The Democrats and Russia

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, July 26th, 2017 - 66 comments
Categories: Donald Trump, Europe, International, us politics - Tags: ,

Russia is already the issue that will permanently mark the Donald Trump Presidency’s first term. He will live or die on how he and his team come out of the inquiries that are going on (Sure bigger than Monica Lewinsky was to President Clinton).

So I’m puzzled. The United States government is the weakest we have seen for many generations – certainly the most unpopular – and is getting deeper and deeper into trouble. So the Democrat leadership should be more popular. They should be in a full-blown revival by now. This is the least popular President since World War II. Even Bill Clinton 6 months in wasn’t this unpopular.

Some may say that what they need is some Bernie Sanders-type hard left saviour. But Bernie’s views on Russia are pretty much the same as Obama’s were. And pretty much the same kind of nuanced and conciliatory stance to Russia that Trump is taking now.

Russia will now dominate U.S. politics right through to the next Presidential elections.

I think a big public trust issue with the Democratic Party is precisely about Russia. Russia is being set up as the primary cause of the political instability of the Trump Presidency. But it is the Democratic President Obama that set the U.S. positioning about Russia in play. Trump is simply continuing and deepening it. That means the Democrats cannot credibly attack Trump on Russia: they can’t criticise their own President. They are largely leaving it to the mainstream media to do their political work for them.

So before we treat ourselves to yet another youtube clip of Maddow’s MSNBC or CNN’s Blitzer scoffing at how corrupted by Russia Trump’s staff have been in their dealings, let’s remind ourselves why Democrats are so weak on Russia.

President Obama launched his famous Russian reset in early 2009 just months after Russia invaded Georgia. He then announced the removal of missile defence systems in the Czech Republic and Poland that year. He also ignored Russia violations of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (while simultaneously negotiating new START). Then he ceded ground to the Russian military intervention in Syria. Then he did nothing about his own Syrian “red line” when Syrian civilians were gassed. President Obama’s administration was one long – eight-year-long – concession to Russia.

At the United Nations General Assembly in 2009 President Obama said “The traditional divisions between nations of the south and the north make no sense in an interconnected world nor do alignments of nations rooted in the cleavages of a long-gone Cold War.” By which he meant pretty much the same thing that Trump said when he had a good crack at NATO. Except when Trump did it, the liberal commentators wet their pants.

So it was kinda good to see Chuck Schumer finally make a distinction recently that Russia was not the only reason Hillary Clinton lost.

Here’s the fuller version in the Washington Post.

Schumer – as Clinton’s campaign Chair – has good reason to throw Clinton herself under a bus for the 2016 campaign saying the basic messages weren’t clear. So it wasn’t just Russia’s electoral interference. He has to gear up the message for the 2018 Senate races.

Democrats remain largely leaderless in the aftermath of an election no-one in that party thought they would lose. I sure didn’t. Sanders and Warren pretty much cancel each other out for leftie appeal, and Biden’s still biding his time. As ever.

I have to be honest that it is fun watching Trump’s key people die a professional death.

But it is taking too long for the Democrats to show that they are a credible alternative government-in-waiting. There is simply no way for them to join in the Russia attack since they also have to back Obama’s legacy and since they have the Hillary loss around their necks that they need to get rid of – which they can’t because they blame the loss on the Russian cyber attacks. Which are where all the investigations started. So they can’t attack Trump on Russia because the public know when they do that they attack both Obama and Hillary Clinton – one Democratic saint and one Democratic martyr. Ain’t no extricating that.

All the Democrats are doing is leaving the hard political work to the media.

66 comments on “The Democrats and Russia ”

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  1. garibaldi 1
    26 July 2017 at 8:09 am

    In a nutshell the Democrats are in total disarray internally and have blamed it all on Russia. If they concentrated on their own demise they might get somewhere. Perhaps distancing themselves from the Clinton dynasty would be a good start. All this anti Russian bullshit is pretty thick coming from the USA …. total hypocrisy.

    • red-blooded 1.1
      26 July 2017 at 8:33 am

      There’s something in what you say, Garibaldi. The US has definitely not been backward in meddling in other countries’ democratic processes. Having said that, there’s no excuse for any party or candidate’s team to accept help from another country that’s been spying or working underground to influence an election. We wouldn’t put up with it here and the people of the US shouldn’t either.

      • garibaldi 1.1.1
        26 July 2017 at 8:57 am

        You are right red-blooded, but is there absolute proof against the Russians? Seems more like the Dems just had to find someone else to blame for losing to Trump(of all people!).

        • Morrissey 1.1.1.1
          26 July 2017 at 11:15 am

          There is no evidence at all that the Russians meddled in the U.S. election. Here’s someone who, in contrast to dear old “Advantage”, actually knows what he’s talking about….

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYNLsZepegI

          • RedLogix 1.1.1.1.1
            26 July 2017 at 11:31 am

            Yes. It would be interesting to get a panel of influential and experienced analysts like Greenwald, Warren, Pilger, Dwyer, Fisk, Sawyer, Stewart, Chomsky and the like into a room … and get them to see what facts they agree on and maybe reach a rough consensus on what is really happening.

            Because I’ve given up drawing any useful conclusions from the deluge of media drivel.

