Michael Bassett: The challenges of Waitangi Day

With Waitangi Day coming up, it looks as if we are to receive another dose of nonsense about the meaning of the Treaty. The website Stuff carries an article by Julian Wilcox who, it seems, is to co-host Radio New Zealand’s Waitangi Day coverage. It is full of the usual muddle-headed material about how the Crown has failed Maori with its education and health policies. Wilcox relies on a 2019 Waitangi Tribunal finding that argues for a new set of Treaty principles for New Zealand.

I’ll leave aside the fact that the job of the Tribunal, as set out in law, is to deal with existing Treaty principles, not to dream up new ones. From my decade served on the Tribunal I recall many people keen to invent new responsibilities for the Crown. No one ever seemed to feel that Maori had any need to improve their level of response to the opportunities that were already on offer. For the Tribunal, and for Wilcox who parrots them, every improvement that is needed in Maori outcomes must come from the Crown and be funded by taxpayers. A cynic might think that it all sounds like a Maori expectation that all of them should have an armchair ride to equality with those who take education seriously, are prepared to work hard, improve themselves, and contribute towards the wider social advancement of our country.

Net Zero Watch: Facing election fiasco, Joe Biden issues more oil drilling permits than Donald Trump

 

In this newsletter:

1) Facing election fiasco, Joe Biden issues more oil drilling permits than Donald Trump
The Daily Telegraph, 28 January 2022

2) Far from dying, the Coal industry is actually booming
Javier Blas | Bloomberg, 28 January 2022

Guy Hatchard: New Study - at last reliable scientific data about Omicron

A study of 80,000 patients with Covid during December 2021 presenting at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California healthcare system composed a mixture of Delta (16,982) and Omicron (52,297) patients. 

Hospital admissions were 222 for Delta (1.3%) and 235 for Omicron (0.5%). 

Rates of ICU admission among Omicron patients were one quarter that of Delta. 

No Omicron patients required ventilation and they had shorter hospital stays by 3.4 days (70% less than Delta). 

There were 14 Delta deaths (99.92% recovered) and 1 Omicron death (99.998% recovered).

David Cohen: In Fortress New Zealand, faith in Saint Jacinda is starting to fade

Jacinda Ardern recently told an American television host that she finds it ‘slightly offensive’ when outsiders assume every other New Zealander starred in Lord of the Rings. Quite so. New Zealand has only one real film star in 2022, and that’s the Prime Minister herself. But the way things are heading, she might best suit an adaptation of Lord of the Flies.

The place has gone mad. Many countries, even nearby Australia, have responded to the arrival of the Omicron variant by drastically easing many of their formerly draconian measures in response to Covid, in particular the widespread use of lockdowns, or what some might prefer to describe as mass house arrests. New Zealand’s government is not one of them.

Karen Selick: GIGO Applies to Legal Opinions Too

Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO) is an expression often used in the computer world, but it can also apply to the legal world.

Take, for example, the jaw-dropping legal opinion expressed by David Beatty, professor emeritus of the University of Toronto Law School, when he wrote in last week’s Globe and Mail that vaccine mandates “are justified as a matter of community self-defence and justice.”

Professor Beatty has apparently swallowed an enormous dollop of intellectual garbage, so it’s not surprising that his output is a tad rotten.

The first of his defective premises is that “COVID-19 is a serial killer” that “has taken the lives of more than five million people.” He never cites the source of his data, so one can’t help wondering whether he is completely ignorant of the chicanery that has been exposed behind statistics such as this.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 23.1.22

Saturday January 29, 2022 

News:
Māori win coastal title, but a river runs through it
Māori applicants succeed in seeking marine title and coastal rights in Hawkes Bay, but old legal requirements block one group winning a long fight over the Mōhaka River entrance

The third significant case in a row taken under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act has seen Māori awarded customary marine title and protected rights, this time across a long stretch of Hawkes Bay coast.

