I don't usually wake up and turn on my phone to have a read in bed Nick but with my wife sleeping beside me I thought I'd check the time then saw you had posted. Was this a good way to start the day? Well, yes, for getting me to have a laugh (or just a wry smile) at the ignorance and stupidity we seem to be surrounded with. Fortunately I never listen to Newsqwark ZB so have to rely on you torturing yourself to inform me of their latest idiocy. Scarily, some if the people I associate with on a casual basis often quote me the latest breathtaking stuff they've heard on that junk radio station. And believe it!
As for Paddy Glower (deliberate misspelling).....he seems the reinventing himself as a poor person's (used to be "man's) Paul Henry, another oof creeping from the crypt. And then I have to put up worth him appearing on Radio NZ!!
Anyway, on balance a very good post to wake up to. I thank you and share your indignation, disgust, distress, desperation, dislike etc and thanks for doing the hard Mahi for us.
Tangential comment on Seymour’s ‘Red Tape Bill’ - watched some amazing submissions but was horrified by their reception (or lack of) by the committee. One smart wahine called the process “insulation” - spot on!
The bored disrespect of the committee chair, via zoom, is indeed an insult. I think it’s probably an indication of how things are going to go unfortunately.
Thanks Nick for listening to the sqwark so we don't have to. Paddy Gower is past his sell-by. He is even mentioned in an ad FFS. I haven't listened to anything about the covid inquiry, but we know more now than we did then, and early decisions were made before a lot was known about the epidemic and before vaccination was widely available. Of course we would make different decisions now - and the next time there's a plague. This continued scapegoating and hounding of Jacinda is despicable.
As for the RSB select committee - words fail me. The fact that Geoffrey Palmer our internationally recognized expert on constitutional law gets 5 minutes is appalling. Then Bryce Wilkinson, economist not lawyer, writer of the bill in the first place, attacks him as not understanding the bill!!. Oh, I think we all understand where Seymour and his badly written bill, that has already failed 3 times, is coming from. And we all have a good idea of where we'd like him to go.
All sadly accurate Nick. Paddy Gower a real disappointment over the last few months - spiteful, irrelevant and craven. Puff pieces about Amanda Luxon and vitriolic crap for Jacinda. But yep, basically the Stuff standard. TV3, also Stuff, just as bad seeming to exist as Seymours private platform while TVNZ clearly obedient to NACT bosses. 🙄 Aue.
Thanks for a great piece. I am truly convinced the world has gone mad after hearing that Trump is being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The lunatics have taken over.
Sharp writing Nick - one of your best columns. Thanks always for extending and articulating my own thoughts and gut instincts far more clearly than I'm capable of doing myself.
Crazy times alright… I used to think Paddy Gower could be funny but what’s actually happened to him? As for left and right views, I mean that’s democracy right and you could argue diversity (of thought/opinion)? But I’m talking about left of and right of centre. Not the extreme far right that our government seems to be sitting.
Great Korero Nick. Love the .....I've got two words "Todd McClay"!!! Also your observations re Paddy Gower! Seem this man is the go to person for all wisdom.....goodness knows how. I find him a vacuous fool. The bigger question is how we collectively change this narrative. I'm sure there are many more people who equally believe we are weathering an existential reality crisis, but are just so frantically trying not to drown that they're powerless to react.
Cheers Mac, I’m afraid I draw the line at Ryan Bridges, had to stop listening to him speaking with Chippy the other day. Where do they get these ghastly people?
Probably at some socialite party Nick. You know the conversation: "Look I know this guy who knows bugger-all about anything but would be good at stirring on radio."
🤔 I watched it on BHN segment, where I knew the commentary would break up Ryan's appalling interviewing style & loaded questions. Chippy more than held his own objectively, eg fact checking re how long the nooses were up in Parliament ground insurrection & who they were aimed at (1st days & his name was on one 😱) to debunk that extremists weren't there at the start 🤷 and the fact that the FIRST COVID enquiry made a lot of recommendations but this govt has implemented NONE of them 🤬 BTW irony that a good-looking gay man is being put up to promote/defend the intolerant right wing view points⁉️
Things are very strange right now Nick. The world has gone completely loopy and I think Trump was the one that opened Pandora’s box, right from the start of his first term his behaviour has has encouraged the worst kind of behaviour, and now so many people have followed suit thinking it’s perfectly acceptable.