            • dukeofurl 1.1.1.1.1.1
              26 July 2017 at 1:15 pm

              Cant you getout of your seat and find out what the people on your list are saying ?

              You want others to tell you what the facts are ? Do you miss Even Hoxha that much ?

          • Ad 1.1.1.1.2
            26 July 2017 at 12:04 pm

            Morrissey this post is about the politics of the Democrats, and the part of the media in it.

            I’m quite happy to register Glenn Greenwald’s expertise. In his own field.

            So apply yourself to the purpose of the post.

            • Morrissey 1.1.1.1.2.1
              26 July 2017 at 12:11 pm

              Greenwald is an expert on the failure of the Democrats to address the reasons for their near-annihilation in American politics. Who do you think knows more than he does?

              • Ad …
                26 July 2017 at 12:32 pm

                He’s good at interpreting intelligence.
                He’s not a good political analyst.

                Again, this post is not about whether links to the Russians are true or not, but about the politics of the Democrats.

                As noted in the Chuck Schumer link, some Democrat leaders are getting beyond the Russia narrative. But most can’t, for the reasons I stated.

                Do you have any actual thoughts of your own on the matter?

                • Morrissey …
                  26 July 2017 at 9:52 pm

                  He’s good at interpreting intelligence.
                  So are most people, if they’re given the intelligence. Thanks to the likes of Messrs Manning, Snowden, Assange and other heroic figures, we now do.

                  He’s not a good political analyst.

                  On what basis do you feel able to make that statement?

                  Do you have any actual thoughts of your own on the matter?

                  Yes I do, and I have made them clear on this forum many times in the past.

                  • Ad …
                    26 July 2017 at 10:10 pm

                    Intelligence, accurate or not, has nothing to do with the post.

                    You haven’t figured that out yet, and you’re not capable of doing so, so I sure wasn’t proposing you do another extended rant about what you think true intelligence is.

                    Your failure to engage with the post simply illustrates that same inability to analyze politics that Greenwald has.

                    None of that is surprising, because you are attracted to Greenwald as a kindred spirit:

                    – There’s not a mainstream media outlet you don’t loathe or mistrust

                    – There’s no one else out there with your degree of accuracy

                    – No one can be as left or as righteous as you are

                    – The whole world is lying and only the chosen have the truth

                    – Since the world is irredeemably corrupt, that corruption represses those heroes of the truth into self-defined obscurity, and when pushed out into the world can only ever be martyrs

                    – Only the truth that you and the chosen reveal can ever matter

                    You will never get beyond any of this. You can’t get any of the points of the post because it’s about fluid political dynamics in the world of perpetually contested information, not immutable truths hidden by omnipotent conspiracy.

                    Which requires analysis neither you nor Glenn Greenwald are capable of.

            • RedLogix 1.1.1.1.2.2
              26 July 2017 at 1:10 pm

              My sense is more or less the opposite of yours Ad. The Dems have expended far too much energy and time rabidly distracted by this Russian matter, with so far nothing useful to show for it.

              And even IF they manage to impeach Trump on this, I doubt very much it would have any beneficial effect on a very sick body politic. Their energies would be far better focused on more constructive matters.

              • Ad …
                26 July 2017 at 1:50 pm

                We don’t oppose each other on that.

                It’s clearly hard for the Dems to extract themselves out of their current tactical direction. Their only saving grace so far is that the Republicans have not formed a united caucus and united programme to truly rule over that country as never before.

                I’m beginning to even despair about the 2018 Senate races for the Dems.

                I don’t see the possibility of impeachment unless there is a solid Democrat majority in the Senate.

                So I don’t see a way out of this for a long time, and I see every sign that Trump will make a very large and powerful country very unstable, which is no good for anyone.

          • dukeofurl 1.1.1.1.3
            26 July 2017 at 1:17 pm

            Greenwald was one of those getting their leaks from the Russians

            Yep nothing to see here
            https://theintercept.com/2016/10/09/exclusive-new-email-leak-reveals-clinton-campaigns-cozy-press-relationship/

    • Johan 1.2
      26 July 2017 at 9:18 am

      Garibaldi, you sound as if you have been watching too much RT propaganda.
      Just follow Trump’s money trail and income tax returns and he will be done like dinner.

    • RedLogix 1.3
      26 July 2017 at 11:17 am

      I’m in much the same camp myself Garibaldi. The Trump Jr. meeting with the Russian attorney is only interesting because of what we don’t know about it; ie exactly what was the information about the Dems being offered?

      While no-one wants to pretend Putin and his mates are lily-white angels, the levels of anti-Russian paranoia in Washington preclude any sane discourse on the topic and make it impossible to unpick the propaganda in any of the media anywhere in the world.

      Only one thing seems certain; Putin is an order of magnitude more cerebral and calculating than Trump.

      • Phil 1.3.1
        26 July 2017 at 12:49 pm

        The Trump Jr. meeting with the Russian attorney is only interesting because of what we don’t know about it; ie exactly what was the information about the Dems being offered?

        That’s like saying to your wife “I didn’t have an affair with that woman. Yes, I agreed to meet her because she said she wanted to f–k me, but we never actually got naked”.
        … and THEN trying to get out of that troubling statement by talking about which sex position you would have wanted to try with the other woman.