Don Brash: Why is the Maori language being thrust down the throats of people with no interest in learning it?

Over the last few years, and especially since the current Government was elected late in 2020, there has been an increasing trend to use the Maori language where there are perfectly acceptable English alternatives.

Radio New Zealand is a particularly egregious offender: even though the taxpayer has provided many millions of dollars to support Maori-language radio stations, and a Maori TV channel, those of us who speak not a word of the Maori language and have not the slightest interest in learning it are forced to listen to a number of Maori words and phrases with no translation provided.

And the use of Maori words is becoming more and more common throughout the public sector.

Net Zero Watch: 2.5 million British households can't pay their bills amid energy crisis

 

In this newsletter:

1) 2.5 million British households can't pay their bills amid energy crisis
The Daily Telegraph, 27 January 2022 
 
2) Saving money on energy bills more important to Britons than saving Net Zero
The Daily Telegraph, 27 January 2022

Heather du Plessis-Allen: We haven't seen inflation numbers this big since Geoffrey Palmer

 

We’re starting to get an idea of how much of a problem inflation is going to be for us, both globally and in NZ. 

The figures out today put annual inflation in our country at 6% for last year. 

That’s huge. 

We haven't’ seen a number that big since Geoffrey Palmer was the Prime Minster back in 1990, and those were not good days for the country. 

Jordan Peterson: Why I am no longer a tenured professor at the University of Toronto

The appalling ideology of diversity, inclusion and equity is demolishing education and business.

I recently resigned from my position as full tenured professor at the University of Toronto. I am now professor emeritus, and before I turned sixty. Emeritus is generally a designation reserved for superannuated faculty, albeit those who had served their term with some distinction. I had envisioned teaching and researching at the U of T, full time, until they had to haul my skeleton out of my office. I loved my job. And my students, undergraduates and graduates alike, were positively predisposed toward me. But that career path was not meant to be. 

There were many reasons, including the fact that I can now teach many more people and with less interference online. But here’s a few more:

Dr John Campbell: Study confirms omicron reinfections

Here is an analysis of UK study about Omicron, with NZ specifically commented on from 15 min. The point is made that people who have had COVID have BETTER protection than those who are vaccinated, raising the question, why so people who have had COVID need to get vaccinated? 

 

Lindsay Mitchell: Gangs - we get what we pay for

In 2016 the government provided you, the public, with a valuable insight into what gangs are costing us.

When I went searching for an update on the 2014 data, there was none. And that rather highlights that this Labour government doesn’t see gangs through the same lens as the last National government.

The absurdly mis-named Ministry of Social Development described gangs thus: “The harm inflicted by gangs is a serious issue in New Zealand. We have a complex gang problem that spans social, economic and justice issues.”

In 2014 there were 3,960 adult gang members known to police. Last year, in 2021, it was reported: “As of June 30, there were 8,061 gang members on the list curated by police, up from 5,343 at the end of 2017.”

Net Zero Watch: Fears mount Russia will weaponise gas supplies over Ukraine crisis

 

In this newsletter:

1) Fears mount Russia will weaponise gas supplies over Ukraine crisis
The Times, 24 January 2022
 

2) Germany’s reliance on Russian gas limits Europe’s options in Ukraine crisis
The Wall Street Journal, 23 January 2022

NZCPR Newletter: The State of Our Nation

“Totalitarianism: a form of government that seeks to subordinate all aspects of individual life to the authority of the state. Totalitarianism is characterized by strong central rule that attempts to control and direct all aspects of individual life through coercion and repression. The power of the centre… is absolute power.” - Encyclopaedia Britannica

It is traditional to start a new year with a stock-take of the state of the nation. We are now in the middle year of Labour’s three-year Parliamentary term of absolute power. We have learnt a lot about our Prime Minister and the forces that drive her.

While Jacinda Ardern claims she runs an open and transparent government, we now know that is a lie. Her election-night promise to govern for all New Zealanders, was also a lie.