Great read over the morning cafe coffee while I wait to hang out with my just turned 5 granddaughter 🥰 As for Paddy I have never found him particularly great and many times seriously annoying as f...! His current iteration looks to be dire so won't be changing my views of him any time soon.
Hindsight is always 20/20 and looking back I wouldn't have had anything done differently, except perhaps the reluctant opening of our borders after pressure. It was too soon and it gave the ranters a legitimacy they did not deserve. But again, it was our government trying to do the right thing for everyone.
The first thing my partner and I both said, after the Mushroom Trial kitchen duty mention was 'I'm sorry....what?'.
Whoever is writing history records these days is going to find themselves filed in the fiction section.
I am deeply disturbed about the Jacinda hunt going on and also Chippy about the second Covid Inquiry, (which specifically excludes the period NZ First was part of the government) Paddy Gower is just one of them among others in our media. I think it shows a very sick mindset among some in NZ, It's almost like NZ was the only country in the world to have lockdowns. I watched as the numbers in Italy climbed and climbed to hundreds of thousands dead. In the UK, where the health service was overwhelmed and the bodies put in freezer trucks. Yes there are lessons to be learned and they are all there from the first COVID inquiry. This latest inquiry is a CoC agreement, designed to do nothng more than blame the previous administration and satisfy NZ First.
The backlash against Jacinda is shocking! With the self appointed Bishop helping to lead the charge! Vile creature that he is. Reading his followers comments against her is shocking.
Yesterday I hit back at a woman who called Jacinda a coward for resigning.
Telling her that the nasty name calling for violence to her and her family was uncalled for. Could one really blame her?
The woman stated, 'Well she brought it all on herself!'
(Eye roll, mouth open!!)
Reminding me of the Texas floods, with reports of a woman's comments stating that because they voted Trump, they deserved to be drowned!
Reading this brought to mind, what the hell is going on in our world?? Crazy!
If not for the attacks against Jacinda, I would have still been in the frame of mind, that really, underneath it all, we have a fair minded country. Reality.......There is a dangerous element of like Trumpism!
I rarely watch TV1 news but the other night I saw a poster previewing a coming programme. A large benign smiling Luxon to the left, a large grinning Winston in the middle and a large Judith Collins coming across from the right arms outstretched with a gun pointed and ready to shoot!
Is this a valid TVNZ editorial choice - to keep flashing this image across our screens? Who paid for it?
It was a truly bizarre image that has been imbedded in my brain.
Great post Nick, I watched John Stewart from start to finish, laughing but also saddened that the USA, a place I once called home, is so horrendously going down the toilet bowl at a hundred miles an hour. I do wish the general public here could see through the big lie of Austerity measures for what it is.
I tried to transfer 3 dollars from one account to another to buy a coffee this morning, only to find out that banks don't allow this. Thinking of renaming Wednesday, toastday, not that there is anything to toast to. Things are pretty bad out there . I wish Anger would well up in people to stop what is happening here. I wish for many things. Guess I will have to wait for the tooth fairy.
I don't usually wake up and turn on my phone to have a read in bed Nick but with my wife sleeping beside me I thought I'd check the time then saw you had posted. Was this a good way to start the day? Well, yes, for getting me to have a laugh (or just a wry smile) at the ignorance and stupidity we seem to be surrounded with. Fortunately I never listen to Newsqwark ZB so have to rely on you torturing yourself to inform me of their latest idiocy. Scarily, some if the people I associate with on a casual basis often quote me the latest breathtaking stuff they've heard on that junk radio station. And believe it!
As for Paddy Glower (deliberate misspelling).....he seems the reinventing himself as a poor person's (used to be "man's) Paul Henry, another oof creeping from the crypt. And then I have to put up worth him appearing on Radio NZ!!
Anyway, on balance a very good post to wake up to. I thank you and share your indignation, disgust, distress, desperation, dislike etc and thanks for doing the hard Mahi for us.
