The 1963 Coup

Oliver Stone nails it, we now know what he was saying is true. A shadow government runs the US, and in 2020 we saw rigged elections worldwide, including in New Zealand, and in 2024 the US underwent a countercoup. 

New Zealand Tax Issues

Did you know that right now in New Zealand the taxman, aka Inland Revenue, is clamping down hard on everyone? For the last five years they've been nicey nicey, and if you listened to the prime minister, condom-head Christopher Luxon, then you'd think the government was listening proactively, and taking actions that were sensitive to group needs and all the while fully embracing LGBTQ+ and the many diverse and inclusive whanau out there. 

I tried to sound like Luxon just then, but he's actually a prize prick. Luxon looks like a timeshare salesman from the 1990's, and with the brain of a post office clerk. If he ever had an original idea, he'd die of fright. 

So, what are Inland Revenue up to? Here's a quick rundown, but get in touch with your accountant if you think you are impacted, don't rely on my advice:

• Audits were up 55% in the last quarter of 2024 (compared to the corresponding quarter in 2023)
• New computer is looking for undeclared income; such as real estate transactions, crypto-coins, reward points with retailers - particularly spending at liquor stores, vape stores, hairdressers, and nail salons. 
• Charities are in the spotlight once again, so watch out Brian Tamaki, the recent noises in your direction are not only designed to shut you down, but tax you as well. All those caring people looking to protect Trans story time hour, are actually working for the government.
• Fringe benefits and the treatment of shareholder accounts are coming under increased scrutiny.

The government are doing all this to grab your money off you, and then to waste it. Expect more DEI hires in the military and spending on wingnuttery. The roads will still be built to nowhere, everything will leak, we'll just be poorer overall. Given how stretched people are at the moment, going after people right now isn't the answer, stimulating growth and taking the foot off the taxpayers necks is the answer.

And don't expect any better from Labour. Chris Hipkins, that little dweeb, such a nasty little man who will go door to door to find you - he actually said that, don't forget - was this week hanging out with Victoria University of Wellington students, where his heartland voter base hides. He's plotting his comeback and dreaming up ways to inflict pain just as bad. You'll never find Hipkins hanging out with truck drivers, does he even know one? 

My suggestion: ditch these clowns in Wellington. We need South Island independence, and the stopping of direct personal income tax. Oh, and drill baby, drill.

Europe's Crybaby Leaders

Check this out, in response to JD Vance's criticism, European leaders cry like a bunch of eight-year-olds. 

Matt Goodwin: Europe's Biggest Lie?

Personally, I think Europe's biggest lie is their saying they have the answer to everything. They do this through a myriad of systems all the time, whether it is through their rigged university rankings, or rules regarding business, insurance, or the media narrative which always has it that Europe knows it all.

But here, Matt Goodwin comments on US Vice President, JD Vance calling out Europe for suppressing free speech, and for acting against the interests or will of its own people.

The Trumpian Countercoup

Working hypothesis this; I think what we are currently witnessing is a countercoup in the US. Following the failed assassination attempts on Donald Trump, the cabal or 'powers-that-be' must have held a meeting and realised their heads were on the block. They pivoted swiftly, and what we are now seeing with executive orders aplenty, are measures setting out to completely reverse the direction of the last four years, or to establish new systems, and to set new directions altogether. 

We witnessed a coup in 2020, the final part of that coup was January 6th, 2021. This is called an insurrection but in reality it was a protest. Ask yourself this, if an insurrection then how come amongst the thousands present in Washington DC did none of these second amendment gun nuts, actually brandish a gun? No, there was a protest, that's all.

Little known this, but few living through a coup know there is one. That's because all free speech and the free press are muzzled. Then, the leaders of the coup hide behind a wall of steel. This sounds exactly like Washington DC on January 7th, 2021, the day after the protest.

So, we headed into a nightmare. All that DEI nonsense, woke agenda, Trans this and that were all designed to distract people from the things that really mattered, who owns what and who makes all the decisions, and finally, who gets to keep the cash.

But, we can go back to when this all started, and the blame must be laid at Barack Obama's feet. This Manchurian candidate used identity politics to segment the electorate, setting groups against one another just to garner support. He did this very successfully. He used identity politics because simply having 90% of the black vote wasn't enough to ensure victory, so he expanded that support and ended up with young voters and college educated women as well as the black vote. 

Of course this was very cynical and we soon found out that hope and change meant Wall Street in the ascendency. Obama was a servant of Big Capital.

But then Donald Trump surprised everyone with his victory in 2016. The vote was rigged, but Obama's side miscalculated by not rigging enough, and Trump snuck through. Oh dear, the US media, Capitol Hill and Wall Street went into a blind panic that was sustained for four years. Trump made the mistake of thinking he could deal with the swamp, hence all kinds of backstabbers found their way into offices around him. 

Then came the coup in 2020, and the rigging was now massive in scale. The cabal, as I like to call them, were prepared to do anything to get rid of Trump. This wasn't to save the country, oh no, they needed to protect their franchises and sources of wealth, that's all. 

In 2021, following the swearing in of dementia riddled Joe Biden, a man who was simply a front for a third term Obama, saw Trump marched out of the Oval Office. But the following four years were so badly managed, that the country was brought to its knees. This lot were so incompetent, they couldn't even assassinate a former President, despite having several goes at it. 

And so, certain interests had that summit, and decided to change direction. Trump was back and this time, all hell is breaking loose. No kid gloves with the media, they're out, the swamp is being drained and Europe is being told to sort themselves out. Canada and Mexico have been opposed to Trump and so they're targeted as well. And Russia is not the enemy, no American wants to fight for the Ukraine, which is actually part of Russia and the most corrupt country in Europe. 

I inelegantly put it like this: if you think Trans story time hour is a good idea, then you're not going to get much mileage out of the new order. In fact, it is highly likely the new order will find you and shut you down. And me, I find this all very entertaining. 

But, since Trump announced a desire to halve military spending, and an intention to get Russia and China on board with this as well, the military industrial complex may not take this lightly. Clearly, they're not part of the countercoup. Securing JD Vance as Vice President seems to be a form of insurance, because if Trump is removed, Vance seems more strident, so it would be out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Royal Navy Kaput

Will the last person out of the building, please turn the light out, thank you.