Matt Ridley: Why Did Scientists Suppress The Lab-Leak Theory?

In private, they said it was plausible. In public, they called it a conspiracy theory.

In August 2007 there was an outbreak of foot-and-mouth virus on a farm in Surrey. It was a few miles from the world’s leading reference laboratory for identifying outbreaks of foot and mouth. Nobody thought this was a coincidence and sure enough a leaking pipe at the laboratory was soon found to be the source: a drainage contractor had worked at the lab and then at the farm.

In December 2019 there was an outbreak in China of a novel bat-borne SARS-like coronavirus a few miles from the world’s leading laboratory for collecting, studying and manipulating novel bat-borne SARS-like coronaviruses. We were assured by leading scientists in China, the US and the UK that this really was a coincidence, even when the nine closest relatives of the new virus turned up in the freezer of the laboratory in question, at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Derek Mackie: Wanted - Children's entertainer to promote Covid vaccination in under 12's

The following is an extract from a Situation Vacant advertisement published recently:

  

“Children’s entertainer wanted for a 6-week tour with the Ministry of Health (promoting vaccination). Would be wanted for 1-6 weeks from February 8th, depending on availability, and would visit 2 schools per day. 

…..please reply and let me know what your performance would be, previous experience and availability.” 

 Not satisfied with parents independently discussing and deciding on vaccinating their younger children, our socialist government has decided to assume this role. This is reminiscent of failed Communist regimes and their authoritarian approach to ensure compliance through propaganda in schools, universities and workplaces. 

It would appear that the MoH believes that making the kids laugh and have fun is the best strategy to ensure a high vaccination take-up rate. Maybe they plan to engage an adult entertainer to persuade reluctant parents. 

Heather du Plessis-Allan: We're starting this year with the same problem we've had for the past two

 

Isn't it remarkable that we are starting the year with exactly the same problem that we had last year, and the year before, which is that we are not ready for an outbreak. 

I’m not angry. You’re not going to hear me raging about this. 

But I am going to lay it out for you so you also understand how unprepared the government is for these omicron cases. 

Let’s start with ICU: not ready.

Net Zero Watch: Energy crisis bursts green shares bubble

 

In this newsletter:

1) Energy crisis bursts green shares bubble
The Daily Telegraph, 22 January 2022
  

2) World second largest wind turbine maker Siemens Energy declared “uninvestible” by analysts
Bloomberg, 20 January 2022

Jerry A Coyne: More from New Zealand, a nation whose science is circling the drain

I’ve written a lot about New Zealand lately, in particular the schools’ and government’s attempt to force the teaching of “indigenous ways of knowing” (mātauranga Māori) into the science classroom as a system coequal in value with modern science. That means not only equal classroom time, but equal respect, treating indigenous ways of knowing as complementary if not identical to “scientific truth”. 

Note that I’m not dismissing the value of mātauranga Māori (henceforth “MM”) in some spheres, even science. For MM contains “practical knowledge”, like how to catch eels, that could conceivably be inserted into science courses. 

And of course MM is the worldview of the indigenous people, and thus an important part of the history and tradition of New Zealand. It thus deserves to be taught in anthropology or sociology classes. But the science within MM is precious little compared with the larger titer of myth, legend, superstition, theology, and morality that are essential to MM. 

Ross Meurant: Fools Fool Fools

Over recent weeks, America, NATO and various other tagalongs (Boris in particular stood out), promulgated fear and loathing of Russia, flooding the media with: “Russia is going to invade Ukraine.” (1)

Military Intelligence (now there’s a laugh – how gathering information became “intelligence”?) paraded Russian military manoeuvres within its own territory, as a prelude to invading Ukraine.

Why would Russia invade a country which is bankrupt and is constantly subject to Neo Nazi parades intimidating the majority? (2) 

Why take on the burden of rebuilding what successive Ukraine leaders have been unable to recover from latent oligarch power and control?