        Only one thing seems certain; Putin is an order of magnitude more cerebral and calculating than Trump.

        How do you calculate orders of magnitude if you’re dividing by zero?

        • RedLogix 1.3.1.1
          26 July 2017 at 1:03 pm

          Your metaphor is slick, but in this day and age with polyamory so fashionable in some circles, it carries less oomph than you may have hoped.

          OK Putin may be smarter, but Trump has way more low animal cunning.

  2. Paul Campbell 2
    26 July 2017 at 8:35 am

    Wait, are the apologising because they are not Republicans , or because others are not – that bumpersticker could equally be anti or pro republican

  3. Philj 3
    26 July 2017 at 8:42 am

    There is a growing movement to extinguish the Democratic Party and start a new party because of corruption @ the core.

    • dukeofurl 3.1
      26 July 2017 at 1:12 pm

      Where ?
      Any evidence of that at all?

      besides the example of Bernie shows he ran for the democratic nomination without even being a registered democrat. he won his senate seat without being involved with Democratic party

  4. dukeofurl 4
    26 July 2017 at 9:14 am

    Why rain on the parade ?

    When you dont have control of the leadership of either house of congress there is very little that can be done on a substantive level, enquiries etc

    In 18 months that might change if say the Senate flips to Democratic

  5. DH 5
    26 July 2017 at 9:16 am

    This post reads as wishful thinking to me. So far the Russia accusations have been a complete bust, the accusers have yet to produce one single iota of proof that the Trump team colluded with Russia. It’s all been hot air and to my mind it’s the US corporate media who are in disarray.

    • dukeofurl 5.1
      26 July 2017 at 10:47 am

      Trump jnr : I love it!

      he wasnt talking about maccas.

      • DH 5.1.1
        26 July 2017 at 11:14 am

        So what does that prove? He met someone with the hope of gaining incriminating evidence on an opponent. Who in politics hasn’t done, or wouldn’t do, that?

        The whole meeting brouha so far has been a complete bust, there’s been no evidence of collusion come out of it.

        • dukeofurl 5.1.1.1
          26 July 2017 at 1:10 pm

          Incriminating evidence from a foreign government obtained by hacking?
          Who hasnt done that !!!

          Its collusion all right, as Trump immediately after that meeting began tweeting about spilling secrets about Hillary!

          You do know its a federal offence to even accept money from a foreign government.

          before they were claiming ‘ no contacts’ with russians, now thats been blown out of the water, they are saying ‘no collusion’, that wont last either.

          • DH 5.1.1.1.1
            26 July 2017 at 3:30 pm

            “Incriminating evidence from a foreign government obtained by hacking?”

            That’s a typical example of the shrill shrieking that’s characterised this Russia nonsense to date.

            There hasn’t yet been any proof surface to suggest Trump jnr gained any incriminating evidence let alone from a foreign government and there also wasn’t any suggestion the (non-existent) evidence was obtained by hacking.

            Be honest about it. It would only be collusion if he actually colluded and there is no proof of that. He may well be guilty of collusion, who knows, but until someone can actually show some evidence of it he should get the same benefit of the doubt that everyone deserves.

            • dukeofurl 5.1.1.1.1.1
              26 July 2017 at 4:04 pm

              hello , you havent been keeping up

              “Goldstone emails Donald Trump Jr.:

              Good morning

              Emin [Agalarov] just called and asked me to contact you with something very interesting.

              The Crown prosecutor of Russia [error in terminology its 'Prosecutor General'] met with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.

              This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and it’s government’s support for Mr. Trump – helped along by Aras and Emin.

              “I can also send this info to your father via Rhona, but it is ultra sensitive so wanted to send to you first.

              “Rhona” is Rhona Graff, Donald Trump’s assistant.

              Hilary info… from the Russian gov!!!

              Colluding is when one side offers information and the other agrees to accept it.
              Yes, its unlikely this made much difference to the final result
              But these campaign speeches of Trump are a strong indication his henchmen had passed that the meeting with the Russians to get dirt was about to happen ( June 9)

              eg June 7
              Trump wins the primaries in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota, giving him the delegates to officially clinch the Republican nomination.

              “I am going to give a major speech on probably Monday of next week and we’re going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons. I think you’re going to find it very informative and very, very interesting.”

              “During his victory speech that night, Trump promises more dirt on Clinton.”

              And where does this ‘dirt’ come from’

              https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/07/11/what-happened-and-when-the-timeline-leading-up-to-donald-trump-jr-s-fateful-meeting/

              • DH …
                26 July 2017 at 4:28 pm

                You’ve posted a whole heap of assumptions there, try fronting up with some actual evidence.

                And lets add the relevant caveat from that WP article;

                “It has also been used as the jumping-off point for a number of broader theories of how the Trump campaign might have colluded with the Russian government. For example: Did that meeting precipitate Donald Trump’s tweet about Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails? Well, no, almost certainly not.

                Below, a timeline of the events leading up to that meeting and some of the theories that are floating around it.”

                Note the word ‘theories’ . Not fact, not evidence, not proof. Theories. He might have, he could have, he blah blah blah. All innuendo.