The JD Vance Speech

File this under: suck it up cupcakes.

US Vice President, JD Vance has called out the European elites for their rank hypocrisy while speaking at the Munich Security Conference. I particularly enjoyed his mention of these elites - people I call the princes of Europe - fearing their own people. He nailed it. He also nailed it when mentioning that face of corporate Green interests, Greta Thunberg.

I believe we are witnessing a new Yalta Agreement moment. In 1945, three powers met at Yalta and divided up post-war Europe. Attendees present were Winston Churchill, FDR and Stalin. Now, in 2025 Britain is no longer invited. Europe's fate is for the US and Russia to decide. 

Unleashing Energy and Stopping the Jab

Donald Trump has just signed executive orders, halting federal funding of jab mandates in schools, and as well as that, the US is to pursue energy dominance.

Are you taking notice New Zealand? Stop the jab, and get NZ's massive energy potential fully developed. Oh, and start refining oil, enough already.

Elon Musk Fool

File this under; be careful what you wish for.

Elon Musk, while talking in the oval office with Donald Trump right alongside him, went into a long shock horror soliloquy about how US federal records are stored deep underground in a mine. Like, this is a terribly dated thing, right?

Wrong, it's a brilliant idea and best practice. For starters, the mine protects delicate records in a safe place, and protected from nuclear war to boot.  If the US went all modern and placed these records in a digital form, an enemy could take the entire US down simply by taking out the electricity supply.

Yeah, you need physical files, stored safely.

At times, Elon Musk proves he's a fool. He makes the worst car in the world and struggles to launch rockets. His so-called wealth relies on the US taxpayer funneling funds to him. He's a complete clown. 

The sad part of this is that Donald Trump appears easily swayed by people such as Musk. The reality is that DOGE could be working fine without Musk, cleverer brains than his are using the AI tools uncovering the waste, fraud and abuse. The world does not need an Elon Musk thinking he knows better than everyone else.

NBA Three-point Field Goal - Suggest Rule Change

NBA games have developed into three-point field goal shooting contests. Several reasons for this, the first being shooting accuracy has improved. The second is down to game statisticians who point out that a three-point goal is worth a lot more than a two-pointer. Thus, players now often step back behind the three point line to ensure a higher return. The downside is that fans are subjected to a lot of misses, and this is very boring to watch.

Change the Rule

I suggest a three-point light be introduced that is activated by the score bench. When illuminated it allows a three-point shot, but when the light is off any shot from the field is only worth two points.

Like this: when the game starts each team will have their respective three point light showing. When a three-point shot is attempted, the referee indicates, and if the shot scores the light stays on and the referee motions to the score bench, counting three points. However, when a three-point shot is missed, the light goes out. Thereafter, a two-point shot must be made to once again get the three-point light back on (free throws would also count toward resetting the three-point shot).

This simple rule would prevent the three-point shot boring play you see now. Many times the offensive team can regain possession off a missed shot and repeat the three-point attempt. It becomes 'bombs away' play. With this simple rule, any missed attempt at a three-pointer would mean any basket must be first scored to get the three-pointer back, so teams would experience no advantage if they kick the ball back out to the wings for a low percentage shot.

This is an idea worth investigating as it promotes play across the whole court, and counters the addiction teams have to putting up as many three-point attempts as they can.

DataRepublican Uncovers Waste and Fraud?

RFK Jr's running mate in the 2024 Presidential election campaign, Nicole Shanahan talks to one of the AI tool developers uncovering massive waste and outright fraud within the US Federal government:

Elon Musk On DOGE

 What everyone suspected goes on, is in fact going on. Clearly, there needs to be arrests:

USAID Corruption

The corruption being uncovered at USAID is breathtaking in scale.

New Zealand Government Spending

Since 2020, New Zealand government spending as a percentage of GDP has increased markedly. Both the Labour and now National governments are drunk on spending taxpayers money. Of course, the economy is also contracting slightly, and this makes things worse. Basically, tax cuts won't address the problem, what we need right now is a reduction in government spending overall.

Super Bowl LIX

I watched the first half of the 59th Super Bowl. I thought, if it was an interesting contest, I'd see it through but that wasn't necessary as the game was effectively over at halftime with the Philadelphia Eagles up 24-0. The Eagles dominated and effectively smashed their much fancied opponent. 

Watching that first half, one thing seemed obvious, the Eagles came ready to play; they had energy, commitment, skill, speed, while the Chiefs looked sluggish and half asleep. Maybe they'd been out on the tiles the night before and came to the game with hangovers?

I still don't understand the rules of the game, many of them appear counter to what football is about. Examples I cite are where there are incomplete plays, and the quarterback intentionally throws the ball out of bounds, and another where if a knee hits the ground, that's it, play stops. The first touchdown by the Eagles was disallowed for the latter reason. In both versions of rugby, that would be a try well executed. Rugby players are taught how to slide into the scoring area for a try, so from my perspective that play was exciting and then to see it scrubbed was disappointing. 

Anyway, the Super Rugby season is about to start, here's hoping the Crusaders can win it and add to their already cluttered trophy cabinet. Oh, and I saw Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl, now her beau can pop the question and get on with it, unburdened by what has been (see what I did there). 

Boston Celtics For Sale

A few months back, the owners of the Boston Celtics put the NBA team on the market. The reason given was due to estate issues, which I interpret to mean family members want their money out.

So, what is the team worth? A lot of pundits place the value at between $5 and $6 billion. To me, that sounds light, any buyer interested in the team should come up with $8 billion. My thinking is pretty simple, the price paid must blow competing bids out of the way. 

Then, the highest price paid for an NBA team thus far is $4 billion paid for the Phoenix Suns. Think about this, the Suns have never won a championship, while the Celtics have won more than anyone else. The Celtics must be worth double the Suns.

The Boston Celtics are an iconic brand worldwide, known by everyone and are instantly recognisable.

Reading the linked article: https://www.sportico.com/leagues/basketball/2024/boston-celtics-sale-document-basketball-business-1234821085/ I find they do not own their stadium. Any future owner should calculate the cost of building a new stadium, and thus control the revenue stream that stadium would bring in. EBITDA is quite low at 6% of total revenue, and ticket sales are the biggest single source of revenue. This is consistent with the very traditional form of professional sports teams, and that is ticket sales pay player salaries. Profit is derived from all other sources of income, but that's just the traditional old-school model. Just looking at this alone, it appears the Celtics are run in quite an old fashioned way. 

