Caffeine Addict

Stuff headline: NZ needs to have a 'mature conversation' about selling state assets, PM says

Luxon thinks we need a "mature conversation" about selling state assets... But I don't think he really means that, because a mature conversation would look at the history of failure and the shortsighted focus on profit ahead of public interest.

He wants a conversation where we agree with him.

Israeli soldiers speak out on killings of Gaza civilians IDF soldiers tell documentary of opening fire unprovoked and arbitrary designations of who was an enemy Israeli soldiers have described a free-for-all in Gaza and a breakdown in norms and legal constraints, with civilians killed at the whim of individual officers, according to testimony in a TV documentary. “If you want to shoot without restraint, you can,” Daniel, the commander of an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tank unit, says in Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War, due to be broadcast in the UK on ITV on Monday evening. Continue reading...

Israeli soldiers speak out on killings of Gaza civilians

Send it to your MP

It should be requirement that any MP's office paid for by Parliamentary Services be accessible from a public place - the effect of this privately issued trespass notice is that all who have received them cannot now visit the MP's office at all (for protest or other reasons) for a 2 year period.

not true. unemployment was higher in 2011 and 2012. In 2010, New Zealand had approximately 159,000 unemployed people, lower than in 2011 and 2012, but higher than in 2025.

Yep. Me.

Those who didnt get vaccinated and did not hanmve cancer are even more likely to be alive

Just want to say Matt is the real deal when he gets his teeth into something.

Can you believe the stuff written about Netball NZ but nobody wants to write about Swimming NZ which is worse

It's unpaywalled now

Wait, so Tim Jago was operating as a part of a *ring* of pedophiles, he somehow escaped scrutiny then by throwing his mates under the bus I assume, and it took nearly 10 years for police to realize he was a part of it too?

This article's from 2015 ffs.

Screenshot text from The Guardian: He believes the Armageddon will be ushered in by an antichrist-type figure who cultivates a fear of existential threats such as climate change, AI and nuclear war to amass inordinate power. The idea is this figure will convince people to do everything they can to avoid something like a third world war, including accepting a one-world order charged with protecting everyone from the apocalypse that implements a complete restriction of technological progress. In his mind, this is already happening. Thiel said that international financial bodies, which make it more difficult for people to shelter their wealth in tax havens, are one sign the antichrist may be amassing power and hastening Armageddon, saying: “It’s become quite difficult to hide one’s money.” It’s because the antichrist talks about Armageddon nonstop. We’re all scared to death that we’re sleepwalking into Armageddon. And then because we know world war three will be an unjust war, that pushes us. We’re going hard towards peace at any price. What I worry about in that sort of situation is you don’t think too hard about the details of the peace and it becomes much more likely that you get an unjust peace. This is, by the way, the slogan of the antichrist: 1 Thessalonians 5:3. It’s peace and safety, sort of the unjust peace. Let me conclude on this choice of antichrist or Armageddon. And again, in some ways the stagnation and the existential risks are complementary, not contradictory. The existential risk pushes us towards stagnation and distracts us from it. How does Thiel think Armageddon will happen? Thiel rarely gives a definitive answer about who exactly the antichrist might be or how Armageddon might come about – a central point across his lectures is that nothing is written in stone or inevitable – but he does give the contours of what a global conflict that could lead to Armageddon might look like.

People paid $200 a ticket to listen to Peter Thiel do bog issue antisemitism for four lectures about his belief in the antichrist.

Lots of fools wishing to be relieved of their money, I guess.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The new Wellington City Council will include 5 Labour councillors and 4 Green councillors, plus Andrew Little, giving the two party "coalition" an increased governing majority - 10 out of 16 votes, compared to 8 under the previous council.

Lols. Awesome.

Decided not to vote in local body elections..voting. in wgtn is like going to hell and asking the devil if it will be hot or very hot.

OMG the National Party totally screwed up the vote on the Broadcasting Bill. First they didn’t have signed proxies for the conscience vote. Then they didn’t have the 20 members in the house required for a conscience vote - so the vote is a nullity. Politics 101 learn to count !!!

Oh they know all right. If I do, they did

What they announce on Sundays..

When students' brains go quiet

Comment from Auckland University: Students starting to learn with AI is the difference between using a calculator after understanding math versus never learning math because calculators exist.

Government explored ban on people voting outside their electorate The justice minister had said it was “worth exploring” requiring people to be in their electorate to vote, one of the ideas for cutting down on the number of special votes.

The Govt explored the idea of barring people from voting outside of their electorate - about 149k votes last time - but ultimately ditched the idea.

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Former Act Party President Tim Jago loses all aspects of his appeal against conviction for historical sexual offending and his sentence of 2.5 years’ jail.

Three judges of Court of Appeal say the imprisonment sentence was “stern” but open to the judge and in accord with law.

“First, the use of parliamentary urgency needs constraining.”
#nzpol

Prime minister says it’s OK he was gifted Ed Sheeran tickets by Eden Park The prime minister and tourism minister, both big-upping potential Eden Park changes on Monday, were gifted Ed Sheeran and Luke Combs tickets.

Both of the ministers announcing the Eden Park concert review at post-cab on Monday received free concert tix from Eden Park in recent years.

But they say it is totally above board and a "decision" has not actually been made.

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

I bet aliens ride past earth and lock their doors

#signsilliness

here has been a joke going around Labour MPs over the past week about three envelopes in Soviet Russia. "Whenever you run into trouble, open them in order," the instructions go. Envelope one says: "Blame your predecessor." So he does - and it works. The party officials are satisfied. A year later, problems arise again. He opens envelope two. It says: "Restructure the organisation." He does a big reshuffle, changes some titles, and again buys himself some time. Finally, another crisis comes. He opens envelope three. It says: "Prepare three envelopes."

A famous GlF has been doing the rounds on Labour WhatsApp groups in the last couple of weeks. Taken from a comic strip by KC Green, it shows a dog called Question Hound sitting at a table with a cup of coffee, ignoring the fact that the room he is sitting in is on fire. Above him is the legend 'THIS IS FINE. For many Labour MPs, the image perfectly sums up No.10's attitude towards the multiple crises facing the government.

There’s a real generational divide between Labour MPs leaking to the Guardian and Labour MPs leaking to the Huffington Post

If you are the leader of the opposition, and the current government is a total shitshow, and the primeminister is Luxon, but you are still lagging behind him in the preferred primeminister polls, it might just be time to step aside.
#nzpol

Lol they can get stuffed.

Shame the recordings are not available. Some people lead busy lives and cant watch when they are on.

Next question. Would you even vote for Christopher Luxon?

Finance Minister Nicola Willis accuses Labour of reckless approach to spending New Zealand has been praised for it's long-term commitment to prudent fiscal policies but the coalition government is under pressure from business leaders.

Woman who spunked $671,000,000+ not buying any ferries and also spunked billions on tax cuts for landlords accuses Labour of reckless spending and I nearly died laughing.💩
#NickyNoBoats
#OneTermGovernment
#nzpol