Why take on the massive economic burden of salvaging the Ukraine economy and in the process end up in conflict with the hidden power: Oligarchs?

Derek Mackie: Today's News - where facts never get in the way of a good story

The scene: Today’s News - a typical TV Newsroom in Aotearoa 

 News in Aotearoa is no longer the dreary, detached reporting of factual information and events, allowing free rein to the viewer’s own, often sadly misplaced opinions. 

 Today’s News is authentic, insightful and relevant. It has evolved to guide the viewer to the right answer, every time, by applying the news team’s youthful, yet highly experienced, bias and judgement to each story.

Complementing this approach is the practice of disregarding or denigrating unsanctioned theories and viewpoints - aka misinformation - that distract and confuse the audience, often leading them to undesired conclusions. In extreme cases, this can even adversely affect people's voting preference at election time. 

As a mainstream, state-funded news channel, we at Today’s News pledge NOT to let that happen. 

Graham Adams: Follow the money - matauranga Maori and the millions at stake

There is a lot of funding and influence riding on successfully casting indigenous knowledge as equal to science. Graham Adams says the debate over the NCEA science syllabus is only the tip of an iceberg.

Anyone trying to get a grip on the mātauranga Māori debate over the past several months is likely to be completely puzzled by now.

The incendiary stoush was sparked last July by seven eminent professors stating in a letter to the Listener that indigenous knowledge is not science and therefore does not warrant inclusion in the NCEA syllabus as being equal to science.

Yet in the five months since the letter was published, virtually no one among those opposing the professors has argued convincingly that mātauranga Māori is scientific (even if some small elements of it could be called proto-science or pre-science).

Guy Hatchard: NZ has run out of money

You may not have noticed this week that our deputy PM Grant Robertson (he who refuses to answer emails about the pandemic because it is nothing to do with him) announced that as things stand there could not be a fourth booster shot. The reason is more revealing—New Zealand has run out of money. 

Covid sure has eaten up the cash. Grant has spent $64 billion on the pandemic so far (before it has even arrived here) and there is nothing left. Our annual health budget is a paltry $20 billion, the $64 billion has been in addition to that. 

So those of you who were thinking and blogging that the unvaccinated were depriving them of hospital beds might like to rethink. Perhaps it is profligate spending on the vaccinated which has led to those long queues for tests and treatments for diseases like cancer (10,500 deaths per year) and heart disease (600 deaths per year and rising). Just 52 people have died of Covid in NZ during the last two years and most of those few left in hospital are double vaccinated.

David Lillis: Workplace Bullying in New Zealand

Dr. Geoff Plimmer’s Lecture and my own Observations

Recently (21 April, 2021), the Royal Society of New Zealand Wellington Branch hosted a public lecture and discussion of current research on workplace bullying by Dr. Geoff Plimmer, senior lecturer at the School of Management, Victoria University of Wellington.

I invited Dr. Plimmer to give this lecture because I have met many people who have indicated dissatisfaction with their working environments here in New Zealand. Many appear to have been managed out or otherwise encouraged to leave, but I do not know the precise details of every case. I have requested and received information under the Official Information Act (OIA) on non-disclosure agreements (Settlement Agreements) from various organisations within the Public Service, but was independently aware of certain agreements with former staff of various organizations.

Net Zero Watch: As war looms in Europe, energy crisis deepens

 

In this newsletter:

1) Vladimir Putin 'is now plotting a full-scale invasion,' UK defence chiefs fear
Daily Mail, 19 January 2022
 
2) After approving Russian gas pipeline, Biden opposes European gas pipeline
EurActiv, 10 January 2022

Breaking Views Update: Week of 16.1.22

Friday January 21, 2022 

News:
Sir Toby Curtis: ‘Pākeha schools are hopeless and cannot educate our kids’
Sir Toby Curtis’ devotion to education has taken him from being a primary school teacher to a principal to a vice-chancellor and now a knight.