                • McFlock …
                  26 July 2017 at 4:38 pm

                  The actual evidence of Trump Jr, when offered dirt on Clinton that he was informed was supplied by the Russian authorities, responding “[…]if it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”

                  As supplied by… Trump Jr.

                  • DH …
                    26 July 2017 at 4:42 pm

                    You seem to assuming he loved that it was supplied by the Russian authorities. A more rational conclusion would be he loved the idea there might be some dirt on Clinton. Big difference there.

                    • McFlock …
                      26 July 2017 at 4:48 pm

                      Not when they’re in the same goddamn sentence.

                      He could at least have said “let’s not deal with the russians, but what sort of things are they talking about?”

                    • DH …
                      26 July 2017 at 5:04 pm

                      You’re speculating McFlock. You don’t know what he was referring to, the quoted text is too ambiguous to make any firm conclusion from.

                      It’s quite possible that Trump unknowingly dodged a bullet, with there being no actual dirt and thus no collusion. But the facts remain the story to date does not incriminate him in colluding with Russia. No amount of wishful thinking will make it so, it requires real evidence.

                    • McFlock …
                      26 July 2017 at 5:18 pm

                      You’re speculating McFlock. You don’t know what he was referring to, the quoted text is too ambiguous to make any firm conclusion from.

                      Except that it’s part of the email chain jr released, which clearly labels which message is replying to which and what other topics were discussed that jr might have loved. Short answer: none.

                      You’re grasping at straws.

                    • DH …
                      26 July 2017 at 5:21 pm

                      Well I’ll leave it there I think. I just hope that if you’re ever called up for jury duty you never make the final twelve.

                    • dukeofurl …
                      26 July 2017 at 5:58 pm

                      DH, you havent a clue how evidence in a court is used.

                • dukeofurl …
                  26 July 2017 at 5:55 pm

                  So the emails are assumptions ???

                  This may surprise you in your absolute proof world, but people get convicted for circumstantial evidence all the time.

        • Psycho Milt 5.1.1.2
          26 July 2017 at 2:05 pm

          Who in politics hasn’t done, or wouldn’t do, that?

          Well, that depends on whether the politician’s legal system says that accepting electoral assistance from a foreign government is a serious crime or not, doesn’t it? Trump Jr was offered the opportunity to commit a serious crime and jumped at the chance. If attempted collusion is on the books as well as actual collusion, he’s in deep shit.

          • DH 5.1.1.2.1
            26 July 2017 at 3:43 pm

            “Trump Jr was offered the opportunity to commit a serious crime”

            What planet are you on? There was no crime in attending the meeting.

            Too many people seem to be assuming and then accusing. The facts as they’ve been revealed to date do not show any crime nor do they show any collusion with a foreign Govt.

            One might create a tenuous claim of intent to collude but that wouldn’t even make a depositions hearing if it was illegal… which apparently it’s not.

            • McFlock 5.1.1.2.1.1
              26 July 2017 at 4:11 pm

              Oh, well, only an intent to collude, that’s all right then. They should cancel all investigations because there’s obviously nothing to see here lol

              • DH …
                26 July 2017 at 4:39 pm

                Ah, no. You’d be the one claiming intent. I don’t see it. I don’t know the man and I don’t pretend to know what his intentions were.

                All I profess to know is that I doubt there’s many, if any, politicians alive who would pass up the chance to find some dirt on their opposition.

                • McFlock …
                  26 July 2017 at 4:44 pm

                  lol

                  So you refuse to make any assumptions about Jr’s intent when he wrote ” I am on the road at the moment but perhaps I just speak to Emin first. Seems we have some time and if it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”, but you know what the overwhelming majority of living politicians would do.

                  You have exceptionally low opinion of politicians. But you don’t have this opinion about the trumps. What makes them of higher character than almost every other living politician?

                  • DH …
                    26 July 2017 at 5:10 pm

                    I haven’t made an opinion on the Trumps McFlock, why are you falsely stating that I have?

                    My opinion was that the Russia accusations have been a complete bust.

                    • McFlock …
                      26 July 2017 at 9:12 pm

                      I explicitly said that you don’t have an opinion about the trumps.

                      Which is my point, because your opinion of almost every other politician alive today is that they’d take the opportunity to get dirt on their opponents.

                      You have a low opinion of most politicians, but you have no similar opinion about the trumps. Why do the trumps get the benefit of the doubt in your opinion?

            • Psycho Milt 5.1.1.2.1.2
              26 July 2017 at 6:43 pm

              There was no crime in attending the meeting.

              Well, that’s for the investigation to find out, isn’t it? You seem to have a problem with my statement “Trump Jr was offered the opportunity to commit a serious crime.” I’m not sure why you would have a problem with it, because:

              1. It’s a serious crime for a US political team to accept assistance from a foreign power.

              2. Trump was offered such assistance.

              And indicated he would accept the offer if it was genuine, which is more than enough basis for investigating whether the assistance was actually provided.

        • McFlock 5.1.1.3
          26 July 2017 at 2:22 pm

          Who in politics hasn’t done, or wouldn’t do, that?

          Al Gore’s campaign were given unsolicited information on GW’s campaign and promptly turned it over it to the FBI.

          So even turning up to a meeting where parties are offering dirt on your competitors is not something everyone in politics hasn’t done or wouldn’t do – let alone when those parties are foerign nationals claiming to work with officials of a foreign government.

