Shrinkflation

Yes, we know it's very real.

Luxon Holds On

New Zealand's Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, has survived his second caucus vote of no confidence in his leadership, both occurring within four months. He lacks the full support of his team leading up to a General Election in November and he must now be considering his future.

Many are pointing to his many gaffes, the worst being his comments to a small business conference that they needed to grow up. That went down like a lead balloon.

Luxon has never owned a business, like so many politicians these days. He is out of touch with the kinds of sacrifices business owners make each day. Prior to politics, Luxon swanned around in the private corporate space, the last spell being as CEO of Air New Zealand. That's not a real job as NZ's national airline is not allowed to fail. The taxpayer always bails it out. 

But, I know why Luxon is disliked by Kiwis everywhere. He's weak, a fence sitter, and he doesn't like his job. I wouldn't be surprised to find he's intentionally trying to lose the election. That way, if he does lose at the polls he can easily re-enter the cloistered environment of big business. 

Also, it doesn't help that he looks like a dodgy timeshare salesman from the nineties. He wears tightly fitting shiny suits and shaves his head chrome dome. He looks dodgy and when he speaks he sounds like a prick. 

The question therefore is how did this person get the top job in the land. Has NZ sunk that low?

For the National Party, the news is not all bad as polling shows Luxon has little bearing on party support. Farmers will vote National, they'll just hold their nose while doing so.

Clacton By-election

Tomorrow, the people of Clacton will vote in a by-election to decide whether they support Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK. This is an important election as it could determine how the political landscape is shaped following the result.

Labour, Conservatives, LibDems and the Greens have declined to offer candidates. Kemi Badenoch is leader of the Conservatives and she has called the election fake. No, it isn't fake Ms Badenoch, your comment shows disdain for the democratic process. Or, does her party lack ideas altogether?

I'll make further comment on the result after the votes are counted. It does appear the United Kingdom is reaching a crisis point, but I'm sure a lot of water is yet to flow under the bridge.

Content Creation Online

Twenty-five years ago, it was predicted the internet would replace the established old-school media landscape with its traditional advertising model. For specialist niches, a lot of this was print based. I've done a lot of advertising in trade publications, with mixed success. Generally speaking, advertising could get very expensive, very quickly.

Now we have the rise of online content creators, proving those early predictions. I was a little surprised to find that personal finance is the most profitable for content creators with a solid following. The following article outlines things rather well. Note the reference to CPM and RPM. CPM is cost per mille, or cents per 1,000, that is, how much you spend for 1,000 views. In my day, this could be very expensive if you were targeting capital intensive industries with very defined targets in mind. RPM is revenue per mille, or earnings in cents or dollars per 1,000 views. CPM is how much you spend, RPM how much you're getting back. Clearly, you want to maximise revenue and not spend too much to get it. 

These days, individuals equipped with just a few essential pieces of equipment can deliver as much reach as large corporates. It does look as if some large traditional media companies are about to become dinosaurs.

https://outlierkit.com/blog/most-profitable-youtube-niches

The highest CPM YouTube niches in 2026 are Personal Finance ($15-22 CPM), Make Money Online ($15-20 CPM), Legal/Court Drama ($12-18 CPM), Digital Marketing ($12-18 CPM), and Real Estate ($10-16 CPM).

Quality Rant from English Lady

June Slater tells it like it is, she's voting Reform UK. Nigel Farage has his by-election date on the 13th of this month, and the media are promoting Count Binface. Binface is not some radical, he's a BBC type who wants the UK to re-join the EU, which makes him a reactionary.

The establishment are doing all they can to destroy Reform. They'll stop at nothing.

Climate Change Fad Over

Well, that was that, the climate change alarmists have gone quiet. Turns out war, deindustrialisation and low birth rates are far more immediate crises.

RFK Jr Calls Out the Media

Remember when trust the science became code words for do as you're told? I certainly do, and the Trump administration appears well aware of it. I liked RFK Jr, and his running mate Nicole Shanahan, and it's good at least one of the pair found their way into some level of authority.

More Calls for Infantino to Go

Gianni Infantino must be sacked.

Infantino Must Go!

After North and Central America then Asia also objected to the idea of the World Cup allowing private investment, FIFA has dropped the idea.