I don’t have a problem with Paddy until he pops up on RNZ. He’s more suited to another station, any other station.
paddy has crossed the line into irrelevancy , time for hime to move on.
All privilege tends towards corruption, and I think his 'best before' date was about 2015
Wasn’t he just awful.
👏👏👏
Tangential comment on Seymour’s ‘Red Tape Bill’ - watched some amazing submissions but was horrified by their reception (or lack of) by the committee. One smart wahine called the process “insulation” - spot on!
The bored disrespect of the committee chair, via zoom, is indeed an insult. I think it’s probably an indication of how things are going to go unfortunately.
Sorry, insulTation - the evil autocorrect strikes again
They both apply equally well. Insulation from accountability IS insulting.
Yes I watched Tina Ngata, and was humbled and delighted by her intelligence and her opinions! A future PM? Could we ever be that lucky?
She is amazing, walks the talk too!
Thanks Nick for listening to the sqwark so we don't have to. Paddy Gower is past his sell-by. He is even mentioned in an ad FFS. I haven't listened to anything about the covid inquiry, but we know more now than we did then, and early decisions were made before a lot was known about the epidemic and before vaccination was widely available. Of course we would make different decisions now - and the next time there's a plague. This continued scapegoating and hounding of Jacinda is despicable.
As for the RSB select committee - words fail me. The fact that Geoffrey Palmer our internationally recognized expert on constitutional law gets 5 minutes is appalling. Then Bryce Wilkinson, economist not lawyer, writer of the bill in the first place, attacks him as not understanding the bill!!. Oh, I think we all understand where Seymour and his badly written bill, that has already failed 3 times, is coming from. And we all have a good idea of where we'd like him to go.
Was he ever not?
All sadly accurate Nick. Paddy Gower a real disappointment over the last few months - spiteful, irrelevant and craven. Puff pieces about Amanda Luxon and vitriolic crap for Jacinda. But yep, basically the Stuff standard. TV3, also Stuff, just as bad seeming to exist as Seymours private platform while TVNZ clearly obedient to NACT bosses. 🙄 Aue.
Thanks for a great piece. I am truly convinced the world has gone mad after hearing that Trump is being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The lunatics have taken over.
That was a sickening performance by Netanyahu.
Sharp writing Nick - one of your best columns. Thanks always for extending and articulating my own thoughts and gut instincts far more clearly than I'm capable of doing myself.
Crazy times alright… I used to think Paddy Gower could be funny but what’s actually happened to him? As for left and right views, I mean that’s democracy right and you could argue diversity (of thought/opinion)? But I’m talking about left of and right of centre. Not the extreme far right that our government seems to be sitting.
Great Korero Nick. Love the .....I've got two words "Todd McClay"!!! Also your observations re Paddy Gower! Seem this man is the go to person for all wisdom.....goodness knows how. I find him a vacuous fool. The bigger question is how we collectively change this narrative. I'm sure there are many more people who equally believe we are weathering an existential reality crisis, but are just so frantically trying not to drown that they're powerless to react.
Yet!! The Elections are our opportunity. Feet on the ground, community drive, donations of time and kind. Joining together.
Yes, togetherness is our power.
Joining together and voting these vile creeps out!
My wise beyond his 22yrs son refers to the current state of affairs as either a 'psyop' or a GTA simulation. He makes me smile with his accuracy.
A really good summation of where things are at Nick. Thank you for your taking one for the team by listening to ZB and it’s biased “I reckons”
Cheers Mac, I’m afraid I draw the line at Ryan Bridges, had to stop listening to him speaking with Chippy the other day. Where do they get these ghastly people?
Probably at some socialite party Nick. You know the conversation: "Look I know this guy who knows bugger-all about anything but would be good at stirring on radio."
"Just what we are looking for. Thanks."