  6. Adrian Thornton 6
    26 July 2017 at 9:29 am

    Good post there advantage, I would disagree on a few points, but overall I think your analysis is pretty good, until your last line, ( unless I have read your meaning wrong)…
    ‘All the Democrats are doing is leaving the hard political work to the media. ‘

    The media share as much ( maybe more) blame in the pathetic spectacle of American politics today as the Democratic Party does…that is just a fact.

    I am not sure why you would think any thing that comes out of Chuck Schumer’s mouth has any weight, he is a fucking idiot, who probably did more to cost the Dems the election than any other single person (apart from Hillary)……
    “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”
    https://theintercept.com/2016/11/14/chuck-schumer-the-worst-possible-democratic-leader-at-the-worst-possible-time/

    As usual Chomsky unpacks American/Western politics concisely, with some good points about the Democratic party that relate to this post….

    On Contact: Noam Chomsky – Part I
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YdBzwJCpo8&t=18s&list=PLagVUKF7CUTRiG64CklL1AN0mbmNaETfp&index=4

    On Contact: Noam Chomsky – Part II
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkWVRlqzAMk

    • Adrian Thornton 6.1
      26 July 2017 at 11:12 am

      Sorry wrong first clip up there, although ironically enough it works just as well in this conversation on the death of the DNC as a viable progressive party, which is really what this is all about.

      The interview is a excellent one with Eugene Puryear, American activist and author on the US prison industrial complex, which as we all know, really got going in the modern sense under Bill Clinton and the Democrats…well worth viewing.

  7. Gabby 7
    26 July 2017 at 10:41 am

    Why would they want to get mixed up in the reblubbiblub shitstorm? Let them get on with chewing one another’s legs off for the next40 months.

    • dukeofurl 7.1
      26 July 2017 at 10:50 am

      The next election round is in 18 months. It wont be for the office of President but will be a read as a sign of the publics regards for Trump .

      • Gabby 7.1.1
        26 July 2017 at 11:05 am

        I’m guessing there’s all sorts of stuff going on at State level that we don’t hear about. Candidates notoriously spend most of their time begging for donations.

    • popexplosion 7.2
      26 July 2017 at 11:48 am

      Yeah who would want to get in between that shit storm. Obviously that’s the whole purpose of the trumpfad for noise and invective. Keeps everyone bedazzled and unsure. Secondly, Trump gone means Pence presidency. Third, democrats are split some like the voter backlash as cizitens realize Congress run by republicians passed Obama care broken and now have to fix it, so sit back and watch the shit storm as trump promised to fix it!!!!

  8. Draco T Bastard 8
    26 July 2017 at 3:34 pm

    He also ignored Russia violations of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (while simultaneously negotiating new START).

    Allegations of Russian Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty Violations—Where’s the Beef?

    Arms control critics frequently charge that the Russians are violating previous agreements. Often these charges are made with little or weak evidence, as with the current claim that Russia has violated the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. On examination, this claim has no basis.

    • dukeofurl 8.1
      26 July 2017 at 3:45 pm

      The USA is the biggest violator of the INF treaty as its armed drones come under the category of ‘cruise missile’ and ‘weapons delivery vehicle’
      Hence the reason these drone strikes are ‘official secrets’ never to be mentioned in open communications by high officials, you can read about it in any major US newspaper or TV source.

      INF Treaty definitions
      The term “cruise missile” means an unmanned, self-propelled vehicle that sustains flight through the use of aerodynamic lift over most of its flight path. The term “ground-launched cruise missile (GLCM)” means a ground-launched cruise missile that is a weapon-delivery vehicle.

      • Draco T Bastard 8.1.1
        26 July 2017 at 4:06 pm

        I consider the INF treaty as rather silly. I really can’t see the point in banning intermediate range missiles when the longer range missiles can also reach intermediate range.

        • dukeofurl 8.1.1.1
          26 July 2017 at 5:52 pm

          Well it did mean the Tomahawk and Pershing missiles were removed from Europe and Pershing dropped from inventory completely. The Tomahawk remained in sea and air launched versions.

          I think the main result was the ground launched bases in Europe where seen as first strike targets. So it was those bases were the issue rather than the targets, which as you said can be hit by other means

  9. francesca 9
    26 July 2017 at 5:08 pm

    For a start , Russia wasn’t the aggressor in Georgia
    Saakashvilli, encouraged by the Americans, launched the war by attacking and killing the Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia.
    The Americans left Saakashvili high and dry,Russia went in , beat the Georgians off and rather than carry on to Tbilisi withdrew

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/30/georgia-attacks-unjustifiable-eu

    Pointing out that little fact gets me called a Putin lover, I know, I can live with it

    The Democrats are like the tarbaby with the Russian thing now, they have pinned all their hopes on it and its not working, but the loss of face admitting its all bullshit would crucify them.They’re stuck with it and can’t move on

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-24/nsa-officials-and-computer-expert-forensic-evidence-proves-dnc-emails-were-leaked-no

    an interesting take on Russiagate, letter to Trump from ex US intelligence agents on independent forensic study of the 2 DNC tranches of information
    Leaks, not hacks with pretty compelling evidence if accurate

    • Ad 9.1
      26 July 2017 at 6:11 pm

      I wouldn’t dare to know the whole truth about a war.
      That looked like a really interesting report on the Georgia situation.