Throughout his career, his focus has always been to elevate the voice of Māori but says growing up in a Pākeha education system deprived him of reaching his full potential.

Chris Trotter: The Choice

“INSULATION from the ravages of extreme opinion has been achieved. The settlements have become mainstream.” The words are those of former Labour Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer. The “settlements” he refers to are the Treaty settlements negotiated between the Crown and Iwi.

It is to Iwi, New Zealand’s officially recognised tribal entities, that the responsibility for reinvigorating Māori society has been entrusted. Palmer’s confidence that the process has been walled-off from the “ravages” of democratic interference is important. The critical political choice made by leading Pakeha politicians, jurists and bureaucrats in the 1980s and 90s was to halt the momentum of left-wing Māori nationalism by inserting a layer of elite Māori business-people between the Crown and the economically and culturally impoverished Māori working-class.

Only by fostering the rapid growth of a Māori middle-class could the Pakeha state avoid being compelled to negotiate with social, cultural and political forces with precious little to lose. Forces, moreover, whose lack of a meaningful stake in the capitalist system might encourage its leaders to contemplate sponsoring an entirely different set of economic arrangements.

Barry Brill: Does “partnership” mean the same as “marriage”?

Let's be clear ... the word “partnership” carries very little meaning.

It obviously denotes some form of association between multiple parties who have agreed to collaborate for a common purpose. It probably conveys a sense of collegiality and co-operation and goodwill. That’s about it.

The word itself says nothing about depth of commitment or duration. A marriage partnership might last a lifetime, while a partnership to play cards, tennis, etc might be gone by lunchtime. A sex partner might be a one-night stand.

In 1840, as now, an invitation to “take your partners” would have implied a relationship lasting for a few minutes.

Guy Hatchard: What does it mean to be a politician going down with the ship?

Today Jacinda Ardern had her booster shot and warned us all to do the same. 

If I was charitable I might say that she must be unaware of figures from overseas including Denmark, the UK, Israel, and USA which call the effectiveness of the booster into question. 

Even the CEO of Pfizer admitted to the media this week that his shot was all but ineffective. More than this, is she also unaware that boosters carry a greatly elevated risk of adverse effects? And further, has she informed herself of the UKHSA figures which show that within a few weeks of receiving the booster, the unlucky recipient is more vulnerable to Covid than before the shot?

Net Zero Watch: Global warming has saved 500,000 lives in England and Wales in the last 20 years

 

In this newsletter:

1) Global warming has saved 500,000 lives in England and Wales in the last 20 years 
Office of National Statistics, 17 January 2022

2) Rising energy bills ‘unaffordable’ for quarter of households
The Times, 17 January 2022

Gerry Eckhoff: The storming of democracy

Quite some time ago, an angry mob stormed a public building which they saw as a symbol of oppression. They finally entered the building and killed the officials in charge. The mob is recorded in history and by their country as revolutionaries and their actions are revered every year as those of brave patriots. That mob apparently consisted mainly of craftsmen and storeowners. France was facing an economic crisis as the industrial revolution spawned even more poverty and unrest in the cities. Their protests to this very day appear more violent than most western democracies.

The event was the storming of the Bastille in France, 231 years ago and was the fore runner to the French revolution. The bastille was in fact a prison which stored a large quantity of ammunition the mob were after but had become a symbol of privilege and the dictatorial rule of France by the monarchy. The revolution itself was based on the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity and is celebrated each year in France with a national holiday.

Owen Jennings: ‘Going, going, gone’

An interesting court case in Wellington. A 76 year old man sold his house to a developer. His daughter is disputing his right to do so. She is claiming there were understandings about the property not being sold because there is tikanga involved, her baby’s placenta is buried on the property and that there were clearly issues of ethnicity and cultural values at stake.