🤔 I watched it on BHN segment, where I knew the commentary would break up Ryan's appalling interviewing style & loaded questions. Chippy more than held his own objectively, eg fact checking re how long the nooses were up in Parliament ground insurrection & who they were aimed at (1st days & his name was on one 😱) to debunk that extremists weren't there at the start 🤷 and the fact that the FIRST COVID enquiry made a lot of recommendations but this govt has implemented NONE of them 🤬 BTW irony that a good-looking gay man is being put up to promote/defend the intolerant right wing view points⁉️
Ly'n Bridges as G calls him is such a pompous eejut
Things are very strange right now Nick. The world has gone completely loopy and I think Trump was the one that opened Pandora’s box, right from the start of his first term his behaviour has has encouraged the worst kind of behaviour, and now so many people have followed suit thinking it’s perfectly acceptable.
Morons. I notice the msm is inreasingly representative of the morons in our society.
Great read over the morning cafe coffee while I wait to hang out with my just turned 5 granddaughter 🥰 As for Paddy I have never found him particularly great and many times seriously annoying as f...! His current iteration looks to be dire so won't be changing my views of him any time soon.
Hindsight is always 20/20 and looking back I wouldn't have had anything done differently, except perhaps the reluctant opening of our borders after pressure. It was too soon and it gave the ranters a legitimacy they did not deserve. But again, it was our government trying to do the right thing for everyone.
The first thing my partner and I both said, after the Mushroom Trial kitchen duty mention was 'I'm sorry....what?'.
Whoever is writing history records these days is going to find themselves filed in the fiction section.
I am deeply disturbed about the Jacinda hunt going on and also Chippy about the second Covid Inquiry, (which specifically excludes the period NZ First was part of the government) Paddy Gower is just one of them among others in our media. I think it shows a very sick mindset among some in NZ, It's almost like NZ was the only country in the world to have lockdowns. I watched as the numbers in Italy climbed and climbed to hundreds of thousands dead. In the UK, where the health service was overwhelmed and the bodies put in freezer trucks. Yes there are lessons to be learned and they are all there from the first COVID inquiry. This latest inquiry is a CoC agreement, designed to do nothng more than blame the previous administration and satisfy NZ First.
Steve Braunaias - inside the animated mind of Sir Ian Taylor. Brilliant satire and very funny.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/05/the-secret-open-letter-of-sir-ian-taylor/
Brilliant
Its designed to rark up old feelings for the run in to the next election is what it is!!!
The backlash against Jacinda is shocking! With the self appointed Bishop helping to lead the charge! Vile creature that he is. Reading his followers comments against her is shocking.
Yesterday I hit back at a woman who called Jacinda a coward for resigning.
Telling her that the nasty name calling for violence to her and her family was uncalled for. Could one really blame her?
The woman stated, 'Well she brought it all on herself!'
(Eye roll, mouth open!!)
Reminding me of the Texas floods, with reports of a woman's comments stating that because they voted Trump, they deserved to be drowned!
Reading this brought to mind, what the hell is going on in our world?? Crazy!
If not for the attacks against Jacinda, I would have still been in the frame of mind, that really, underneath it all, we have a fair minded country. Reality.......There is a dangerous element of like Trumpism!
I rarely watch TV1 news but the other night I saw a poster previewing a coming programme. A large benign smiling Luxon to the left, a large grinning Winston in the middle and a large Judith Collins coming across from the right arms outstretched with a gun pointed and ready to shoot!
Is this a valid TVNZ editorial choice - to keep flashing this image across our screens? Who paid for it?
It was a truly bizarre image that has been imbedded in my brain.
I haven't seen this..what is it advertising? Sounds horrendous! Nobody should be exposed to that without viewer warnings!
Great post Nick, I watched John Stewart from start to finish, laughing but also saddened that the USA, a place I once called home, is so horrendously going down the toilet bowl at a hundred miles an hour. I do wish the general public here could see through the big lie of Austerity measures for what it is.
I tried to transfer 3 dollars from one account to another to buy a coffee this morning, only to find out that banks don't allow this. Thinking of renaming Wednesday, toastday, not that there is anything to toast to. Things are pretty bad out there . I wish Anger would well up in people to stop what is happening here. I wish for many things. Guess I will have to wait for the tooth fairy.
I'll admit I haven't done $3 but I have done $5 quite often, usually the day before payday. Which bank, may I ask?
What do u mean they dont allow you to transfer ? Its your money???!!!
all of them , less than 5 dollars .
FFS