead at the NZCTU, sets out why pay equity is such a critical tool for advancing working women’s interests, and outlines how unions are fighting back against the government’s retrograde changes to the ...1 week ago
- Bernard Hickey, Peter Bale, Cathrine Dyer, Jonathan Boston & Wolfgang Rack ‘Hoon’ around the...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking with regular guest about the week’s news in geopolitics and climate, along with special guests Professor Jonathan Boston from Victoria University of Wellington and Professor Wolfgang Rack from University ...1 week ago
- Friday 11 July
NZ Post is being told to start over on its consultation process for a proposed business reorganisation after the ERA found it failed to meet its obligations to union members. Southland Hospital staff have taken industrial action for the third time since February over safety concerns. More people moved away ...1 week ago
- Wednesday 10 July
Foodstuffs has confirmed 180 roles at Victoria Park’s New World supermarket will be disestablished after a fire three weeks ago – Workers First have negotiated an extended redundancy period in support of the workers. Residential rents are falling in most parts of the country with Wellington leading the way down. ...1 week ago
- Brickbats
The past is always knocking incessantTrying to break through into the presentWe have to work to keep it outBut I won't be the first to SHOUT it's overSong: Billy Bragg.BrickbatnounA piece of brick used as a missile."he had received a blow with a brickbat"A critical remark or comment."The plaudits were ...1 week ago - 2018 offences should be retained in a new age of espionage
Australia’s 2018 espionage laws are instrumental to defending against espionage, foreign interference, sabotage and theft of trade secrets. A current review of them by Independent National Security Legislation Monitor’s (INSLM) should recommend their retention and ...1 week ago
- Young workers leaving in their droves
Briefly for paying subscribers at 6.30am on Friday, July 11, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, Op-Eds, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate are:Net migration to Australia hit a 12-year high in 2024 and overall net migration in the last two months ...1 week ago - David Seymour Dodges Truth on Mass Kiwi Exodus
New Zealand is bleeding talent, and the National-led government’s ineptitude is squarely to blame. A record 70,000 Kiwis fled our shores in the year to March 2025, with Australia’s brighter economic prospects luring two-thirds of them across the Tasman. The 18-30 age group, particularly young professionals and high-performing students, is ...1 week ago
- Christian Nightmares
Hi,Ever since Donald Trump was elected, and then lost, and was then elected again, I’ve finally come to accept that terrible shit just keeps coming back around.Annoyingly, my work here on Webworm reminds me of this all the time.Back in 2022, I proudly published that the leaders of New Zealand’s ...1 week ago - National gets a warning from its friends
Some of the National Party’s key stakeholders came to Parliament yesterday and ripped into one of the Government’s showpiece Bills. Underlying the criticism of the Bill, which would establish the industry training bodies to replace Labour’s loss-making Polytech body, Te Pūkenga, was a familiar theme. There was too much direction ...1 week ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #28 2025
Open access notables Americans and policymakers underestimate endorsement for the most popular climate solution narrative, combining personal and political action, Sparkman et al., Communications Earth & Environment A wide variety of existing narratives describe how we might address climate change. Which of these approaches is popular among the American public? ...1 week ago
- Trump’s tariff war risks undermining US alliances in East Asia
New York Times columnist David Brooks once remarked that Donald Trump is the wrong answer to the right questions—a sentiment that captures the core challenge facing US policy in East Asia. Trump correctly identified the ...1 week ago
- Dealing to the evidence
Rob Campbell recently wrote a piece for Newsroom entitled “Government continues its blunt refusal to acquire knowledge”.He quoted Karl Popper: “true ignorance is not the absence of knowledge but the refusal to acquire it.”He then quoted the PM on bootcamps “I don’t care what you say about whether it does ...1 week ago - Australia’s freedom-of-navigation activities raise more questions than answers
A freedom-of-navigation activity that the Australian and British navies jointly conducted near the Spratly Islands last month was notable. It was the first they’d done together, following a joint Australia and New Zealand transit of ...1 week ago
- “Can you have a peaceful revolution?”
