Oh, so just caught up with the news - new taxes can just disappear by calling them levies. Sweet. That wealth levy of ours should now be supported by everyone. Labour can go bolder with its CGL

Put solar panels on state houses. You could probably do the lot for $1.5b, would reduce energy costs for those least able to afford it, increase our grid resilience and save about the same amount in energy costs overall. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/...

If you are talking about increasing the cost of electricity, and not investing in distributed, resilient solar and battery capacity, nor electrification of transport in multi modes, you don’t understand the problem and should not be anywhere near power (pun absofuckinglutely intended)

An energy security asset would be, now let's see, ah yes the Lake Onslow pumped hydro project which would genuinely have secured energy for the country and not be reliant on the dying field of gas markets.

I built the NZ landslide fatality dataset, - most fatalities from landslides happen in ones and twos, every other month or year. When I began, there were ~400 fatalities in the dataset. I built it up to ~1800 events of which ~1600 were landslide fatalities. theconversation.com/landslides-a...

Excellent article from Andrea Vance today - few quotes "There is a weak argument (usually put forward by white men, those least likely to suffer abuse online) that staying on X somehow moderates the awful. You can’t dilute a cesspool." 1/5

So, the DOJ released and then removed a highly-redacted 2019 SDNY protection document titled Investigation into Potential Co-Conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein. www.meidasplus.com/p/doj-delete...

How can any prosecutor worth his salt suggest in light of evidence like this Epstein did not run a sex-trafficking ring? Todd Blanche needs to step down. And Patel. open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...

I've written about the overarching post story, causes, underlying pattern. But the failure of Lewis or Bezos to even show up, literally or figuratively, on a day of devastating cuts epitomizes the profound lack of character and accountability that is so common place today within the American elite.

Watergate, but if someone was killed.

Today I am announcing my campaign for the Dunedin City Council byelection. I’m standing to offer leadership that's ready to go on day one; that's willing & able to challenge the government’s reforms; & that's prepared to make decisions in the best long-term interests of the city. aaronhawkins.nz

Howard Lutnick went to Jeffrey Epstein's island 5 days before Lutnick and Epstein went into business together. 12/23/2012 — Lutnick goes to Epstein's island. 12/28/2012 — Lutnick and Epstein sign a stock purchase agreement.

The Guardian has a rough outline of what the Tulsi whistleblower complaint is about: NSA found someone close to Trump in contact with foreign intelligence, and rather than doing something about that, Tulsi brought the report to Susie Wiles. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

This is just sad.

IT'S FEBRUARY 2026. THE RAIL ENABLED HYUNDAI FERRIES FOR I REX WERE MEANT TO ARRIVE BY NOW. Instead we have no rail enabled ferries, the two we have are clunky as fuck, and there will be no replacement ferries until 2029 at the earliest.

A guide for Aucklanders keeping watch for yellow-legged hornets: 1. “Hmm, is this stripy waspy thing a hornet?” = not a hornet 2. “JESUS EFFING C what the F is that MONSTER, that’s he biggest wasp I’ve ever SEEN, NO Jaden KEEP AWAY, shit I think it has yellow legs” = hornet

I'm so glad I held on to my CDs. I've landed at the very budget end of audiophile home hi-fi and my Chinese CD player sounds *awesome* playing well-mastered CDs. (You also really notice the badly-mastered ones.)

Documents show RFK Jr lied to Congress about his agenda in Samoa—he did indeed go to spread anti-scientific doubts about vaccines. He was ultimately successful in getting an outbreak going there that killed 83 people, mostly babies and young children.

New Zealand citizen Peter Thiel.

Here is the video of Hakeem Jeffries saying "fuck Donald Trump" for posting that racist video of the Obamas. (originally from his official Instagram account) www.instagram.com/reel/DUbeoy5...

Over 8 billion dollars of taxpayer money just gifted to someone who is already a billionaire. If you're wondering why Bezos goes to bat for Trump so often, this is it. He only cares about money. And Trump is giving him absurd amounts of it. Our government is entirely corrupt and illegitimate.

this is the question.

