Featuring the podcast of our weekly Hoon live webinar, plus five things that mattered this week, including the latest big housing, climate and political news in Aotearoa, and in geopolitics
I agree with you Patricia that all governments lie. And yes this government is right-wing as opposed to left wing. But it has been elected into power by majority of New Zealanders. They are representing the wishes of the New Zealand population. They represent the majority of New Zealanders. So it is New Zealanders who decided but at this point in time these are the policies to be implemented. I think this is often forgotten. We live in a democracy and when we blame a democratically elected government We really need to remember that this is not Chris Luxon and Nicola Willis that we dealing with. We didn't with the voters who elected them into power. This needs to be respected in my view. And where are the policies of this government will make better or worse New Zealand is yet to be seen. They have only been in power for a bit more than 100 days. I think we need to give him a chance and give them time.
If you think Putins thuggery is deplorable you should open your eyes to the violence, depravity and suffering if the Palestinians at the hands of Israel. They make Putin look like a choir boy, but in the case of Israel it’s not one dictatorial leader it’s a whole psychopathic society that’s behind a genocide, enabled by spineless western politicians and corporate media lackeys. It seems our media is also complicit in the genocide, the reporting here on atrocities committed by Israel and disregard for international law is scant.
Bernard, I have been listening to your fascinating discussion about the electrification of New Zealand. Mr Casey said he wanted to hear from people who had started the journey but he gave the website details too quickly for me to write down. Now I have started that journey and I would like to tell him my experience. So what is that website?
I am growing tired of the myopic and one-sided treatment of anything having to do with Russia. Comments about the possibility that Ukraine was involved in the terrorist attack on Moscow are not put into any kind of real time context, but instead plastered with that now odious label, 'conspiracy theory', as if just shouting the phrase will thoroughly debunk any claim. Firstly, it was the USA who started the whole ball rolling by declaring within a few hours that it was not Ukraine. This is just silly. Many people have said that the same expedited omniscient knowledge, moments after the event, even before an investigation has started, could have been applied to the Nordstream Pipeline Bombing, which failed to present findings after an 18 month investigation. If one were to treat this as a criminal investigation, which it is, then Ukraine is absolutely a legitimate suspect. To say otherwise would negate every Police Procedural TV show we have ever seen. Also inline with a criminal investigation, one would have to look at those who have made publics statements indicating intention to commit a crime. That would be Ukrainian and US officials. Victoria Nuland mentions asymmetric warfare, aka terrorism. So in our beloved Police Procedural, the man who has talked about wanting the victim dead is hauled in for questioning. Add to that the admission in a public interview by the head of Ukrainian SBU that Ukraine has been responsible for multiple terrorist attacks in Russia, and the Kerch Bridge bombings. Sorry, are we no longer able to hold actual investigations these days? Since when is the country who experienced terrorism treated as the perpetrator? Everything said about Russia in the wake of the Moscow Attack could be said about the USA after 9/11, or UK after terrorist attacks it experienced. Instead, USA and UK received an outpouring of sympathy and a thumbs up for unlimited bombing campaigns in unrelated countries. The resounding lack of empathy toward a particular country speaks to the loss of our own civility and humanity. When we can't separate our ideological feelings about a country and the normal processes we supposedly adhere to, then we are no longer capable of leading anything.
Thank you, Bernard and Lynn, for your energy and clarity of your thinking and analysis. Have a well earned break.
The tax cuts are not necessarily funded by debt. Sarah shared an excellent article in this issue. https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/350229451/government-really-having-borrow-pay-tax-cuts
I agree with you Patricia that all governments lie. And yes this government is right-wing as opposed to left wing. But it has been elected into power by majority of New Zealanders. They are representing the wishes of the New Zealand population. They represent the majority of New Zealanders. So it is New Zealanders who decided but at this point in time these are the policies to be implemented. I think this is often forgotten. We live in a democracy and when we blame a democratically elected government We really need to remember that this is not Chris Luxon and Nicola Willis that we dealing with. We didn't with the voters who elected them into power. This needs to be respected in my view. And where are the policies of this government will make better or worse New Zealand is yet to be seen. They have only been in power for a bit more than 100 days. I think we need to give him a chance and give them time.
If you think Putins thuggery is deplorable you should open your eyes to the violence, depravity and suffering if the Palestinians at the hands of Israel. They make Putin look like a choir boy, but in the case of Israel it’s not one dictatorial leader it’s a whole psychopathic society that’s behind a genocide, enabled by spineless western politicians and corporate media lackeys. It seems our media is also complicit in the genocide, the reporting here on atrocities committed by Israel and disregard for international law is scant.
Bernard, I have been listening to your fascinating discussion about the electrification of New Zealand. Mr Casey said he wanted to hear from people who had started the journey but he gave the website details too quickly for me to write down. Now I have started that journey and I would like to tell him my experience. So what is that website?
I am growing tired of the myopic and one-sided treatment of anything having to do with Russia. Comments about the possibility that Ukraine was involved in the terrorist attack on Moscow are not put into any kind of real time context, but instead plastered with that now odious label, 'conspiracy theory', as if just shouting the phrase will thoroughly debunk any claim. Firstly, it was the USA who started the whole ball rolling by declaring within a few hours that it was not Ukraine. This is just silly. Many people have said that the same expedited omniscient knowledge, moments after the event, even before an investigation has started, could have been applied to the Nordstream Pipeline Bombing, which failed to present findings after an 18 month investigation. If one were to treat this as a criminal investigation, which it is, then Ukraine is absolutely a legitimate suspect. To say otherwise would negate every Police Procedural TV show we have ever seen. Also inline with a criminal investigation, one would have to look at those who have made publics statements indicating intention to commit a crime. That would be Ukrainian and US officials. Victoria Nuland mentions asymmetric warfare, aka terrorism. So in our beloved Police Procedural, the man who has talked about wanting the victim dead is hauled in for questioning. Add to that the admission in a public interview by the head of Ukrainian SBU that Ukraine has been responsible for multiple terrorist attacks in Russia, and the Kerch Bridge bombings. Sorry, are we no longer able to hold actual investigations these days? Since when is the country who experienced terrorism treated as the perpetrator? Everything said about Russia in the wake of the Moscow Attack could be said about the USA after 9/11, or UK after terrorist attacks it experienced. Instead, USA and UK received an outpouring of sympathy and a thumbs up for unlimited bombing campaigns in unrelated countries. The resounding lack of empathy toward a particular country speaks to the loss of our own civility and humanity. When we can't separate our ideological feelings about a country and the normal processes we supposedly adhere to, then we are no longer capable of leading anything.