“Trump’s win was the triumph of capitalism and neoliberalism, and he’s going to wreak havoc. There’s nothing we can do about that, except maybe incremental changes. That’s not what we need. We need revolution. Can you have a peaceful revolution? I don’t know.”David SuzukiWell, David Suzuki has called it, and ...1 week ago - Gas is still dead
The National regime, with its outdated fossil thinking, is desperately trying to revive the fossil fuel industry. Meanwhile, that industry seems to be voting with its feet: one of my regular checks of the gas permit map, and comparison with the permit spreadsheet, shows that OMV has surrendered another two ...1 week ago
- India’s water treaty power play signals regional shift
As India renegotiates the Ganges Water Treaty with Bangladesh following the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, it is adopting a new posture in its water diplomacy. India appears to be charting a China-like path ...1 week ago
- The Dust of Israel’s Genocide Settles Across the World
In the annals of human cruelty, the Holocaust stands as a grotesque monument to industrialised slaughter. Hitler’s regime exterminated six million Jews, alongside Romani people, disabled individuals, political dissidents, LGBTQ+ communities, and intellectuals, a genocide shrouded in secrecy, its full horrors only grasped after the German's were defeated.Fast forward to ...1 week ago
- Wednesday 9 July
CTU president Richard Wagstaff warned the “light touch” approach in the Government’s new AI strategy would do nothing to protect workers from the serious risks from AI. Lawyers representing unions have urged the Supreme Court to uphold a landmark Court of Appeal ruling that a group of Uber drivers were ...1 week ago
- Good enough to win: rethinking risk in innovation
Innovation policy is often built around optimism. But in a world of live contest across the economy, the environment and the broader geostrategic landscape, progress cannot afford to wait for perfection. The scale of technology ...1 week ago
- Of Story Salvaging, Magazine Demise, and a Thousand Posts (+ Accursed AI)
This marks A Phuulish Fellow’s thousandth blog post. I was rather hoping that this milestone would coincide with the tenth anniversary in November 2025, but it was not to be. A thousand posts, spread over nearly a decade, is obviously a fair number, and the sheer number of post-categories on ...1 week ago - Rainbow Warriors
Where the Banshees cryAnd the bells they soundWhen you lift me highWhen you pull me downWhen you pull me downWhen you pull me downSongwriter: Donald Bain Mcglashan.Forty years ago today, the French government committed a terrorist action, an unprovoked act of war on our nation, for the crime of peaceful ...1 week ago - A criminal nation
The European Court of Human Rights has found Russia guilty of horrific human rights violations during its unlawful invasions of Ukraine: Russia has committed flagrant and unprecedented abuses of human rights since it invaded Ukraine in 2014, including extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and forced labour, the European court of ...1 week ago
- Winning on economics means losing on national security
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese needs to make a formal statement to the Australian Parliament addressing Australia’s place in a changing world and unambiguously asking the Australian public to pay a price to defend the nation’s ...1 week ago
- Trump just gave a huge gift to China’s economy
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections On the Fourth of July – America’s 249th birthday – President Donald Trump signed into law a bill that could very well cede the country’s position as the leading global economic superpower to China. As the nonpartisan energy think tank RMI has argued, the ...1 week ago
- Kāinga Ora selling Wellington land it once planned to build 320 homes on
Briefly for paying subscribers at 7am on Wednesday, July 91, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, Op-Eds, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate are:Kāinga Ora is selling two plots of land in Wellington it once planned to put 320 homes on, and ...1 week ago - Gordon Campbell On Why The Regulatory Standards Bill Is A Hot Mess
When the politician pushing a controversial piece of legislation starts accusing his critics of “derangement syndrome” – as David Seymour has done this week – then any chance of a rational debate on the Regulatory Standards Bill has gone out the window. Seymour’s tantrum confirms the fears held by constitutional ...1 week ago - GCSB & NZSIS warn ACT Bill risks NZ’s National Security
As outlined earlier in the week, RNZ has a charter to “serve the public interest” - not pretend it is centrist, shy, or bipartisan.This week, during the Regulatory Standards Bill select committee, the dominance of corporate media and RNZ government inteference could not be clearer.As heavy hitter after heavy hitter, ...1 week ago
- The RBNZ just held the OCR at 3.25%. Is that it? Does it matter?