At $8 billion, the Boston Celtics are a good buy. 

The Luka Doncic Trade

I thought this theory good enough to post about, and it aligns with my speculation that a side deal was done between the owners of the Lakers and Mavericks.

This particular theory is that the new majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks wants to relocate the team to Las Vegas, where the owners live and have their casinos. The team would become the Las Vegas Mavericks. To achieve this goal, they need to destroy the team in Dallas first, thus justifying the move. 

LeBron James has stated that he wants to own an NBA team in Las Vegas, so he's been sent Doncic to get more titles with, then he comes in as part of the ownership group of the Mavs in Las Vegas. 

It sounds a bit farfetched for my liking, but looking at the facial expressions of the Mavs coach, Jason Kidd at the announcement of the trade, we can assume people were told a pack of lies and that something went on behind the scenes. Personally, I prefer as a piece of speculation, that some kind of stadium deal was done between Adelson and Buss.

Another spin on this is that Las Vegas is being used as a bargaining chip to try and get gambling through the Texas legislature. This could have some legs, but I wouldn't think casinos would be welcomed in Texas, so this looks as if the Mavericks are off to Las Vegas if this is the strategy being used:

USAID Reform

While rather long, this Tucker Carlson interview of Mike Benz delves into the risks and necessities of conducting open heart surgery on the US Empire.

Normalcy Returns?

J.K. Rowling Congratulates Lefties

J.K. Rowling's use of apostrophes are on full display with this post on X. The photo of Donald Trump surrounded by girls is an iconic image, and the tide appears to have turned. Has the Democratic Party come to its senses yet?

Steven Adams and Lakers

The rumour linking the Houston Rockets big man, Steven Adams with the Los Angeles Lakers makes a lot of sense. Adams is coming to the end of his deal, and he would fill a hole left by the departing Anthony Davis. Adams is a good rebounder and one of the best NBA rebounders on offense. He comes in handy when setting blocks, he's like a brick wall. 

In a lineup alongside LeBron James and Luka Doncic (and other sharpshooters), he'd play a valuable role obtaining possession and making space available. The Lakers need to do the deal.

https://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/lakers_trade_rumors_interest_in_centers_like_steven_adams_robert_williams/s1_17074_41697104

And on the subject of THE trade that became world news, I found this the best description of why it happened:

https://defector.com/no-but-seriously-why-did-the-mavericks-trade-luka-doncic

I'd add, with Miriam Adelson now being in charge at the Mavericks, did she and Jeannie Buss of the Lakers have a conversation to one side about the financing and construction of a new stadium for the Lakers, now that Steve Ballmer has built his new stadium for the Clippers? Did Adelson want to jettison Doncic from the roster, and what are his politics in relation to Israel exactly?

USAID Shutdown

The move to shut down the US aid programme does look dictatorial. My question is related to Elon Musk: who elected him? Elon Musk is not the entrepreneur he's touted as being. He's an invention of the US federal government and its spending, without which he'd be penniless. Not only that, he makes the world's worst car, Tesla, and rockets that are unreliable. For the latter, and an example of best practise he needs to take a trip to Russia, and for the former a trip to Japan.

I find myself agreeing with about 50% of what Donald Trump is doing. However, don't his recent moves look like Russia collusion? If you look back to just before last year's election, who stood isolated in the world? That would be Russia, with only a few close allies; namely, China, Iran, North Korea and Belarus. 

Now, Donald Trump is trying to upset all of America's closest allies; Mexico, Canada, and the EU. If you were Vladimir Putin, wouldn't you be dancing a jig right now? I think so. Then, Elon Musk has close links to China and het sets out to destroy US federal government institutions. Uhm...hellooo.

New Zealand and its Fuel Supply

New Zealand shut down its only oil refinery in 2022. The way things are currently headed, NZ could end up with no fuel as it lacks the ability to refine its own oil.

World shipping, especially crude oil shipments along with the shipping of finished fuels, is about to be disrupted. That's the effect of tariffs, especially the 10% tariff applied by the US on Canadian oil imports. 

Canada will now likely start exporting their surplus crude by ship to refineries worldwide. This diversion of oil away from pipelines will take up a percentage of the global tanker fleet. More crude oil being transported by ship, will result in more finished fuels being taken from those refineries by ship as well. 

This should result in an increase in supply of fuel globally, and so reduce prices. However, there is only a limited number of tankers out there and if they're all working on something else, how many will be available to deliver petrol, diesel and aviation gas to NZ bearing in mind it is two weeks to NZ and then two weeks back running empty. Hmm?

That's right, NZ is at the end of the queue and may find itself unable to obtain spare capacity as all ships are working somewhere else.

Trump Ignorance OMG

I just heard Donald Trump bemoaning how Europe doesn't take American cars and I just shook my head. He's simply ignorant regarding the history of the US and European car production. Ford cars are seen in Europe, they're made there but have had a declining market share since they're not as good as competing brands. Likewise GM, the maker of Chevrolet, but in Europe they were Vauxhall and Opel. GM went bust and so Vauxhall and Opel were sold off. 

The failure of American car brands in Europe is the result of US incompetence and inability to make a decent car, and not because the Europeans shut them out. 

What's Coming Next from Donald Trump?

Donald Trump talked to reporters after he arrived at Joint Base Andrews, near Washington DC. He outlined further measures, including stopping aid to South Africa, and tariffs on the EU but not on the UK at this stage. He seemed to suggest that the trade balance between the UK and US can be addressed. 

Lab Leak Theory Proven

For years governments worldwide, along with scientists and the media lied about the origins of the virus. It was manufactured in a laboratory in Wuhan, China. It leaked from there. The virus did not jump from animals to humans.