Without commenting on this particular case it does, however raise significant issues about the nation’s slide into what can only be a quagmire of confusion, uncertainty, heartache and vagueness. The harder the elitists, the media and the academics push for the adoption of Māori language, Māori ownership, Māori control, the adoption of ill-defined terms, the incorporation of Māori factors into science and, particularly, if the courts continue down the path of judicial activism by embracing ethnic and cultural values into judgements and judicial process the greater the problems will become.

Clive Bibby: Climate emergency or moral fraud - you be the judge!

Two significant local events here on the East Coast - one in the last days of 2021 and the other planned for January 2022 - will be watched by a populace eager for relief from years of restricted activity.

One will have serious consequences for the nation’s long term economic well-being while the other, will be of only passing interest.

The irony is that both involve the Prime Minister in one shape or form.

Simon Ruda: Will nudge theory survive the pandemic?

State propaganda can flourish in times of crisis

In 2015, during a public debate on behavioural science in Lucerne, I was accused of supporting tactics befitting an unsavoury authoritarian regime. At the time, knowing how well-intentioned my colleagues were, I thought this was, quite frankly, nuts.

I remain a supporter of the use of behavioural science in public policy, and of the Behavioural Insights Team, more commonly known as the Nudge Unit. However, witnessing how the UK and other governments have responded to the pandemic, I can now appreciate the vulnerabilities of well-intentioned, democratic regimes, and the potential for behavioural science to be used inappropriately.

I was a co-founder and leading figure within the Nudge Unit. Since its inception, in 2010, the unit has been a success story for the Government. When I joined we were a team of seven within what was called the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. In 2014, we were able to “spin out” of government. We became an independent, profit-making social purpose company, a third owned by the Cabinet Office. We could sell our services to the whole of the UK public sector and any other government or organisation seeking to improve people’s lives.

Net Zero Watch: Boris Johnson told to act on energy crisis or ‘end up out of power’

 

In this newsletter:

1) ‘Red Wall’ Tories tell Boris Johnson to act on energy crisis or ‘end up out of power’
The Independent, 12 January 2022
 
2) Energy bosses demand ministers SCRAP green levies
Daily Mail, 12 January 2022

Ross Meurant: There Is No Democracy Without Debate

Germany’s President Steinmeier, said he felt it was his duty to “call for public debate over serious questions.”  He argued that “there is no democracy without debate.”

Addressing the issue of the issue of compulsory vaccination, President Steinmeier said this applied to times of crisis as well. (1)

In a previous post, Rights Denied, (2) I raised the question of being, shut out of public debate.

In particular I focused on the issue of this Labour/Green government elevating Maori above all other ethnic communities which make up New Zealand and provided specific examples of esteemed academics being vilified and blacklisted (‘scuse the pun) from public discourse.  Hon Dr Michael Bassett and Professor Liz Rata – being two of the most profile.

Guy Hatchard: Investigating the Science Behind Vaccinating 5-11-Year-Olds

An Indictment: Does the vaccination programme for teens and younger surpass the threshold for criminal prosecution?

D-Day for vaccinating 5-11-year-olds is upon us. If as a parent (or a politician) you do a google search “Is Covid vaccination of 5-11-year-olds safe?” you turn up a host of articles not only assuring you that it is safe and effective but also urging you that it is necessary.

First among these are the official NZ government information web pages. If you have doubts and persist by broadening your search criteria, the same kind of reassuring articles from a great variety of sources appear.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 9.1.22

Friday January 14, 2022 

News:
Former police officer appointed to council role
Former Rotorua Police area commander Anaru Pewhairangi will take up a new role at the Rotorua Lakes Council.

He has been appointed as Rotorua Lakes Council’s Deputy Chief Executive – Community Wellbeing.

Chris Trotter: Make or Break

He Puapua threatens to do to New Zealand’s Right what Rogernomics did to its Left.

IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS the New Zealand Right will face a battle for its very survival. If the combined votes of Labour and the Greens add up to a parliamentary majority in 2023, then the rules of the political game will be changed fundamentally. Capitalism as we have known it, along with our liberal-democratic political system, will be changed profoundly.