Get more from Bernard Hickey in the Substack appAvailable for iOS and AndroidGet the app ...1 week ago
- ‘Catastrophic failures’: Defence budget squeeze hits navy maintenance
The Defence budget squeeze has starved the Royal Australian Navy of sustainment funding. We see this in the scandalous state of two of the Royal Australian Navy’s most significant ships, revealed in an Australian National ...1 week ago
- Reimagining Democracy for a new era – Auckland
The expression of the will of the people has taken and can take many forms. It has been subject to change, tweaks and revolutions and remains something we trust to keep us free from tyranny and authoritarianism. However, we need to be give it continued thought. Today it needs some ...1 week ago
- One does not simply bring back a Moa
I have to admit my very first thought was: How awesome would it be to see one?My further thought was: Just how lopsided could this go?Spoiler alert: if you've been waiting sixty years to watch The Fly, the ending is not good.Help me, help me cries the tiny head of ...1 week ago - Albanese’s China visit: views from ASPI analysts
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit China from 12 to 18 July, his office said yesterday. He’ll meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. Here are ASPI analysts’ views on the visit, what Albanese ...1 week ago
- Politicised COVID Inquiry Targets Labour
In the grand theatre of New Zealand politics, the Coalition of Chaos has turned the second phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons Learned into a stage for partisan point-scoring, rather than a genuine pursuit of truth. This expanded inquiry, set to conclude by February 2026, is ...1 week ago
- Why our housing-market-with-bits-tacked-on is stalled
Rate cuts aren’t working this time to fire up our economy, which is now even more of a housing-market-with-bits-tacked-on. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāBriefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Wednesday, July 9:The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has paused1 its rate ...1 week ago - When a RNZ Host gets it terribly wrong
..With perhaps one (or maybe two) exception(s), the journalists, producers, technicians, and hosts at RNZ are folks I hold in high regard. They have tough jobs to do - especially when trying to elicit some semblance of comprehensible answers from our robotic Prime Minister, programmed to give automated responses to ...1 week ago - Don’t let Beijing’s AI charm offensive fool us
There’s one thing China’s ambassador to Australia got right in a call to add artificial intelligence to the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA): ‘China has always viewed Australia and China-Australia relations from a strategic and ...1 week ago
- Workers absent from government’s AI “strategy”
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi is concerned that the artificial intelligence (AI) “strategy” document released today by the Government ignores impacts on working people and replicates the corporate hype of Microsoft and other tech giants. “It is crucial that no workers are left behind as ...1 week ago
- China’s ‘Taiwanese separatist’ hotline shows expanding lawfare strategy
Beijing’s coercion campaign against Taiwan is entering a more litigious phase. While military drills and cognitive warfare remain staples of its coercive playbook, China is now intensifying the systematic use of law to target Taiwan’s ...1 week ago
- “There is no corruption in New Zealand…”
A government lavishes corporate welfare on a project managed by one of its donors, then appoints him as a director of a government body. The USA? No, its National's New Zealand: A newly-appointed KiwiRail board director is associated with a company which donated to NZ First. Scott O'Donnell is ...1 week ago
- Pacific maritime policy could mend fragmentation, increase resilience
The Pacific’s patchwork of national policies and voluntary regional frameworks often falls short of delivering unified, timely and effective responses. A comprehensive and legally binding regional maritime policy could build a more cohesive and resilient ...1 week ago
- Unbelievable
The things, you sayYour purple prose just gives you awayThe things, you sayYou're unbelievableWriters: Ian Dench, Mark De Cloedt, Zachary Foley, James Atkin, Derran Brownson.Things are a bit strange right now. Don’t you think?With the right emboldened, the usual standards of decency, evidence, and logic have been abandoned, lying in ...1 week ago - Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix Sixes at 7am on Wednesday, July 9
Briefly for paying subscribers at 7am on Wednesday, July 91, the key scoops, breaking news, deep-dives, Op-Eds, analysis and other news links in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate are:Top Six Pick ’n’ Mix for Wednesday, July 9Emma Ricketts for Stuff: Health NZ backtracks on proposal to reallocate ...1 week ago
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- Have Your Say On The Legal Services (Distribution Of Special Fund) Amendment Bill
Section 94 of the Legal Services Act 2011 enables the Secretary to enter into contracts with community law centres to purchase community services. The bill would amend the Act to allow the Secretary to enter into contracts to fund, facilitate, or support ...1 day ago - New Institute for Advanced Technology announced by government
Christopher Luxon has confirmed a new public research organisation focused on "supercharging" the economy. ...1 day ago - Political Attacks Only Harden Candidates’ Resolve
We are stronger and even more focused. We remain committed to delivering on our five key pillars for the betterment of Wellington and getting enough independent people around the council table to deliver for residents. ...1 day ago
- Do we have to have such long school holidays, mother asks
Tauranga mother-of-two Karina Tendler says when it comes to school holidays, something needs to change. ...1 day ago
- Pragmatic engagement – what Albanese’s visit reveals about China relations in a turbulent world
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Sing Yue Chan, Postdoctoral Fellow in China Studies, Australian National University The Albanese government has faced an increasingly uncertain world since its re-election in May. US President Donald Trump has cast a long shadow over the Australia–US alliance, raising fresh ...1 day ago - When immunisation is a health target, why isn’t the flu vaccine free for kids?