[Edit to add seeing as people are reading this; what I think happened - pure speculation and conjecture here - and something I've been saying for years now, is that the virus leaked from the lab in Wuhan. This bio-weapon was virulent to begin with and the local area in Wuhan was impacted, followed by northern Italy as there are many flights from China to Italy (people may remember this sequence of events). But seeing as it was a man-made virus, it acted the way all bio-weapons do, it weakened rapidly as it mutated, it simply couldn't survive in the wild. But there was mass panic, and governments everywhere took the chance to implement draconian measures while at the same time keeping people in the dark. China effectively controls the WHO and we saw this in plain sight, thus the flow of information became fully propagandist. Then, Big Pharma saw the opportunity to roll out its experimental medical procedures, all the while being protected from legal liability. Governments showed great alacrity as senior politicians also profited. Then, finally, and in order to cement the controls and profit-taking, elections worldwide were rigged. Once again, we saw this in plain sight but most refused to see the obvious. The end result was mass murder, firstly by China whether knowingly or unknowingly, and then by governments and their senior politicians who stood to massively gain. The worst part of this story is they'll get away with it.]

New Zealand Visa Waiver and Israel

I tend to agree with the reports from Israel. The New Zealand government are denying requiring Israelis disclose their military service, but anyone who has completed an electronic travel authorisation will know these types of forms ask all sorts of questions. The USA asks that many questions, your head will start spinning.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-zealand-requires-israelis-to-disclose-idf-service-details-as-condition-for-entry/

New Zealand’s government immigration authority has begun to require Israelis applying for a visa to report details of their military service as a condition for entry, and at least one person has been denied admission after doing so, The Times of Israel has learned.

Canada Counter Tariffs

OK, so this has become a tariff war, this will start to ramp up:

Who Pays a Tariff?

I've found a useful explanation on how tariffs actually work. I don't talk about myself all that much, but something I can say is that I've done a lot of import and export, with goods heading all over the world. I find myself agreeing with the man from shoemaker, Deer Stags.

I now notice talk of the US soon to impose a worldwide 10% tariff on imports. But, I wonder how much of these moves from Donald Trump are actually targeting those who have criticised him, it's kind of convenient that the leaders of Mexico and Canada are both opponents of Trump. Using that logic, the UK must now be in the crosshairs since the UK Labour party sent activists to the US to actively campaign for Kamala Harris. That may come back to bight Keir Starmer on the arse.

More Scandal

With the latest revelations surrounding Prince Andrew's contact with and activities with Jeffrey Epstein, it is about time the British handed him over to the FBI for a formal interview. The email Epstein sent is really quite telling, it used the words "...we'll play some more soon!!!

Dreaded Tariffs

Are we about to enter another era of tariff wars worldwide? We are if the soon to be imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico come into effect.

Tariffs are usually a negative and are inflationary. They impact the less well off, as well as those on fixed incomes. The effect of this in the USA will also result in US manufactured goods that rely on imported components, becoming more expensive. Workers will lose their jobs. 

However, on the other side of the equation; with oil and gas being fully exploited and with oil going into every part of our lives, then the lower prices at the pump will temper the inflationary effects of the tariffs. 

It's a wait and see. By comparison, Japan play the game differently as they don't rely on tariffs, but they do use complicated regulations to protect their own industry. An example is with rice. Japan require all rice consumed to be grown in the country, as a matter of strategic importance. However, they do import rice, but it gets further processed into such things as rice crackers. In Japan, you cannot buy foreign rice to be consumed as rice itself.

Below embed is the best I can find so far on the effect of tariffs, apologies for the speaker treating everyone as if they're imbeciles:

Conspiracy Theories

 So, who were the conspiracy theorists?

Mid-Air Collision Over Potomac

The terrible accident doesn't appear to have been due to DEI, Donald Trump has this wrong. YouTuber, Captain Steeeve has analysed what happened, it looks like the helicopter pilot did not see the passenger plane:

Trump Most Competent?

The biggest thing going on right now in Washington DC is a major cleanout of the swamp. Remember in 2016, Donald Trump campaigned on draining the swamp. He was elected, much to his own surprise, and then he tried to deal with the swamp - big mistake. The swamp creatures organised against him, and did all they could to undermine and derail. 

Then in 2020, Trump was removed from office. A coup occurred, placing a senile Joe Biden into office. The resulting nightmare almost brought the US to its knees.

But, Trump caught his second wind, and he gained the backing of the oligarchs. Basically, Wall Street figured they'd screwed up. So, Trump was elected in 2024 and comes into office knowing how the swamp operates and he's ready to turn the tables over and effect change. 

Thinking about this; Trump isn't conservative, he's a radical.

We live in interesting times. 

Senate Hearings

Trump nominees coming up for their Senate confirmation hearings are:

Robert F Kennedy Jr - looking fit

Tulsi Gabbard - looking ready for action

They are both exactly the right type of person for their respective roles - so my guess is they'll struggle to get through the process.

White House Press Secretary - Karoline Leavitt

The new White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt did a good job on her first outing. Some may have missed what I believe was the most momentous event at the briefing. That was the unveiling of the new seats for independent journalists, podcasters, Vloggers, so long as they have news content. The first question of the day went to Mike Allen of Axios:

https://www.axios.com/authors/mikeallen

Then came Breitbart, the other independent:

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/01/28/watch-live-trump-press-secretary-karoline-leavitt-holds-first-white-house-press-conference/

I don't even like Breitbart that much, but then I hate CNN, so is this a case of the lesser of two evils? I think this day will mark the start of the MSM's terminal decline. They're done, finito, they conspired to kill us all, and that will never be forgiven nor their betrayal forgotten.

Trump Reinstates US Military

New Zealand government, are you paying attention yet? Donald Trump has just reinstated all military who refused the jab, and they get full backpay. 

It's long overdue for the NZ government to end the farce that is the jab.

New Zealand Inventions, Innovations and Feats of Engineering

I am revisiting this topic once again, but first, to dispel some claims of New Zealand inventions: many are dubious, despite being touted as wonders by all and sundry.

The first to be dismissed is the Britten V1000 motorcycle. Basically, it wasn't that groundbreaking and the inventiveness claimed by John Britten was all other people. The true story is told in the book, John Britten by Tim Hanna Mention in this book is made of the Denco motorcycle engine, designed for speedway use, and Denco also made a V8 engine for use in speedway. You never hear anything about the latter, as no doubt they were not so good at self-promotion.

Then we must dismiss the Martin Jetpack. An American invented this type of machine, called the SoloTrek XFV. 

The Hamilton Jetboat is also questionable, the American military seem to have done this first.