      It’ is going to take incredible resolve for the Democrats to generate a message of renewal and hope against a prevailing media tide of obsession with Trump and Russia.

      Who knows, perhaps we are consigned not to see a social democrat government again in the English speaking world for another decade. It’s just freaking sad to see it in the U.S.

    • Psycho Milt 9.2
      26 July 2017 at 6:55 pm

      Pointing out that little fact gets me called a Putin lover, I know, I can live with it

      Given that your “fact” needs quote marks around it, I’d say anyone calling you a Putin lover is onto something.

      From your linked article:

      The Russians had moved mercenaries and paramilitary forces into South Ossetia in apparent preparation for armed hostilities before Saakashvili’s disastrous offensive…

      The secession of South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia was branded illegal and Russian recognition of the two “states” in breach of international law.The report found that Moscow had been assiduously preparing the secession by, among other things, a policy of “passportification”, illegally distributing Russian passports on a mass scale among the breakaway populations.

      Later to become familiar territory in the much-better-publicised cases of Crimea and Donbas. Lucky the people running Ukraine were smarter than Saakashvili, I guess.

  10. Morrissey 10
    27 July 2017 at 12:42 pm

    Bewildered MSNBC hack runs up against Glenn Greenwald

    You almost have to feel sorry for this fool….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7lHOenYlhA

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Weekly Roundup 29-September-2023
    Welcome to Friday and the last one for September. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt highlighted at the latest with the City Rail Link. On Tuesday, Matt covered the interesting items from Auckland Transport’s latest board meeting agendas. On Thursday, a guest post from Darren Davis ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    3 hours ago

  • Protest at Parliament: The Reunion.
    Brian’s god spoke to him. He, for of course the Lord in Tamaki’s mind was a male god, with a mighty rod, and probably some black leathers. He, told Brian - “you must put a stop to all this love, hope, and kindness”. And it did please the Brian.He said ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 hours ago

  • Labour cuts $50m from cycleway spending
    Labour is cutting spending on cycling infrastructure while still trying to claim the higher ground on climate. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Labour Government released a climate manifesto this week to try to claim the high ground against National, despite having ignored the Climate Commission’s advice to toughen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 hours ago

  • The Greater Of Two Evils.
    Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very rarely is an opposition party elected ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 hours ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #39 2023
    Open access notables "Net zero is only a distraction— we just have to end fossil fuel emissions." The latter is true but the former isn't, or  not in the real world as it's likely to be in the immediate future. And "just" just doesn't enter into it; we don't have ...
    Skeptical Science
    14 hours ago

  • Chris Trotter: Losing the Left
    IN THE CURRENT MIX of electoral alternatives, there is no longer a credible left-wing party. Not when “a credible left-wing party” is defined as: a class-oriented, mass-based, democratically-structured political organisation; dedicated to promoting ideas sharply critical of laissez-faire capitalism; and committed to advancing democratic, egalitarian and emancipatory ideals across the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    16 hours ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    18 hours ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    18 hours ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    18 hours ago

  • Hipkins fires up in leaders’ debate, but has the curtain already fallen on the Labour-led coalitio...
    Labour’s  Chris Hipkins came out firing, in the  leaders’ debate  on Newshub’s evening programme, and most of  the pundits  rated  him the winner against National’s  Christopher Luxon. But will this make any difference when New  Zealanders  start casting their ballots? The problem  for  Hipkins is  that  voters are  all too ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    19 hours ago

  • Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a di...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Not long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”. The ministers were dishing ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    19 hours ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW: Election 2023 – a totemic & charisma failure?
    The D&W analysis Michael Grimshaw writes –  Given the apathy, disengagement, disillusionment, and all-round ennui of this year’s general election, it was considered time to bring in those noted political operatives and spin doctors D&W, the long-established consultancy firm run by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Known for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    21 hours ago

  • FROM BFD: Will Winston be the spectre we think?
    Kissy kissy. Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD. JC writes-  Allow me to preface this contribution with the following statement: If I were asked to express a preference between a National/ACT coalition or a National/ACT/NZF coalition then it would be the former. This week Luxon declared his position, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    22 hours ago

  • California’s climate disclosure bill could have a huge impact across the U.S.
    This re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Andy Furillo was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The California Legislature took a step last week that has the potential to accelerate the fight against climate ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Untangling South East Queensland’s Public Transport
    This is a cross post Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis. I recently visited Brisbane and South East Queensland and came away both impressed while also pondering some key changes to make public transport even better in the region. Here goes with my take on things. A bit of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    1 day ago

  • Try A Little Kindness.
    My daughter arrived home from the supermarket yesterday and she seemed a bit worried about something. It turned out she wanted to know if someone could get her bank number from a receipt.We wound the story back.She was in the store and there was a man there who was distressed, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • What makes NZFirst tick
    New Zealand’s longest-running political roadshow rolled into Opotiki yesterday, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters knowing another poll last night showed he would make it back to Parliament and National would need him and his party if they wanted to form a government. The Newshub Reid Research poll ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago

  • September AMA
    Hi,As September draws to a close — I feel it’s probably time to do an Ask Me Anything. You know how it goes: If you have any burning questions, fire away in the comments and I will do my best to answer. You might have questions about Webworm, or podcast ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago

  • Bludgers lying in the scratcher making fools of us all
    The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving. They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement wit...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements.  There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • ALEX HOLLAND: Labour’s spending
    Alex Holland writes –  In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • If not now, then when?
    Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • THE FACTS:  77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
    The Facts has posted –        KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
    The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so critical
    New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Old habits
    Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...
    Real ClimateBy rasmus
    2 days ago

  • Bennie Bashing.
    If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • The kindest cuts
    Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
    While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    2 days ago

  • At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • How could this happen?
    Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    3 days ago

  • Always Be Campaigning
    The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • STEPHEN FRANKS: Press seek to publicly shame doctor – we must push back
    The following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Competing on cruelty
    The right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Further funding for Pharmac (forgotten in the Budget?) looks like a $1bn appeal from a PM in need of...
    Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan  – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: The Vested interests shaping National Party policies
    As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Labour may be on way out of power and NZ First back in – but will Peters go into coalition with Na...
    Voters  are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris  Hipkins’  valiant  rearguard  action.  So  where  are they  heading?  Clearly  not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that  the  outcome  will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a  few weeks  ago  was ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    3 days ago

  • GRAHAM ADAMS: Will the racists please stand up?
    Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out. Graham Adams writes –    With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influence
    As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Tuesday’s Chorus: RBNZ set to rain on National's victory parade
    ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • After a Pittsburgh coal processing plant closed, ER visits plummeted
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • September-23 AT Board Meeting
    Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Electorate Watch: West Coast-Tasman
    Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Big money brings Winston back
    National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • 20 days until Election Day, 7 until early voting begins… but what changes will we really see here?
    As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    4 days ago

  • A night out
    Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • A pallid shade of Green III
    Clearly Labour's focus groups are telling it that it needs to pay more attention to climate change - because hot on the heels of their weaksauce energy efficiency pilot programme and not-great-but-better-than-nothing solar grants, they've released a full climate manifesto. Unfortunately, the core policies in it - a second Emissions ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • A coalition of racism, cruelty, and chaos
    Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • More migrant workers should help generate the tax income needed to provide benefits for job seekers
    Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Letter To Luxon.
    Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbers
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.   Brian Easton writes –  Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • CRL Progress – Sep-23
    It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Monday’s Chorus: Not building nearly enough
    We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Game on; Hipkins comes out punching
    Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • Tax Cut Austerity Blues.
    The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW:  It’s the economy – and the spirit – Stupid…
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 17, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 23, 2023. Story of the Week  Opinion: Let’s free ourselves from the story of economic growth A relentless focus on economic growth has ushered in ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • The End Of The World.
    Have you been looking out of your window for signs of the apocalypse? Don’t worry, you haven’t been door knocked by a representative of the Brian Tamaki party. They’re probably a bit busy this morning spruiking salvation, or getting ready to march on our parliament, which is closed. No, I’ve ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Climate Town: The Brainwashing Of America's Children
    Climate Town is the YouTube channel of Rollie Williams and a ragtag team of climate communicators, creatives and comedians. They examine climate change in a way that doesn’t make you want to eat a cyanide pill. Get informed about the climate crisis before the weather does it for you. The latest ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Has There Been External Structural Change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was similar to the May Budget BEFU, ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago

  • Another Labour bully
    Back in June, we learned that Kiri Allan was a Parliamentary bully. And now there's another one: Labour MP Shanan Halbert: The Labour Party was alerted to concerns about [Halbert's] alleged behaviour a year ago but because staffers wanted to remain anonymous, no formal process was undertaken [...] The ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Climate Change: Ignoring our biggest problem
    Its that time in the election season where the status quo parties are busy accusing each other of having fiscal holes in a desperate effort to appear more "responsible" (but not, you understand, by promising to tax wealth or land to give the government the revenue it needs to do ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • JERRY COYNE: A good summary of the mess that is science education in New Zealand
    JERRY COYNE writes –  If you want to see what the government of New Zealand is up to with respect to science education, you can’t do better than listening to this video/slideshow by two exponents of the “we-need-two-knowledge-systems” view. I’ve gotten a lot of scary stuff from Kiwi ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Good news on the GDP front is accompanied by news of a $5m govt boost for Supercars (but what about ...
    Buzz from the Beehive First, we were treated to the news (from Finance Minister Grant Robertson) that the economy has turned a corner and New Zealand never was in recession.  This was triggered by statistics which showed the economy expanded 0.9 per cent in the June quarter, twice as much as ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • The Scafetta Saga
    It has taken 17 months to get a comment published pointing out the obvious errors in the Scafetta (2022) paper in GRL. Back in March 2022, Nicola Scafetta published a short paper in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) purporting to show through ‘advanced’ means that ‘all models with ECS > ...
    Real ClimateBy Gavin
    7 days ago

