Opinions on politics, economics, sport, investment and anything interesting, stocks and shares, art and entertainment, good reads, and cool stuff.
March 28, 2023
March 27, 2023
March 26, 2023
Rachel Stewart on the Recent Events in Auckland
March 25, 2023
March 22, 2023
Important: New Study from Norway
March 21, 2023
Women's Rights Activist Kellie-Jay Keen
A bit of a stir Downunder with the visit of Kellie-Jay Keen, the noted British women's rights activist. Currently in Australia, will she be allowed into New Zealand? Does NZ still have free speech?
March 20, 2023
Worldwide Money Laundering
March 18, 2023
Richard Vobes on Andrew Bridgen - Hero
March 14, 2023
Tucker Carlson: Big Government Will Always Save Wall Street
March 13, 2023
GFC 2.0
Three banks have gone bust in the last few days; the collapses started with Silvergate, followed by Silicon Valley Bank which became the USA's second largest bank failure in history, and now on Sunday, New York based Signature bank has had regulators take control.
Clearly this is serious and yet more banks will fail. I predicted this would happen. Back with GFC 1.0 there was little financial rigour put in place, goalposts were moved and institutions were rescued. The term 'too big to fail' became a thing. I complained loudly, saying where were my bargains? Governments propped up failure. That never leads anywhere and only causes more harm. And here we are.
Word is that SVB spent more time on trendy causes than actually paying attention to risk management. I can believe it. The other rumour is that Prince Harry and his wife have a lot of money deposited with SVB. We'll see, but don't be surprised if you see the pair suddenly head back to England and for King Charles to bail his son out. If this does happen, watch the reaction from the British subjects, the Coronation could end up being booed.
As the saying goes, we live in interesting times.
March 12, 2023
The Military Situation in the Ukraine
Here's a very intelligent essay examining how we got to where we are now in the Ukraine.
https://labourheartlands.com/jacques-baud-the-military-situation-in-the-ukraine-update/
Let’s try to examine the roots of the conflict. It starts with those who for the last eight years have been talking about “separatists” or “independentists” from Donbass. This is not true. The referendums conducted by the two self-proclaimed Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in May 2014, were not referendums of “independence” (независимость), as some unscrupulous journalists have claimed, but referendums of “self-determination” or “autonomy” (самостоятельность). The qualifier “pro-Russian” suggests that Russia was a party to the conflict, which was not the case, and the term “Russian speakers” would have been more honest. Moreover, these referendums were conducted against the advice of Vladimir Putin.
<snip>
Many Western commentators were surprised that the Russians continued to seek a negotiated solution while conducting military operations. The explanation lies in the Russian strategic outlook since the Soviet era. For the West, war begins when politics ends. However, the Russian approach follows a Clausewitzian inspiration: war is the continuity of politics and one can move fluidly from one to the other, even during combat. This allows one to create pressure on the adversary and push him to negotiate.
March 11, 2023
March 10, 2023
Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet
March 09, 2023
March 08, 2023
Prince Harry and Gabor Mate
March 07, 2023
Joe Rogan, Russell Brand Calls Out Bill Gates
Lake Taupo Rumbles
Here we go, Lake Taupo had an earthquake and small tsunami, and aftershocks continue. It's actually a volcano and knowing New Zealand's luck at the moment, it could be about to blow:
March 04, 2023
Walmart Shutting Down in Portland
I saw the start of this process and so I'm not surprised to read about it. While a very picturesque State and the eastern regions are very 'real', the western regions have become unbearably 'woke' and the place has now descended to hellhole status:
By the end of this month, there will be no more Walmart stores in Portland. More than 641,000 people live within the city limits of Portland, and so you would think that there should be a lot of money to be made there. But Walmart has decided to wave the white flag. Portland has been transformed into a complete and utter hellhole, and apparently Walmart executives have determined that things are not going to turn around any time soon.
March 02, 2023
Analysis of Media Coverage of Parliament Protest 2022
It's a year since the Labour government crushed peaceful dissent. A new report finds the media were heavily biased, becoming shills for tyranny:
Key findings are:
- 72% of media coverage made no attempt to report the concerns, and many of those articles which did mention their concerns reported them alongside critical commentary.
- around 20 stories (just 3% of the total 599 reviewed) featured quotes from protestors, many of whom were happy to be named. There were only a couple of stories that profiled protesters in any depth.
- the direct coverage of the protests focused on the more controversial and possibly fringe elements of the group. Little effort was made to report the impact mandates had had on the lives of the protestors or the validity of questioning the use of mandates.
- the media failed to do a true assessment of what kind of people made up the protest and their motivation to be there. Most protesters were motivated by opposition to mandates, support for freedom of choice, concerns about children being vaccinated, and the loss of jobs.
- just under half of all coverage of the protesters’ concerns was by those speaking about the protest rather than to the protestors directly. Nearly all the commentary was negative and critical, at times derisive and dismissive.