Now, those inventions that are unquestionable: we start off with Richard Pearse, the first man to achieve powered flight. Not only was he before the Wright Brothers, he did this using a monoplane, ailerons, a tricycle undercarriage and tractor propeller. This is what the airplane looked like, and yes, he knew how important his accomplishments were and he had witnesses present as he flew:

If you are familiar with excavators, they often use a quick hitch coupler to change buckets with. The universal quick hitch was invented in New Zealand by Jack Balemi. This is what they look like:

I do sometimes read sources which credit the NZ innovation; while hitches previously existed, they were always dedicated to the machines design. These hitches allow any machine to fit them and any bucket to be attached. 

Here's a source mentioning NZ: https://www.gochinaht.com/history-of-hydraulic-quick-hitch.html

Then, even now I may see in New South Wales, an earthmover advertising the equipment he has on hand, with a statement such as; a tipper, a Drott, a Halitrax. Well, the tipper is a dump truck, the Drott was a brand of American track-type loader, and a Halitrax was the world's first rubber track skid-steer loader - made in New Zealand. They were mostly exported to Australia, where the term Halitrax became industry standard. This is a Halitrax:

The biggest invention from NZ is the Barmac Vertical Shaft Impactor, now still made in NZ by Metso Minerals, the Finnish-based giant. A Barmac can be found in 60% of the world's quarries. If you doubt this, call up your local quarry and ask them if they've got a Barmac? This is what they look like:

Here's an article talking about this machine's development: https://www.engineeringnz.org/programmes/heritage/heritage-records/barmac-aggregate-impact-crusher/

Then, finally an engineering wonder, the Hamilton Road through Kurdistan. The project is a civil engineering marvel, and the design of Archibald Hamilton, a Kiwi. https://kurdistanchronicle.com/babat/2634

This project led Hamilton to design the Callender-Hamilton bridge, which are now found worldwide. I recently saw an article where Indonesia were starting to replace 37 Callender-Hamilton bridges in Java:

If in NZ's South Island, the drive from Blenheim to Nelson will see you crossing the Pelorus River on a Callender-Hamilton:

Anyway, that's my plug for plucky Kiwiland. It'd be nice if the North Island got off their lard arses and did some work once in a blue moon. 

South Island Self-determination

The South Island is sick of being flogged by the North Island, essentially paying for its excesses and complete incompetence.

Here are a few lowlights in the North Island:

• There is still no Auckland harbour crossing established since the Nippon clip-ons were added to the Auckland Harbour bridge in 1969. If we compare with other harbours such as San Francisco, there is almost always more than one crossing whether underground or bridge.
• Wellington, a city which is fully funded by the taxpayer, has streets which permanently leak. Wellington isn't the windy city, it is the leaky city. They cannot even fix leaks.
• The Cook Strait ferry service from the North Island to the South Island is now in danger of failing, there have been numerous near miss events which could see serious loss of life. These incidents involve ships losing power and drifting in heavy seas, or ships actually hitting things and going aground.
• The government had a DEI Navy hire lose an expensive hydrographic survey vessel after hitting a reef. This was the worst loss of a NZ Navy vessel since the Second World War.
• There is now no rail link to Gisborne
• There is still no swift transport link from Auckland to the airport.
• Crime is out of control in the North Island and gangs effectively control some towns.
• Air NZ is a basket case and requires constant rescue.
• Ports of Auckland still operate from the middle of Auckland, instead of moving to Whangarei, and no effective rail link exists to Whangarei anyway.
• NZ's only oil refinery closed down.

Meanwhile, the South Island is a model of efficiency by contrast. I estimate that if the South Island was separate, it wouldn't even need fulltime senators to run the place. They would only need to meet for a month a year to pass legislation into law. That meeting could be moved around the Island.

Whether this entity becomes a fully independent country separate from New Zealand, is subject to agreement. I have already said I support a fully separate country in confederation with New Zealand. However, if a state alone, and subject to federal law as in Australia; then it must mean the South Island shares power. This prevents certain interests being sidelined, as with Western Australia. Power sharing could take the form of at least a minimum of one South Islander being either prime minister, deputy prime minister or minister of finance. This person could be the Premier of the state, together with any other senator. Of course, given the South Island is more competent, every top office could be held, it's just a minimum of one must be Southern. These representatives would be elected from the South Island, and the North would have no say in their election to office. The offices could be rotated; thus, the South Island appoints the prime minister from its state three years out of nine. This would prevent incompetence from becoming ingrained as it is now. 

Governance could see the state take over all territorial authorities. Local councils would become advisory bodies only, and mayors would be ceremonial. Residential property could be free of rates, with only commercial and industrial property paying rates. 

As a separate state it could remove personal and corporate income taxes. Instead, sales taxes could be used, along with royalties collected from minerals extraction, road user charges, and excise taxes on gambling, alcohol and such. There could also be bed taxes and traveller arrival charges, as well as limited property taxes (see the rates burden above). Thus, the taxation office would be small.

The main sources of export income for the South Island would include the sale of electricity to the North Island, as well as the export of agricultural and mineral products such as from the aluminium smelter at Bluff. There is far more than that to the South Island of course, but these would be the big earners.

But things wouldn't stand still; corporate investment could be encouraged by not directly taxing income, thus effecting more minerals processing, and agricultural processing becomes viable. Just think, no corporate income tax on lumber mills, milk powder production etc. The South Island could fully develop its hydroelectricity potential, and export more of it to the North Island. 

I had another idea too: how about one free acre to every Australian who moves to the South Island permanently and who starts a business. If they leave the South Island within five years, they forfeit the land.

Had an added idea, similar to the above. If you're a property developer and build a subdivision, the state will supply the land, the developer builds the houses, then when sold the value of the developed land comes back to the state. This alone would probably be one of the biggest earners. The South Island would be in charge of immigration, only skilled people need apply, and they'd be offered a new house to live in, finance guaranteed. Watch the population double in no time.

As a completely separate entity, the South Island would no longer prop up the North Island. 

Britain Gone Insane?

A private members bill in the UK seeks to remove 90% of fossil fuels from the economy within the next few years. About 200 MP's support the proposal. Such a law would cause mass starvation and complete societal collapse. You wouldn't find this in a sci-fi movie as it would be too ridiculous:

Death Penalty

I don't usually support the death penalty, but there are exceptions, and this case is one of them. Hang him.

