Open mike 03/05/2024

Written By: notices and features - Date published: - 24 comments
Categories: open mike


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24 comments on “Open mike 03/05/2024”

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  1. 1

    A man with a knowledge of flying high and then coming back down to earth to go to work

    https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/dismissal-rt-hon-winston-peters

    (end of a coalition over Wellington airport).

    realises the worth of investing in the longevity of his term by keeping Winston Peters on side.

    After all a bob for car insurance is more easily afforded. And how much an Australian politician (not of the party of the current Oz government, so no risk) is worth is a fun topic (and safe ground) for a Kiwi politician.

    1. 1.1

      There was a classic cartoon in Aussie of the Taliban in the early 2000s calling out the USA and its flunkys or some such and Jon Howard desperately pawing through the release , filled with anxiety that they had forgotten Australia. Never fear, they were just not at the top of the list…

      2. 1.1.2

        Sure Howard was proud of being their deputy sheriff. Oz in the big leagues. Now advancing to nuclear powered subs.

    2. 1.2

      And how much (the reputation) an Australian politician (not of the party of the current Oz government, nor its policy so no risk) is worth (and could be depreciated in value) is a fun topic (and safe ground) for a Kiwi politician.

      But might influence for a while the debate that the both the coalition and opposition seem to want on foreign/defence/security policy. Whether related to Gaza, or AUKUS.

      PS. John Howard was called a deputy sheriff of/for the Americans by those on the left, but seemed more proud of it than offended. Yet Bob Carr would rather take offence than remain a participant in the policy debate.

  2. 2

    Audrey and Claire are full of performative confusion and want to know why it is National is plummeting in the polls.

    It is actually pretty simple. People voted for the complacent amnesia and property ponzi of Key and English. What they got is the arrogance and rigidity of Ruth Richardon and the arrogance of Bishop and Jones with the PM MIA.

  3. 3

    Well, that’s accurate given the negativity of their coalition, it’s incompetence, arrogance and corruption and it’s refusal to do any mahi or heavy lifting on the things that urgently need doing.

    Jo Moir tries a bit harder than the guys above:

    It creates a negative framing of the work they're doing and makes it hard to sell a positive story.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/515540/analysis-what-the-shock-poll-tells-us-about-the-coalition-government

  4. 4

    Ms. Moir has also found the next most incompetent National minister who has to be throwing his hat in the sack race:

    Luxon has already had to walk back his categorical assurance to RNZ on Monday night that all programmes in the Budget will be fully funded over four years.

    The Prime Minister has been highly critical of Labour's "fiscal cliffs" and time-limited funding it left for the Coalition, but Luxon conceded on Morning Report on Tuesday that there will be some time-limited funding.

    It's an early walkback and while it's better to clear that up now, Luxon shouldn't have put himself in that position in the first place.

    Ministers from coalition partners can be as incompetent, defamatory and ghoulish as they like- they aren’t getting shitcanned by nobody, of course. The Epsom electorate welfare handout for life!

    1. 5.1

      There is nothing principled in US dealings with the ICC. To them it is just a means to manipulate public perceptions.

      Maureen Clare Murphy writing at electronic intifada says:

      Anyone supposing that the newfound enthusiasm in Washington for the International Criminal Court would open the door for justice for Palestinians ought not to hold their breath…

      …since 2015, the US has conditioned aid to the Palestinian Authority on the latter not initiating or actively supporting ICC activity “that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.”

      Moreover, it is becoming apparent that any charges laid against Netanyahu will necessarily open charges against the US for complicity in the crime of genocide.

      Officials with four US bureaus have told Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, that Israel’s assurances that it is using American weapons in compliance with international law are not “credible or reliable,” according to an internal State Department memo reviewed by Reuters.

      A national security memorandum issued by Biden in February requires Blinken to report to Congress by 8 May on the credibility of Israel’s assurances.

      US law prohibits military assistance to a state that obstructs the delivery of humanitarian aid provided by Washington.

      Continued support for the Israeli genocide beyond May 8 will have repercussions since it is already known that Israel is not complying with US law.

      The opposing dilemas on a very fast train that is set for collision:

      Washington’s incantations declaring its “ironclad” support for Israel and Israel’s supposed right to self-defense should be understood as a declaration of preserving Israeli impunity at all costs.

      Informing Israel’s panic over the ICC is the fact that it can only maintain its regime of settler-colonization, apartheid and occupation in Palestine with the support of the world’s sole superpower.

      But that support is eroding due to widespread disgust towards Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza.

      Decades of bipartisan support for Israel is viewed by many as a strategic liability from which the US gains little benefit – increasingly so as a desperate Netanyahu attempts to drag Washington into a catastrophic regional war.

      Bidens choice, but either appears to signal a serious depletion of a fast dwindling stock of exceptionalism. Who would of thought that taking the side of the victims of a genocide from the beginning would have been the exceptional thing to do??

      https://electronicintifada.net/content/how-washington-shapes-icc-its-own-aims/38266

      https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/us-implicated-israeli-impunity-nears-its-end

  7. 7

    Haha more funnies. The UK Tories brought in a photo id requirement for election voting, despite voter fraud not being an issue, following the culture war trend of Trump's election fraud assertions

    Boris Johnson turned away from local body voting station because he forgot to bring his id

    1. 8.1

      The Maori party are the winners..surely..?

      They got what they got raising only $160,000…

    1. 10.1

      Donations protected from disclosure

      1)No party may currently receive more than $373,520 from donations protected from disclosure between two successive elections.

      2) amount disclosed 2023 is just below this …$363,390…fishy close but not over

      3)The current maximum amount that an individual or body can donate to any one party through this process is $56,028 between two successive elections.

      4)Highest donation this year is $130,390 which vastly exceeds the max for any person or body

      NO donations to national that are protected from disclosure were made in previous 2 years …. nek minite

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