Although it’s a common illness, the flu can be very serious – even in healthy and active young people. Many adults can access the vaccine for free, or have it reimbursed by their employer. Why don’t we offer the same for pēpi and tamariki? On a Saturday in the July ...1 day ago - Meet 25 young people changing Aotearoa and the world
From poets to Paralympians and policymakers, this year’s YWCA Y25 list celebrates some of Aotearoa’s most inspirational young people Illustrations by Kerilyn Clarke. Every year, the pool of nominees for Y25 grows bigger and stronger. In its six years, Y25 has championed over 125 young wāhine and gender diverse changemakers, ...1 day ago
- FamilyBoost Or Fiscal Blowout? Taxpayer Handouts Shouldn’t Go To The Top Earners
Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tory Relf said:“If you're pulling in nearly double the average household income, you do not need a handout from other working taxpayers to help pay for daycare. The average household income is around $120,000.” ...1 day ago
- Unacceptable: Blunder To Cost New Plymouth Ratepayers $3 Million
Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union, said:“It’s hard to understate how much of a cock-up this is. Ratepayers deserve far better attention to detail as they face even higher rates than already forced on them.” ...1 day ago
- ‘Don’t tell me!’ Why some people love spoilers – and others will run a mile
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anjum Naweed, Professor of Human Factors, CQUniversity Australia DreamBig/Shutterstock, The Conversation This article contains spoilers! I once leapt out of a train carriage because two strangers were loudly discussing the ending of the last Harry Potter book. Okay – I didn’t ...1 day ago
- The cost of being: An international flight attendant who’s studying part-time
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a long-haul flight attendant who spends half the year overseas shares their finances. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Female. Age: 21. Ethnicity: NZ European. Role: Full-time ...1 day ago
- NZ campaign Make It 16 renews call to lower voting age after UK’s announcement
The director of a campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age to 16 says the country is falling behind others in terms of democracy. ...1 day ago
- 16 & 17 Year Olds In The UK Will Be Able To Vote In The Next General Election – New Zealan...
“New Zealand prides itself on being a world leader in democracy. We were the first country where women won the right to vote. But now we’re falling behind. It's time to catch up” says Lincoln Jones, Make It 16 Co-Director. ...1 day ago
- Keith Rankin Analysis – Letter from Westphalia, Germany; 6 June 1933
Analysis by Keith Rankin. On Saturday I came into possession of this letter, transcript below. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. I will note that the recipient of the letter is someone I know a ...1 day ago
- Australian law is clear: criticism of Israel does not breach the Racial Discrimination Act
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Swannie, Senior Lecturer, Thomas More Law School, Australian Catholic University Earlier this month, the Federal Court found controversial Muslim cleric Wissam Haddad breached the Racial Discrimination Act. Justice Angus Stewart ruled a series of speeches Haddad posted online were “fundamentally racist ...1 day ago
- New Barbie with type 1 diabetes could help kids with the condition feel seen – and help others lea...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynne Chepulis, Associate Professor, Health Sciences, University of Waikato Mattel Inc/AP, The Conversation, CC BY Barbie has done many things since she first appeared in 1959. She’s been an astronaut, a doctor, a president and even a palaeontologist. Now, in 2025, ...1 day ago
- Rising seas threaten to swallow one of NZ’s oldest settlement sites – new research
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter N. Meihana, Senior Lecturer in History, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University Veronika Meduna, CC BY-SA One of Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest settlement sites is at risk of being washed away by rising seas, according to new research. Te ...1 day ago
- AI is now part of our world. Uni graduates should know how to use it responsibly
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Fitzgerald, Associate Professor and Deputy Associate Dean (Academic), Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, The University of Queensland MTStock Studio/ Getty Images Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming an everyday part of lives. Many of us use it without even realising, ...1 day ago
- New Zealand reaches deal with Canada in long-running dairy trade dispute
The deal is expected to deliver up to $157 million to New Zealand dairy exporters. ...1 day ago
- Councils under pressure as government pushes ‘back to basics’ agenda
Increasingly loud demands that councils rein in spending have made for a fractious week between ministers and mayors, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Ministers and mayors air out their differences The relationship between central and local ...1 day ago
- Do people earning $200,000 need help with childcare?