South Island Independence Movement

With New Zealand's South Island independence movement gaining increasing support, it occurred to me to point out the path to victory.

A party must be established with the intent to win the all-important 5% threshold from the country's party vote. Once the 5% is achieved, the new party may be in a position to insist on devolution as part of any coalition agreement. Both of the large parties, National and Labour will need coalition partners in 2026. 

How to get the 5%? 

I suggest teaming up with the Maori party. Oh, really? I'll explain:

Maori mostly live in the North Island. If the South Island leaves, Maori in the North Island immediately hold a large share of the remaining votes in the old New Zealand. It could be as much as 20% of the voters. So, there is a huge incentive for Maori to vote for the South Island party when it comes to the party vote, but still return their MP's in the electorates.

Think about it, this makes sense.

Fun Under Trump

 Are we facing a new golden age for the US and the West in general? Victor Davis Hanson notes the crassness of Donald Trump, something I also noted. I found it refreshing, especially his impromptu press conference while signing his executive orders.

Trump spoke like a businessman getting on with things, dealing with competitors. He seems to have his energy back, after all he has appeared drained these last few years. Yes, there was the fist pump, but overall he has been more subdued, but not today.

When I've driven around the US, I always wonder why the US doesn't really let rip, it has so many natural advantages, space being paramount. Instead, for a lot of the time, the US seems caught up in navel gazing and endless bickering. Trump seems to be saying - just do it. 

Of course, Zuckerberg was at the inauguration looking down the cleavage of Lauren Sanchez (don't let Jeff Bezos see you doing that), as was Elon Musk. These people are fair weather friends, you cannot trust them as far as you can throw them. So, there is real potential for the next four years to be derailed, we'll have to see.

Does America realise the potential it has? I once asked my father why he always bought Caterpillar? Because they don't break down, he quickly replied. And if you cannot afford Caterpillar, then buy International, they weren't reliable but offered plenty horsepower (both are American brands, although in terms of equipment, International are now Komatsu and also Euclid trucks are now Hitachi - both from Japan...ahem). 

So, I agree with the message - drill, baby, drill. Oh and start making stuff again.

47th President of the United States

Donald Trump got to the finish line and has been sworn in. Now, let the fun begin. This is going to be entertaining. https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-sworn-47th-president-170607947.html

Joe Biden issued more pardons just before heading out the door. These pardons do indicate potential wrongdoing on his part: he has pardoned family members preemptively, and the reason for that must be because he doesn't want family members being pressured to give evidence against him. Consider, if Biden could have pardoned himself, he probably would have. 

Then, Biden has also pardoned the January 6 committee and Anthony Fauci. Oh really, so the election WAS rigged and the thing in 2020 was a political virus, not a real one.  https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8r5g5dezk4o 

The US economy will rocket, simply because it appears Net Zero is dead in the water. Unleashing America's mineral wealth will bring prices down worldwide, we all stand to gain. EV's are going the way of the dinosaur, they're useless for most purposes anyway.

With fuel prices coming down, the already record spend on US infrastructure will ramp up even more. The boom will come off this kind of construction activity.

Will the US forcefully take back the Panama Canal, and will China now take Taiwan? Both are unlikely, Panama will buckle, and I remind people that China will bluster but do nothing, and that's because they're scared of Japan. Japan want to have easy and ready access to South-east Asia, they view the region as their branch office and they're not going to tolerate China blocking off access. 

What role will New Zealand play? New Zealand must change direction swiftly, starting with getting a military. It has become a complete laughing stock. The National Party has been moving to the left once again, essentially sounding like Labour Lite. On Sunday, I heard the Minister of Education, Erica Stanford blaming parents for the fall in student achievement standards. No, it's down to the lazy teachers. Stop with the nonsense Conehead Luxon, the numpty Prime Minister, get on track, and to do that start by growing a backbone.

Is the UK's Prime Minister, Keir Starmer toast? I think so, Trump must insist he be replaced. Watch this space.

Minister for the South Island

New Zealand's National Party have pushed the panic button now they're polling below Labour for the first time since the General Election in 2023. Prime Minister, that baldy nincompoop, Christopher Luxon has shuffled his cabinet. He's basically rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, so I won't go into the complexities of it all. Rest assured, whatever he does the government will remain a bunch of cockwombles without a good idea anywhere amongst the lot of them.

But he has created a new position, Minister for the South Island. The country already has the Minister for Auckland, which is another completely pointless office. So, why a government minister just for the South Island?

It must be South Island independence is gathering pace. Apparently, a Facebook page on the subject has more followers than the ACT party, which is part of the government. I have noted that whenever I mention the subject, I receive more than average engagement on the matter. No doubt Luxon is trying to head off such groups evolving into fully-fledged political parties trying to grab the all-important 5% threshold party vote.

What could South Island independence look like? It could be a completely separate country, or exist within New Zealand as part of a federal or confederate structure.

Personally, I support a confederacy. In simple terms, a confederate state would be completely independent apart from defense, foreign affairs and trade agreements.

But, what would the South Island have exclusively of its own? Here's a list:

• police and criminal law
• money
• finance
• minerals
• tax
• sport
• immigration
• education
• healthcare
• social welfare
• infrastructure
• environment

This confederacy would have a customs union with the North Island, and citizens from the North Island would have free movement and the right to settle in the South (and vice versa).

What would this confederate state be called? I am opposed to New Munster; what about Great Southernland? Great because it would take in the South Island and all its offshore islands; plus Stewart, Chatham, Auckland and Campbell Islands and the Ross Sea. 

How would this Great Southernland function? It would have low taxation, fewer public servants, better schools, efficient hospitals, a motivated workforce, and an active and growing mining sector and a manufacturing base. The only money it would send to Wellington would be for defense, maintaining embassies and a place at the UN, and in keeping trade agreements functioning.

What do you think?

LA Fires and Hollywood

California, if it was its own country, would be the fifth largest economy in the world; and by GDP per capita, the richest country in the world. But, the state is facing many challenges, with an exodus to places such as Texas. 

The recent fires in the Los Angeles area have cost approximately $250 billion all told. Areas like the Pacific Palisades and Malibu have been devastated. These areas contain some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Then again, areas such as Altadena have also been devastated, and by most people's standard these houses are also valuable; the average house price being in the $1.3-1.5 million range, with median household incomes of $130k. So, if I'm reading this right, the wealthy elites are severely impacted, along with small business owners providing valuable services. 

