As with the last couple of newsletters, this one has only gone to paid subscribers. If this one reaches 100 likes by this afternoon, I think it's probably a good one to open up, provided paid subscribers are happy with that.
Yes Nick, Pease open this up; it's one for the ages. I’ve restacked and forwarded to a bunch of people in the hope you would. Love Depeche Mode and the clip is gold.
I’m beginning to think that our Minister of Finance’s name is an acronym. Now I’ve Completely Obliterated Logical Accounting, Will Incredible Leader Luxon Impose Sanctions? It certainly fits the bill.
We on the left, the bottom feeders, knew this was going to happen, but not to this extent & definitely not so soon. What's incontiable is that there are people out there who still believe this is the right way to go. I read, or heard, somewhere that the top 311 in this country own more wealth than the bottom 2 million combined - time for them to pay their fair share of tax: we need a Capital Gains or Wealth tax NOW
Disaster heaped on disaster. It's like a rerun of the awful 1980s and 1999s policies. I can't think of a positive step by this government. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
There must be a message here folks, how did so many of our voters believe the simple message from simple minds. Their election pitch was spin, lies, and ignorance, how the hell do so many believe that corrupt message. As they also did in the USA too. In this world of SPIN and MISINFORMATION we must - have to - get better at evaluating the merit of what we are being told!
Unfortunately Phil the world is awash with bull dust, and has been for so long. Decades of advertising, entertainment and info-tainment, with carefully crafted neoliberal messaging, has befuddled people. The decline of genuine journalism and investigative reporting means more there is no alternative view being widely available to give people pause for thought, and increasingly people don’t really want to have think too hard about difficult things.
Well it’s a very good question, the answer should be education, and a media that does it’s job. I think we’re stuffed there. Fortunately with the help of Nick and others like him we have an avenue for getting good information, which we can use to alert those we know to what’s going on.
We can’t make people listen or think, but we can do our best to give them the opportunity.
Education- YES, but not the schools job, we need a culture of managing all the spin and lies - its what can we do because we are not powerless, there are too many of us if we get together, what I believe we must do!
When I say education I am not just talking about school, although that is where learning critical thinking skills should start, without them we end up where we are. School is not just about stuffing facts into people to pass exams or earn credits, and university shouldn’t be focused on business skills. It’s interesting to me how a declining interest in the arts and humanities has been running alongside an increase in sound bite media information and social media as a source of “truth”. Now we have AI generating information for us people with have even less motivation to think for themselves, research and apply critical thinking to what they find, especially if they have been taught how in the first place.
We do need to come together and make it clear that we are not going to allow the country to be ruined by this bunch of vandals, easier said than done though.
Well... first step, create an email (no-confidence?)@gmail.com, collect names and email details - would we need more details? Then we can communicate with a group, I have abut 5 names so far, target say 1000 to start. I'm sure we could find some supportive legal input, maybe a small group of us to pool ideas, go from there! Nothing to loose plenty to gain!
🤔 In fact voters DIDN'T vote specifically for this as no party (including National) got a majority of votes, so the 8% who voted ACT believed/wanted THEIR spin but didn't vote for Willis & her policies, & same for NZ First - who always have the hope/expectation that Peters will stop whoever he goes into coalition with from being TOO extreme (still unfolding on that score!) Sure, Nat voters didn't expect a coalition with the Greens, TPM or Labour, but they would probably not have expected ACT to be costing so much $$ in vanity projects & bribery, which is part of the untold story with adding to the already bizarre decisions based on actual Nat philosophy (& Nicola's Atlas Network mates) of running public services into the ground to make them ripe for privatisation 🤬
Yes - NOW - I recon we can! We can do it from our armchairs, put our names and email on a demand for a referendum vote of "no confidence", would need a few thousand, no cost, anyone in NZ, from top to bottom. It can be done, has been done over the years, recent times in France, Syria, we have the power, we just need to organise and DO IT!
There must be a book in there somewhere Catherine? It could begin “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Trouble is, it kept getting worse every day”
Yesterday someone asked if, given her qualifications and experience would any company appoint Ms Willis as their CFO? But indirectly the voting public did - send her off!
So added to the abject incompetence of Willis and the economic situation she has placed the country in we have the attack on workers on all fronts from ACT and their racist attacks on Maori. It is really difficult to understand that the voters of Aotearoa actually saw fit to elect this Govt who seem hell bent on making things so much worse for those of us not in the high wealth sector. Let's hope neither the Taliban or Al Quaeda ever hold the balance of power here because National would definitely embrace them to retain power.
Thanks, Nick, you have summed up the disaster succinctly. My focus is on the next two years. I know Labour and probably Greens are working hard on policy and plans for after the 2026 election. But in these next two years people like me and other readers here need to engage with those who cannot see as clearly as you. I will never persuade any from the top 311, but it is those comfortable like me..retired with savings and no accommodation costs...who need to be persuaded how dangerous this financial situation is for the health of NZ. Yes I would love for Willis to be replaced, but there will be just as awful people to replace her. They all need to go and maybe we can paralyse their activity/plans by our submissions, our demonstrations. And we must talk and write and persuade those who voted for a change and got this!!!
