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?

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?