Given the above two groups are critical to creating employment, Los Angeles is likely to experience a serious slowdown in its economy. This will have an immediate effect as spending will simply stop. And then people will leave the state. 

Where am I going with this? The federal government must step in. I am not aware what levers are available to the incoming administration, but they need to use all of them; including sacking the Governor, Gavin Newsom, and the Los Angeles city government. Given the importance of LA to the global economy, this one series of events could result in a global slowdown, bank runs, and a crisis amongst insurers. I don't want to sound like a panic merchant, but this could end up being worse than the thing in 2020, simply because the damage will take even longer to repair.

I recently looked at annual box office figures, and found that last year was the worst since 2001. The worst in 23 years (not counting the dreaded plandemic years as they're outliers). Does anyone think Hollywood's output will now improve? Err...if you think that then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn for sale, real cheap too. 

Now, I realise Hollywood is not all of what California is about, it has minerals, manufacturing, agriculture, finance, high tech etc., but the entertainment industry is a large part of the state economy, and it underpins the consumption of large parts of the developed world. With it already failing and about to go terminal - possibly - I'd say this must precipitate some kind of intervention. If the federal government do not, intervene that is, we are talking about millions of people losing their livelihoods worldwide. 

Bethenny Frankel's Los Angeles Disaster Relief

The Los Angeles wildfire disaster has left families with nothing. Bethenny Frankel's charity, BStrong is helping by offering those in need a relief box of essential items, and cash cards. The cash cards come in really handy as they put money back into affected communities. Spending keeps businesses afloat and staff employed. Clearly, Frankel and her team have really thought about things:

https://extratv.com/2025/01/15/l-a-fires-bethenny-frankel-s-bstrong-is-delivering-aid-with-dignity-exclusive/

Her BStrong organization puts together crisis kits packed with supplies and distributes cash cards to victims, with a focus on delivering the aid people need in a dignified manner.

She shared, “We deliver aid to different vetted orgs, churches schools, etc. In addition, we have crisis kits because this is Phase Zero — people don't have a suitcase, they don't have a house, they have nothing. These crisis kits are incredible. They have hydration and cups and beans and… things for kids and masks and sanitation, hygiene, all these kinds of things that people need right now.”

Frankel added of the cash cards, “They can take the cash card into their communities, put money back into their communities, and buy what they need.”

Renewables Lead to Blackouts

Please take the time to digest the embedded video from UnHerd's, Freddie Sayers. Last week the UK came close to an electrical system collapse. Basically, when the power is required, happens to be the times when solar is not available and wind is variable all the time anyway. Continuing to rely on fancy feelgood methods of electricity generation will result in seriously negative consequences:

ROSÉ & Bruno Mars - APT.

Being old and out of date, I missed this global number one hit. Roseanne Park, aka ROSÉ is a New Zealand born, South Korean pop singer. She is with the K-Pop group Blackpink and now branching out on her own. She's already earned an MBE, but based off her current success, a damehood cannot be far away.

Seawater on Wildfires?

To answer the question: yes, you can use seawater on wildfires and it often is used in the Northeast US, and in harbours when a ship or shore facilities are on fire:

Los Angeles Times Owner

The owner of the Los Angeles Times states the obvious, but nevertheless, it must be said. Electing incompetent and downright malicious leaders is a malaise afflicting the western world. This needs to stop, people have got to get a grip and start electing people who can do the job. Forget DEI, fancy ideology, feelgood claptrap, and stop believing in the tooth fairy.

Novak Djokovic Poisoned

I believe every word. Back in 2022, Novak Djokovic was the biggest name refusing to get the jab. He was vilified, and I believe it is not too much of a stretch to think 'they' wanted him dead. 

https://www.hindustantimes.com/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-walks-out-of-australian-open-presser-after-question-on-poisoning-claim-if-you-want-more-info-101736520240828.html#google_vignette

Novak Djokovic has declined to elaborate on his recent claim that he was "poisoned" during his controversial deportation saga in Australia ahead of the 2022 Australian Open. The Serbian tennis legend had mentioned in an interview with the GQ magazine that he had suffered from elevated levels of lead and mercury in his blood, which he believes was caused by food he consumed during his detention in Melbourne.

Santa Monica Fire Live Feed

I found the embedded link of one of the LA fires. It's interesting to watch and follow, the crews in the air and on the ground are doing a great job, but something else that does crop up is just how incompetent the political leaders in California are, they're seriously stupid people:

(Updated with a new stream)

Zuckerberg on Rogan

Mark Zuckerberg has appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast to explain himself. Does anyone think he'd talk like this if Donald Trump was not about to be sworn in?

We are still being censored, Google is heavily involved. What was the point of the last five years? From my perspective, it was all about control. In time, we'll see the rollout of the cashless society, compulsory jab mandates, the end of bodily autonomy, social credit scores measuring the extent to which individuals may interact with society, the economy, and politics. The last five years was an experiment and humanity failed. 

Zuckerberg talks about trust. Well, the destruction of trust leads to revolution. Personally, I no longer trust the media and refuse to buy a newspaper. I will never vote for politicians in parliament again, from henceforth I still vote, but only for parties and candidates not currently in parliament. I consider all members of parliament serving in 2020 to be criminals. I no longer respect so-called authority figures. This includes everyone right down to teachers. Think about this, when jab mandates were introduced, if teachers had stood up and defended science, then the horror would have ended. But they didn't, they sold out, took the money and betrayed science, and their consciences. The same applies to religious leaders, fire fighters etc., the list is long. They, like Zuckerberg, are nothing but snivelling cowards.

California Wildfires

Victor Davis Hanson explains what is happening; civilisation breakdown where politicians do performance art but real work is ignored or has its funding reduced.

Sinister X Moves

X, formerly known as Twitter, seems to be trying to become a version of WeChat for the US. What this will mean is individual social credit scores will impact the ability of citizens to access society, and their banking, travel etc. This will be sold as easy, efficient, and technology preventing illegal immigration.

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg Suddenly Free Speech Advocates

Both Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg seem to be reading the room and changing position. With Trump soon to be sworn in, they're now embracing free speech, while for four years of the Biden regime, they've been suppressing voices, anti-science, and spreading government propaganda. 