Let's hope Labour can get their act together and reject neoliberalism. Bring in the changes suggested by the Tax Report. I would like to see more policies for major areas such as health, education and infrastructure being agreed across parties to stop this flipflopping every few years. We are a small nation who cannot afford to do that.
👍Agree that those who have the time, the energy, and the opportunity (large audience>small audience) need to keep explaining in plain language why this govt is pursuing dangerous policies for ALL except the top 311, and those who aspire to join them (including current & former MPs with eyes on privatisation 😱) I'm on fixed income & still with a mortgage, but my worry is for the Aotearoa whanui into the future, so no 🙉🙈🙊 for me 💪
That English Literature degree is really working for you Willis isn't it! - it sure as hell isn't working for the rest of us, I wonder which studies informed her industrial strength arrogance and misplaced self assurance! No wonder the craven coward, supposed leader of the country, is making noises about not fronting up at Waitangi, things are getting hotter and hotter for this mongrel government we are enduring but apparently he's not bothered by flaunting his utter disrespect to NZ and New Zealanders!
I don't either Nick but am just pointing out it's totally the wrong fit for the job - as a degree within the humanities it is doubly ironic given she doesn't appear to have any!
I never, ever thought, in my lifetime we would have a worse Finance Minister than Ruth (Mother of all Budgets) Richardson. But here we are ; haughty and arrogant. Brings back bad memories and we know how Ruthanasia ended up.
As with the last couple of newsletters, this one has only gone to paid subscribers. If this one reaches 100 likes by this afternoon, I think it's probably a good one to open up, provided paid subscribers are happy with that.
Thanks guys, I'm going to take these likes and comments as a quorum and open it up. 🙂
Better to share it while the news is still relatively fresh.
Open it.
Yep, go ahead. It’s the sort of subject everyone needs to read, learn and inwardly digest, as school teachers used to advise us pupils.
Yes Nick, Pease open this up; it's one for the ages. I’ve restacked and forwarded to a bunch of people in the hope you would. Love Depeche Mode and the clip is gold.
I'm listening to this while reading the comments. It's incredible they're still going after all these years and sounding great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrC_yuzO-Ss
This is another great song, but isn't all their work beautiful and profound?
Very happy with that!
I’m beginning to think that our Minister of Finance’s name is an acronym. Now I’ve Completely Obliterated Logical Accounting, Will Incredible Leader Luxon Impose Sanctions? It certainly fits the bill.
Brilliant 👏👏👏
Thanks Liz😃 At last I finally found a use for her😁😁
We on the left, the bottom feeders, knew this was going to happen, but not to this extent & definitely not so soon. What's incontiable is that there are people out there who still believe this is the right way to go. I read, or heard, somewhere that the top 311 in this country own more wealth than the bottom 2 million combined - time for them to pay their fair share of tax: we need a Capital Gains or Wealth tax NOW
Disaster heaped on disaster. It's like a rerun of the awful 1980s and 1999s policies. I can't think of a positive step by this government. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
There must be a message here folks, how did so many of our voters believe the simple message from simple minds. Their election pitch was spin, lies, and ignorance, how the hell do so many believe that corrupt message. As they also did in the USA too. In this world of SPIN and MISINFORMATION we must - have to - get better at evaluating the merit of what we are being told!
Unfortunately Phil the world is awash with bull dust, and has been for so long. Decades of advertising, entertainment and info-tainment, with carefully crafted neoliberal messaging, has befuddled people. The decline of genuine journalism and investigative reporting means more there is no alternative view being widely available to give people pause for thought, and increasingly people don’t really want to have think too hard about difficult things.
Agree, but the big question is what to do about it - or how to manage it? If we (people) do not work that out - what is our future?
Well it’s a very good question, the answer should be education, and a media that does it’s job. I think we’re stuffed there. Fortunately with the help of Nick and others like him we have an avenue for getting good information, which we can use to alert those we know to what’s going on.
We can’t make people listen or think, but we can do our best to give them the opportunity.
Education- YES, but not the schools job, we need a culture of managing all the spin and lies - its what can we do because we are not powerless, there are too many of us if we get together, what I believe we must do!
When I say education I am not just talking about school, although that is where learning critical thinking skills should start, without them we end up where we are. School is not just about stuffing facts into people to pass exams or earn credits, and university shouldn’t be focused on business skills. It’s interesting to me how a declining interest in the arts and humanities has been running alongside an increase in sound bite media information and social media as a source of “truth”. Now we have AI generating information for us people with have even less motivation to think for themselves, research and apply critical thinking to what they find, especially if they have been taught how in the first place.
We do need to come together and make it clear that we are not going to allow the country to be ruined by this bunch of vandals, easier said than done though.