The re-foundation of New Zealand (a name which the new Labour-Green government will likely consign to the dustbin of history) will make it virtually impossible for the traditional Right to stage a comeback – at least democratically. Why? Because there will be literally nowhere for the force of a right-wing majority to be brought to bear. The restoration of the status quo ante will, constitutionally, cease to be an option.

Over the top? Don’t you believe it. This is how top-down revolutions work. The first decisive changes are made, and then, if the revolutionary government is re-elected, those changes are embedded beyond the capacity of practical politicians to reverse.

Henry Armstrong: Defence Overview Unbelievably Inept and Ignorant

The recently–released report emanating from the Operation Burnham enquiry in which a review of our Defence Force is recommended, demonstrates an unbelievable degree of ineptitude and outright ignorance amongst the enquiry team. The enquiry panel included two military members (one retired) amongst its highly-politicised makeup, but dominated mostly by bureaucrats with no military experience at all.

Amongst the recommendations is a clear proposal that civilians must have a far greater involvement in on-the-ground future military operations than at present. Really?  And just how might that translate in the following scenario:

An NZDF soldier is patrolling a village in a Middle-Eastern country in which ISIS terrorists are very active. Approaching her checkpoint is a person clothed head to foot in a traditional garment with only their eyes uncovered. The person is holding a small child by the hand and should not be out on the street - there is a “curfew” in place. The gender of the person cannot be determined. The soldier’s instructions are to require any curfew-breaker to halt, identify themselves and the reason they are breaking curfew. Should they desist or refuse to stop, the NZ soldier is then entitled to......?

Net Zero Watch: A third of Britons fear energy bills will become unaffordable this year

 

In this newsletter:

1) A third of Britons fear energy bills will become unaffordable
Daily Mail, 10 January 2022
 
2) Boris under pressure as Tory voters terrified they can’t afford energy bills
Daily Express, 10 January 2022

Net Zero Watch: Boris warned energy crisis could topple the Tory Government

 

In this newsletter:

1) Boris warned energy crisis could topple the Tory Government
Express on Sunday, 9 January 2021
 

2) Lord Frost: Be a true Tory Boris or you're out
Mail on Sunday, 9 January 2021

Ross Meurant: Rights Denied - Denied By Whom?

Leighton Baker (1), a hard-core Christian, is reported as being opposed to gender theory, prostitution, decriminalisation of abortion, marijuana and euthanasia.

When an MP I voted for gay rights, against hanging, pro-abortion and have made a case to legalize dope. (2)  And I’m a pagan.

Baker had his Twitter page taken down a month out from the last election. NZ Herald no longer publish me.

Eminent historian, former MP, Hon Dr Michael Bassett, who clinically debunks interpretations by some Maori of the Treaty of Waitangi and who condemns the concomitant power grabs by Maori; (3) from water rights to preferential treatment and control of New Zealand’s health industry, is now blacklisted (excuse the pun) from Main Stream Media. (4)

Bonner R Cohen: Biden's 'Build Back Better' Could Have Destroyed Jobs

The Biden administration-backed “Build Back Better” (BBB) tax and spending bill went back to the drawing boards when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced he would not support the current version of the bill on Dec. 19.

BBB’s health care and housing provisions contain “the single largest permanent increase in work disincentives since the income tax came into its own during World War II,” writes Casey Mulligan, former chief economist of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers in the Trump administration, on his blog. 

BBB would “reduce work by limiting competition in the labor market, imposing employer mandates, and increasing consumer prices for telecommunications, energy, and other products,” writes Mulligan.