This must also explain Musk jumping on the bandwagon with Trump late in the game, and now his new campaign to bring down the Labour government in the UK.

I don't trust Musk and I don't trust Zuckerberg either. They're both creations of the US Government and not any kind of entrepreneur nor inventor. Musk makes the world's worst automobile, the Tesla EV which is doomed as soon as it loses its trendy tag, while his rockets are unreliable. The only thing Musk has managed to achieve is Starlink, whereby people can connect to the internet anywhere, even when at sea. This has revolutionised travel by sea, previously the internet was very expensive and slow when too far out. But that's about it, I cannot think of anything else that Musk does that amounts to anything. His tunnel boring machines were laughable, these types of machines have been in widespread use for over 70 years, but he promoted his company as if it was something new. Twitter, meanwhile, is simply an FBI operation offering back doors to every government whereby they monitor everyone, and provide governments the means to silence dissident voices.

Zuckerberg, likewise, with Facebook and the like is not doing anything new, and in fact his services are worse than predecessors. He appears to have been set up by the CIA or Department of Defense; on the day Facebook incorporated, Lifelog closed down. Lifelog was operated by the Department of Defense to create a data record of everyone on earth. Facebook now does that. Ask yourself this: how does a university dropout with no new ideas manage to get set up with millions behind him?

While the Trump days to come will no doubt be very entertaining, I'm not holding out any hope for any meaningful reforms. Trump will likely get distracted, clowns will take over, and dishonest men will grift aplenty. 

I found the below YouTube channel, where the presenter calls out Zuckerberg:

Peter Hitchens on the Revolution Now

Obama is a revolutionary, Keir Starmer is too; these people are very dangerous:

Steve Bannon Explains Why We're Cooked

I've been saying what Steve Bannon is saying here, since the GFC:

Justin Trudeau Gone

The monster that is Justin Trudeau is going the way of another monster, Jacinda Ardern. That is, a knighthood and promotion to some other high office. But, at least he'll no longer be prime minister. Trudeau must have done more damage to Canada than any other single man. 

 

Elon Musk vs Nigel Farage

One minute Elon Musk was talking about backing the Reform UK party leader, Nigel Farage, and then the next Musk is tweeting that Farage doesn't have what it takes. Apparently, this criticism comes because Farage doesn't want the controversial figure, Tommy Robinson in his party. Recently, Musk had shown support for Robinson. 

This draws into focus the influence wealthy people like Musk have over politicians, and it is to Farage's credit that he's his own man and won't simply take orders.

For the record, Musk is wrong on this, the character Tommy Robinson is a rather loathsome individual, with a criminal record. He's no freedom fighter and has almost zero chance of leading a major political party in the UK. 

With Love, Meghan

The comments below the Netflix trailer on YouTube are hilarious. These comments are as good as any you'll find on YouTube. 

Meghan Markle is launching a cooking show, and the trailer is cringeworthy. It's part Martha Stewart, part Emma, the Marchioness of Bath, and quite a bit like Pamela Anderson's show. But you don't need to watch the trailer, just read the comments, over 25,000 of them and none that I could see had anything positive to say: 

Why is the NBA Failing?

Being a lifelong fan of the NBA, I just accepted that the NBA would be forever, and one of the biggest professional sports leagues on the planet. However, it appears to be shedding fans and that has got me thinking, why is the NBA failing?

The first and most important reason is the league management chose to promote stars over teams. If you look at other sports, team always comes before the stars on that team. When you promote the individual, you embrace celebrity culture, and that's very risky. 

And this risk paid off to begin with, but now, look at the NBA and the stars are old or problematic. They're problematic in that they represent lifestyles that people abhor, or politics that people do not vote for. There has been a slew of NBA coaches and players going on anti-Trump tirades that immediately alienate 50% of the fanbase. Then you have players recorded as saying things such as; 'there's no party like a Diddy party.'

The second point is that players are grossly overpaid. Players are paid so much they don't really need to turn up, they'll be rich whether they win or not. After a few seasons, players probably don't even need to work again. This has removed all incentive to perform.

Third, rule interpretations have allowed offense to dominate defense. Does the three point line need to be moved? No, they just need to allow defense, and not allow players to get such easy looks at the basket. If they allowed defensive specialists to sit on sharp-shooters like Steph Curry, you wouldn't see that many three point attempts. As soon as three pointers become harder to attempt, you'll get real basketball.

The same applies under the basket as well. Hand checking, and preventing free movement of the offense has to return to the NBA, the referees issuing off-the-ball fouls for all kinds of imagined infractions needs to stop.

Fourth, the cost of watching games has become too expensive. This applies whether attending games or watching online or on the TV. Bring the cost down. I can understand local area broadcast blackouts, but the cost of going to the game has to be reasonable to compensate. 

Fifth, stop rigging games. This occurs both during the regular season and the playoffs. We've all seen it and the fans are leaving.

Sixth, instead of allowing players to 'load manage' or miss games; how about reducing the number of games played? There are 30 teams, if each play home and away, that's 58 games for each team. If you add an extra game against division rivals, that's a total of 62 games compared to the 82 games teams play now. Make each game worth more to players and watch them compete. If you think about top tennis players, they may compete in 20 tournaments a year, but do not play round-robin and so if knocked out they get less play. In a league like the NBA, teams have to turn up and the coach can substitute players, which is a form of load management anyway. Thus, 62 games is about the same load a top tennis player would face. Correct me if I'm wrong.

But back to first, the most important correction - take the politics out of sport, demote the stars, and pay all players less.

2025 a Bad Year?

Oh no, things have started really badly. I hope this is not the start of things going faster downhill, 2024 was bad enough:

Oh, and now this, rented from the same company:

Dame Lydia Ko

Lydia Ko has been made a Dame in New Zealand's New Year's honours. It is thoroughly well deserved, especially when you consider that she brought home an Olympic gold medal in 2024.

Dame Lydia has remained loyal to NZ, the country that taught her the game of golf. She could have switched to South Korea, and financially this would have been a good decision. But rather than take the money, she chose the country she adopted.

There's a lesson there for everyone.

https://www.lpga.com/news/2024/lydia-ko-becomes-a-dame-in-new-years-honors-in-new-zealand