Now, sack Infantino. Weird to think people are now starting to miss the days of Sepp Blatter and his brown paper bag era.

UEFA Could Boycott FIFA

It's good to see someone finally standing for something. The plans by FIFA to effectively sell the World Cup to private interests are obscene. Gianni Infantino has to go. 

If the plans do go ahead, Association Football (soccer or just football to many) will become like the WWE, just a display of skill with no real meaning.

This year's World Cup was a disaster, what with surge pricing and hydration breaks. And the halftime show during the final was ridiculous.

If UEFA boycott, they could run their own competition in direct competition. Outside of Europe, only Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina have won World Cups, the game is dominated by the Europeans.

https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/02a7-213a92896eb0-54dfbf454e3b-1000--statement-on-behalf-of-uefa-and-its-55-national-associations/

UEFA and its 55 member associations stand as one. We unanimously and unequivocally reject FIFA’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors.

The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product. It is one of football’s greatest sporting legacies. It has been built over generations by players, national teams and supporters across every continent. No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.

Is Our Money Safe?

The greatest risk of AI is its ability to hack our finances. One day, we may wake up to find our money has disappeared. 

AI is a useful tool, but it is often wrong, and not in shape to be full trusted.

The Opportunity Party

New Zealand voters will have noticed the rise of The Opportunity Party, TOP, in the polls. The media is pushing them hard, not a day goes by without them being mentioned.

Rumour is, they've been taken over by Labour and they're now a budget brand of Labour and the Greens. Hearing this, I tried to find things out; who exactly is the TOP leader married to? His name is Grant. That's it, Grant. Good luck getting more information on him. I heard he was related to Labour leader Chris Hipkins, I wonder if that's true?

Then another rumour has the TOP deputy leader related to James Shaw, former Greens leader.

Given the silence around the real name and career of the TOP leader's husband, and the sudden excitement of the media at everything TOP, with gushing praise that is sick inducing, I WILL NOT be voting for these tax tax tax fiends in the 2026 general election.

Thought New Zealanders ought to be forewarned. 

Dr Fauci Exposed

Should Anthony Fauci be subjected to much closer scrutiny?

AI Companies Destroying Books - Literally

AI companies are buying up books and then shredding them. This could be the biggest ever destruction of a key component of the developed world, going on right underneath us. How is this even allowed to happen?

Finding the Drones - It's Hard

Iran is a large country and the drones they use are small. They're hard to find and knock out. Moreover, drones are cheap to make compared to the missiles used to destroy them.

Mail We All Know

 AI can deliver something entertaining. I find this Royal Mail spoof advert very accurate. 

End of the Lucky Country

Australia is going down. I called this 16 years ago, now it's a reality. Last year, I pulled out the last bit of money I had in Australia. 

Tariffs Once Again

The latest round of tariffs from the Trump administration sees Australia and New Zealand imposed with a 12.5% tariff barrier. The excuse given relates to forced labour. Kind of weird that as I don't see how forced labour is involved in producing NZ wine. But, I laughed at Australia which has gone out of its way to be a lapdog of the US, only to be kicked in the teeth as well. 

Interestingly, NZ faces a 12.5% tariff on its lamb meat, but not beef. That would be because hamburger patties sold by McDonalds are made with NZ beef. The NZ beef has the right consistency to hold together and is therefore easier to cook and serve as a hamburger.

Fuel Crisis Real

With war going fully regional in the Middle East, we are now looking at the possibility of diesel running out. This is not a pricing exercise, it is a have nothing at all crisis. I put it like this; if you have no water you're dead two and a half days later. It doesn't matter that a bottle of water hundreds of miles away is only a dollar, you can't reach it, so you die.

When it comes to diesel, it is like that complete lack of water. No diesel, no economy. It doesn't matter that diesel in some other part of the world is cheap, or whatever.

Thing is, both the Australia and New Zealand governments have had months to solve this, but they played politics, happy feelings, sing kumbaya, hope and pray.

Regional Conflict

The Houthis of Yemen have announced a blockade of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, principally targeting Saudi Arabia. This will have a major effect on the world economy as currently Saudi Arabia has diverted its oil exports to its ports on the Red Sea, away from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, which is also blocked.  

With this move, we can say that the US-Iran war has now gone regional. Yemen's Houthis are backed by Iran.