Well... first step, create an email (no-confidence?)@gmail.com, collect names and email details - would we need more details? Then we can communicate with a group, I have abut 5 names so far, target say 1000 to start. I'm sure we could find some supportive legal input, maybe a small group of us to pool ideas, go from there! Nothing to loose plenty to gain!
🤔 In fact voters DIDN'T vote specifically for this as no party (including National) got a majority of votes, so the 8% who voted ACT believed/wanted THEIR spin but didn't vote for Willis & her policies, & same for NZ First - who always have the hope/expectation that Peters will stop whoever he goes into coalition with from being TOO extreme (still unfolding on that score!) Sure, Nat voters didn't expect a coalition with the Greens, TPM or Labour, but they would probably not have expected ACT to be costing so much $$ in vanity projects & bribery, which is part of the untold story with adding to the already bizarre decisions based on actual Nat philosophy (& Nicola's Atlas Network mates) of running public services into the ground to make them ripe for privatisation 🤬
Yes Phil it can’t go on! We MUST vote her out! What about now??
Yes - NOW - I recon we can! We can do it from our armchairs, put our names and email on a demand for a referendum vote of "no confidence", would need a few thousand, no cost, anyone in NZ, from top to bottom. It can be done, has been done over the years, recent times in France, Syria, we have the power, we just need to organise and DO IT!
So true!
The Liz Truss of the south pacific
I never voted National in. I never believed the lies. But neither would I have believed how they could ruin the country in such a short time.
There must be a book in there somewhere Catherine? It could begin “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Trouble is, it kept getting worse every day”
Perhaps "It was the worst of times, it was the worserest of times..."
Perhaps not.
If it wasn’t, it’s sure as hell tracking in the right (wing) direction. Perhaps it could be?
I think privatisation is the goal, if there is a goal. Worst government we have ever had.
Yes privatisation is definitely the goal.
Yesterday someone asked if, given her qualifications and experience would any company appoint Ms Willis as their CFO? But indirectly the voting public did - send her off!
nicotinestain willis MUST GO for our countrys sake..shes an evil arrogant entitled moron
I forget who coined this phrase but it seems an apt one for the pickle we’re in.
Definition of insanity; doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.
I’m looking at you Nichola. 👀🤨
It is believed to be from a Narcotics Anonymous' pamphlet in 1981🤔
So added to the abject incompetence of Willis and the economic situation she has placed the country in we have the attack on workers on all fronts from ACT and their racist attacks on Maori. It is really difficult to understand that the voters of Aotearoa actually saw fit to elect this Govt who seem hell bent on making things so much worse for those of us not in the high wealth sector. Let's hope neither the Taliban or Al Quaeda ever hold the balance of power here because National would definitely embrace them to retain power.
Thanks, Nick, you have summed up the disaster succinctly. My focus is on the next two years. I know Labour and probably Greens are working hard on policy and plans for after the 2026 election. But in these next two years people like me and other readers here need to engage with those who cannot see as clearly as you. I will never persuade any from the top 311, but it is those comfortable like me..retired with savings and no accommodation costs...who need to be persuaded how dangerous this financial situation is for the health of NZ. Yes I would love for Willis to be replaced, but there will be just as awful people to replace her. They all need to go and maybe we can paralyse their activity/plans by our submissions, our demonstrations. And we must talk and write and persuade those who voted for a change and got this!!!
Let's hope Labour can get their act together and reject neoliberalism. Bring in the changes suggested by the Tax Report. I would like to see more policies for major areas such as health, education and infrastructure being agreed across parties to stop this flipflopping every few years. We are a small nation who cannot afford to do that.
👍Agree that those who have the time, the energy, and the opportunity (large audience>small audience) need to keep explaining in plain language why this govt is pursuing dangerous policies for ALL except the top 311, and those who aspire to join them (including current & former MPs with eyes on privatisation 😱) I'm on fixed income & still with a mortgage, but my worry is for the Aotearoa whanui into the future, so no 🙉🙈🙊 for me 💪
That English Literature degree is really working for you Willis isn't it! - it sure as hell isn't working for the rest of us, I wonder which studies informed her industrial strength arrogance and misplaced self assurance! No wonder the craven coward, supposed leader of the country, is making noises about not fronting up at Waitangi, things are getting hotter and hotter for this mongrel government we are enduring but apparently he's not bothered by flaunting his utter disrespect to NZ and New Zealanders!
I don't have an issue with what degree Nicola did; a BA is supposed to aid critical thinking. It doesn't seem to have worked.
I don't either Nick but am just pointing out it's totally the wrong fit for the job - as a degree within the humanities it is doubly ironic given she doesn't appear to have any!
A terrible Finance Minister who delivered for ATLAS, their rich donors,high income earners, landlords and tobacco industry at the cost of Aotearoa.
I never, ever thought, in my lifetime we would have a worse Finance Minister than Ruth (Mother of all Budgets) Richardson. But here we are ; haughty and arrogant. Brings back bad memories and we know how Ruthanasia ended up.