  • Friday's Chorus: Penny wise and pound foolish
    TL;DR: In the middle of a climate emergency and in a city prone to earthquakes, Victoria University of Wellington announced yesterday it would stop teaching geophysics, geographic information science and physical geography to save $22 million a year and repay debt. Climate change damage in Aotearoa this year is already ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: Calling the big dog’s bluff
      For nearly thirty years the pundits have been telling the minor parties that they must be good little puppies and let the big dogs decide. The parties with a plurality of the votes cast must be allowed to govern – even if that means ignoring the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • The electorate swing, Labour limbo and Luxon-Hipkins two-step
     Another poll, another 27 for Labour. It was July the last time one of the reputable TV company polls had Labour's poll percentage starting with a three, so the limbo question is now being asked: how low can you go?It seems such an unlikely question because this doesn't feel like the kind ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    1 week ago

  • A Womance, and a Nomance.
    After the trench warfare of Tuesday night, when the two major parties went head to head, last night was the turn of the minor parties. Hosts Newshub termed it “the Powerbrokers' Debate”.Based on the latest polls the four parties taking part - ACT, the Greens, New Zealand First, and Te ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • When The Internet Rushes To Your Defense
    Hi,You can’t make this stuff up.People involved with Sound of Freedom, the QAnon-infused movie about anti-child trafficker Tim Ballard, are dropping like flies. I won’t ruin your day by describing it here, but Vice reports that footage has emerged of executive producer Paul Hutchinson being inappropriate with a 16-year-old trafficking ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago

  • Doubts about Robertson’s good news day
    The trading banks yesterday concluded that though GDP figures released yesterday show the economy is not in recession, it may well soon be. Nevertheless, the fact that GDP has gone up 0.8 per cent in the latest quarter and that StatsNZ revised the previous quarter’s figure to show a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • The Votes That Media Dare Not Speak Its Name
    .Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..A recent political opinion poll (20 September) on TV1 presented what could only be called bleak news for the Left Bloc:National: 37%, down two points equating to 46 seatsLabour: 27%, down one point (34 ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    1 week ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #38 2023
    Open access notables At our roots Skeptical Science is about cognition of the results of climate science research in the minds of the entire human population. Ideally we'd be perfectly communicating understanding of Earth's climate, and perfectly understood. We can only approximate that, but hopefully converging closer to perfection. With ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Failing To Hold Back The Flood: The Edgy Politics of the Twenty-First Century.
    Coming Over The Top: Rory Stewart's memoir, Politics On The Edge, lays bare the dangerous inadequacies of the Western World's current political model.VERY FEW NEW ZEALANDERS will have heard of Rory Stewart. Those with a keen eye for the absurdities of politics may recognise the name as that of the ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households
    Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago

  • Huge boost to Te Tai Tokerau flood resilience
    The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Napier’s largest public housing development comes with solar
    The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
    Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefit
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    5 days ago

  • Immigration settings updates
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    6 days ago

  • Poroporoaki: Tā Patrick (Patu) Wahanga Hohepa
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    7 days ago

  • Renewable energy fund to support community resilience
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    7 days ago

  • COVID-19 funding returned to Government
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    7 days ago

  • Appointment of District Court Judge
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    7 days ago

  • Government invests further in Central Hawke’s Bay resilience
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    1 week ago

  • Govt boost for Hawke’s Bay cyclone waste clean-up
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    1 week ago

  • Taupō Supercars revs up with Government support
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    1 week ago

  • There is no recession in NZ, economy grows nearly 1 percent in June quarter
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    1 week ago

  • Highest legal protection for New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs
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    1 week ago

  • More support for victims of migrant exploitation
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    1 week ago

  • Strong export boost as NZ economy turns corner
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    1 week ago

  • Funding approved for flood resilience work in Te Karaka
    The Government has approved $15 million to raise about 200 homes at risk of future flooding. More than half of this is expected to be spent in the Tairāwhiti settlement of Te Karaka, lifting about 100 homes there. “Te Karaka was badly hit during Cyclone Gabrielle when the Waipāoa River ...
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    1 week ago

  • Further business support for cyclone-affected regions
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    1 week ago

  • New maintenance facility at Burnham Military Camp underway
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    1 week ago

  • Foreign Minister to attend United Nations General Assembly
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    1 week ago

  • Midwives’ pay equity offer reached
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    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand provides support to Morocco
    Aotearoa New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “We are making a contribution of $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help meet humanitarian needs,” Nanaia Mahuta said. ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests in West Coast’s roading resilience
    The Government is investing over $22 million across 18 projects to improve the resilience of roads in the West Coast that have been affected by recent extreme weather, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today.  A dedicated Transport Resilience Fund has been established for early preventative works to protect the state ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests in Greymouth’s future
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    2 weeks ago

  • Nanaia Mahuta to attend PIF Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
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    2 weeks ago

  • PREFU shows no recession, growing economy, more jobs and wages ahead of inflation
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    2 weeks ago

  • New cancer centre opens in Christchurch
    Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall proudly opened the Canterbury Cancer Centre in Christchurch today. The new facility is the first of its kind and was built with $6.5 million of funding from the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group scheme for shovel-ready projects allocated in 2020. ...
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    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests in top of the south’s roading resilience
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    3 weeks ago

  • New Zealanders continue to support the revitalisation of te reo as we celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Mā...
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    3 weeks ago

  • New Wildlife Act to better protect native species
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    3 weeks ago

  • Further safety initiatives for Auckland City Centre
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    3 weeks ago

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