Net Zero Watch: Boris Johnson caves to Tory fury with energy emergency plan

 

In this newsletter:

1) Boris Johnson caves to Tory fury with energy emergency plan
Daily Express, 6 January 2022
  
2) MPs turn up heat on Boris Johnson to cut tax on energy bills
The Times, 5 January 2022

Breaking Views Update: Week of 2.1.22

Saturday January 8, 2022 

News:
'Eyesore' of a building attracts squatters, and ongoing criticism
Members of the public are calling for action on Facebook to either save the six-storey structure, which is landbanked and under the management of Toitū Te Whenua/Land Information New Zealand, or for it to be demolished.

Te Atiawa, as part of its Treaty of Waitangi settlement deal, has first right of refusal to buy the property, if the iwi wanted it.

Henry Armstrong: The Covid 19 Dilemma - To Vax Or Not To Vax

Let me start this article by declaring that I am double-vaccinated against Covid19, with a booster scheduled for next week. 

In my lifetime, I have seen a number of pandemics in New Zealand come and go; have been vaccinated or inoculated for all of them; and had no option but to submit to these procedures in my early years under parental guidance or military law and discipline. I carried an International Health Certificate in my passport for many years, producing it on demand in many countries I sought to enter. Yes, I had a very bad reaction to one lot - TAB, as I recall - and another from the Asian Flu in the 1950s. I brought back Malaria from South-East Asia and suffered the indignities of spasms in cinemas. In operational theatres, diseases such as Malaria, Dengue fever and Typhoid were rife. Not all prophylactics were successful - especially against Malaria (Paludrin), Scrub Typhus (DBP, now recognised as deadly as Agent Orange), glandular fever and dysentery treatments. I survived!

Bruce Moon: An Open Letter to Professor Jacinta Ruru and her friends

Well, our Jacinta Ruru has certainly done quite nicely for herself: a professorship in law, an award in the New Year Honours and a nice little article, with a photograph, in “Waatea News” for 1st January 2022.[1]

So there she is, “from Raukawa, Ngāti Ranginui, and Ngāti Manapoto [sic]”. Yet her photograph shows that she unequivocally has significant European heritage. Indeed one might reasonably assume that it is her dominant ancestry but it is not even mentioned in her stated lineage. Strange, given that a simple DNA test could reveal a raft of interesting ancestral information. So why does she see herself as only a part person? Does she, perhaps, mention only her Maori ancestry because she sees some advantage in that??

Net Zero Watch: State of emergency in Kazakhstan Govt sacked over fuel price protests

 

In this newsletter:

1) State of emergency in Kazakhstan, Govt sacked amid protests over soaring gas prices
Euro News, 5 January 2022
  

2) Kazakhstan declared emergency as protesters torch public buildings
Reuters, 5 January 2022

Graham Adams: 2022 - Ardern’s plans for co-governance with iwi face rough seas

As voters become more aware of the stealthy implementation of a Māori separatist agenda, the political risks for the government will rise sharply. Graham Adams reports.

When the Prime Minister claimed in her first term that her government was going to be “transformational” many voters took her seriously — until it became apparent she was unlikely to transform anything much, whether it was unaffordable housing or inadequate public transport or introducing a capital gains tax.

Perhaps, however, we should have been listening more closely when a year ago — and only a few months into her second term — Ardern referred to “foundational change”.

The change in wording was quickly dismissed as a rebranding exercise dreamed up by Labour Party strategists to distance the government from its failure to be in any way transformational. But foundational change is certainly what we are getting in Ardern’s second term — even if most citizens remain unaware of the steady remaking of the nation’s constitutional arrangements via a radical interpretation of the Treaty as a 50:50 partnership.

John Porter: Fiduciary Duty

Fiduciary, not an often used or recognised word.

So, what is a Fiduciary?

Among the most common forms of fiduciaries are financial advisors, bankers, money managers, and insurance agents. A fiduciary must always have the best interest of their clients foremost.

The most common fiduciary duties are relationships involving legal or financial professionals who agree to act on behalf of their clients. A lawyer and a client are in a fiduciary relationship, as are a trustee and a beneficiary, a corporate board and its shareholders, and an agent acting for a principal.