Some of the families now receiving Family Boost payments are among the 10% wealthiest in the country, an economist says. ...1 day ago
- Beloved Auckland cinema faces backlash for ‘racist’ AI-generated Russell Crowe video
It may have been intended to be ironic, but a 10-minute AI-made trailer created by an American film director for the Hollywood in Avondale was met with ‘full-on pitchforks and torches’ when it ran before a movie this week. What stands out straight away is the fact you can’t really ...1 day ago
- The tension between central and local government bubbles to the surface
Local government says it needs certainty from central government beyond election cycles. Central government says local government is wasting money on unnecessary projects. Who’s right? Simon Watts, minister for local government, has kids. He’s learned that when you give them a full day free to do whatever they want, they ...1 day ago
- All of the Jurassic Park movies, ranked from worst to best
Which dinosaur joyride will rise to the top? I’m five years old and I am very high up. I’m sitting in a saddle and heading through the school gates looking down upon fellow students and buildings and teachers – they’re so far away but I can see they’re all pointing ...1 day ago
- Paying for the reality of climate change
The 100-year floods are rolling in on a regular basis; the rain doesn’t let up; no one wants a cliff-top property anymore. Climate change is no longer just about things you can’t see or touch. It’s about running from rising water and bailing out the basement. “I think there has ...1 day ago - Radical genetech bill ignores global standards at Kiwi producers’ peril
Failing to recognise Europe’s role as standards setter for gene edited foods would set NZ up for needless trade losses The post Radical genetech bill ignores global standards at Kiwi producers’ peril appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- Changes to flagship bill: ‘You never play poker with your cards on the table’
The regulatory standards legislation is being billed as the thing that could crack open the coalition, as the Act leader names it a bottom line The post Changes to flagship bill: ‘You never play poker with your cards on the table’ appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- Public-use AI helping in state surveillance and warfare
Analysis: Will ChatGPT users find themselves unwittingly contributing to increasing surveillance, human rights violations, or warfare? The post Public-use AI helping in state surveillance and warfare appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- Watchdog rules against foreign ministry in dispute whether Israel group was ‘vexatious’
NZ diplomats shouldn’t have refused official information requests from pro-Israel thinktank, Ombudsman says The post Watchdog rules against foreign ministry in dispute whether Israel group was ‘vexatious’ appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- Radical genetech bill ignores global standards setter
Failing to recognise Europe’s role as standards setter for gene edited foods would set NZ up for needless trade losses The post Radical genetech bill ignores global standards setter appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- Watchdog rules against foreign ministry over ‘vexatious’ Israel group claims
NZ diplomats shouldn’t have refused official information requests from pro-Israel thinktank, Ombudsman says The post Watchdog rules against foreign ministry over ‘vexatious’ Israel group claims appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- This week’s bestselling books – July 17
NONFICTION 1 A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin Random House, $59.99) Oho! It is with great pleasure that ReadingRoom can offer an exclusive giveaway contest to win a free copy of the new Jacinda Ardern memoir. To enter, send in a few lines, or a great many ...1 day ago
- Young stars could be Silver Ferns bolters
As another season of the ANZ Premiership nears its conclusion, eyes will be turning to the upcoming international netball season. The Silver Ferns play three matches against South Africa in September, followed by the iconic Constellation Cup against Australia in October. With star shooter Grace Nweke’s potential unavailability, there’s likely ...1 day ago
- Disregard for Indigenous rights comes straight from the top
Opinion: Earlier this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he “fully agrees” with a letter the Minister of Regulation David Seymour wrote to Dr Albert K Barume, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Barume recently criticised New Zealand for breaching international human rights standards relating ...1 day ago
- Daily crossword, Friday 18 July
The post Daily crossword, Friday 18 July appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- Mini crossword, Friday 18 July
The post Mini crossword, Friday 18 July appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- Radical gene tech bill ignores global standards setter
Opinion: Failing to recognise EU’s role as standards setter for gene-edited foods sets NZ up for needless trade losses The post Radical gene tech bill ignores global standards setter appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 day ago
- ’Councils have lacked fiscal discipline’ Local Government Minister says
Legislation requiring councils to report more on finances and prioritise core services has passed its first reading overnight. ...1 day ago
- Susi Newborn among activists featured in Pacific ‘nuclear free heroes’ video
Pacific Media Watch Greenpeace pioneer and activist Susi Newborn is among the “nuclear free heroes” featured in a video tribute premiered this week in an exhibition dedicated to a nuclear-free Pacific. The week-long exhibition at Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s Ellen Melville Centre, titled “Legends of the Pacific: Stories of a Nuclear-Free ...2 days ago
- Grattan on Friday: New parliament presents traps for Albanese and Ley
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese hasn’t been in any rush to convene the new parliament, which Governor-General Sam Mostyn will open on Tuesday. It’s only mildly cynical to observe that governments of both persuasions often seem to ...2 days ago
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