I keep looking at this screenshot from video Trump posted & saying 'it cannot be for real'. But it is. I took this screenshot myself. So we're here now, are we? The US President posting images of Barack & Michelle Obama as monkeys? You support this pig? You ARE a filthy racist. Yes it's that simple.

Musk is going to take a business that's doing well (because he doesn't actually run it) and shackle it to one that's breathtakingly exposed to market collapse. Let's see how that goes.

It beggars belief that the Reserve Bank is on the verge of tightening policy again and the Government is keeping policy tight. 'We now have nearly 1 in 7 adults on a working age benefit.' Full employment? Yeah...nah.

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

For those who don't know, Luttig was once considered the intellectual heir to Scalia. He was about as conservative a judge as you could find...

2022: "Continuing with Veolia as the current operator on an improved performance basis, presented the lowest risk with the ability to achieve the aspirational goals." Oh well

Quelle surprise, Veolia - in it for the profit - fails the to do the basics. “An independent report released today has found the French-owned multinational Veolia failed to carry out basic asset management, including regular maintenance.” #nzpol They join CompassNZ on the DO NOT USE LIST.

If Jeff Bezos could afford to spend $75 million on the Melania movie & $500 million for a yacht to sail off to his $55 million wedding to give his wife a $5 million ring, please don't tell me he needed to fire one-third of the Washington Post staff. Democracy dies in oligarchy.

Geese from the cheap seats at Laneway. I liked them.

Geese playing to the swans. Quite agreeable.

Today, the Court of Appeal has given clarity and confidence to medical professionals in Aotearoa to continue prescribing GnRH agonists/reversible pubertal suppression. You can read PATHA’s statement at patha.nz/news

Wait for it. youtube.com/shorts/7KhEk...

🚨 Breaking: ICE can now arrest anyone for virtually any reason. This is effectively a COVID‑style ICE lockdown. Who will even dare go outside if you can be detained just for a look they don’t like? #USALockdown #COVID #ICELockdown #Trumpocalypse www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u....

Global credit rating agencies warn against National Party (and Taxpayer Union) rates cap law - the modelling is fascinating and will hit Council expenses hard #nzpol #kiwi newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/04/g...

Young neighbours are having an enthusiastic pre-Laneway gathering. Bless. I jumped on my bike to go down and see the crowds arriving.

Wyden is a Democrat with a longstanding interest in govt surveillance and privacy rights – he's a smart man. This is clearly intended to put the fact of his classified letter on the record. And it's surely about what the CIA knows or suspects about US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

Christopher Steele (he's back!) says the FBI has tracked Epstein's links with Russia as far back as the 70s, and that was likely the source of his original investment capital. Says the US DoJ had and *should* have shared info about Mandelson when MI5 was vetting him. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8Gh...

You’re welcome. There’s also a tool in here so you can search the files yourself .. easier than the DOJ site which is clunky as, and I’ve stripped out the duplicates/irrelevancies

#NZpol SPEAKING OF THROWING $$$ ON BS, at the literal downstream expense of *checks notes* Absolutely Everything ELSE since '23 (hitting us directly back in the form of rates rises, higher cost of living, unemployment and ALL THE REST for "mOrE EfFiCiENcY, BeTTeR OuTcOMes!") this hasn't aged well:

Great move. She can do this without having to ask anyone's permission because merch accrues to the artist.

I am absolutely genuine when asking this: Are there any significant economic indicators for New Zealand that are now better than they were ahead of the last election? Inflation is lower, but was trending down heading into 2023 election, and is trending up now.

looking at this along with miller and mizelle begging for DM applications to AUSA positions plus the story about the sUrGe they want to do tells the story of a DOJ that is coming completely unglued

The Saturday leg of Somethin' Else in Aotea Square is an amazing free show. You'll really want to get there in time to see Joe Kaptein and his young band.

Ah, my Listener column about the government's feckless attitude to climate change is now online. www.nzherald.co.nz/the-listener...

It's Elmo's birthday

Trump's DOJ: we've redacted all the images of death, physical abuse and injury, but also there is absolutely nothing to see here please go back to what you were doing.

Sadly, this is NOT satire.