Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)

@alans-world

James Baldwin —'I can't believe what you say, because I see what you do.' Reckons own, Facts immutable. Irish/Scots/Filipino Aotearoan Socialist in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington. POLITICAL BLOG (so we're clear AF where I stand!)

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Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· 28d

That aside, many think Seymour being forced to walk back certain comments is good. Except he doesn't really walk anything back... bc he often says all the same kinds of BS, but *at length*, via *other channels*. ie. far longer than these NZH clips. And *that's* where RW/FR votes are forged/nurtured.

Screenshot of a Youtube show promoted in their feed from "Taxpayer Talk", a show backed by the Taxpayers Union.

It shows a picture of David Seymour alongside fmr TVNZ presenter Peter Williams, with the title of the program "Deputy PM David Seymour on woke regulators, KiwiSaver, and ACT's election fight."

A fight? For the richest beneficiary of donor cash to date, outstripping (as an 8% Party electorally) the National Party (the main Right Wing and biggest party in the current coalition)?

"Woke" regulators?!

It's all clown show shit. Every bit of it. Especially the latest recruit Paul Henry. Utter circus.

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· 28d

#NZpol That f'n risible shit from Seymour on benes?! Lots to say hasn't he, that [EMPHATICALLY UNPRINTABLE TORRENT FOLLOWS] Puked my guts out verbally speaking during Paula's time on my blogs, no desire to relive nightmares *right* now, but suffice to say — FGS keep ACT f'n *out* this election!!!

Still from a NZH Ryan Bridge Today episode (July 15 2026)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kf4WnRoO-k

"This is the Deputy PM saying our benefit system is cash for drugs' | Ryan Bridge TODAY

You can read my blatherings on the state of beneficiaries over the years here if you can stomach it...

https://exhalantblog.wordpress.com/tag/working-poor/

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jul 7

#NZpol Timeline is... 2022 Ordered to open up wholesale more 2024 Obvs not working to the point an Inquiry opened 2026 Wind up inquiry ...and recommend more monitoring of whether they're sticking to the compliance rules. That they've pretty much shown they're not going to stick to. That'll work.

Screenshot of an excerpt from RNZ article "'Substantive, potentially systemic' supermarket concerns raised by Commerce Commission" by Susan Edmunds, 7 July 2026, 6:31am

Excerpt reads as follows:

"The commission said it was particularly concerned about the rebates, discounts and payments being offered to supermarkets by grocery suppliers.

These are often paid to secure specific supermarket promotions.

The commission said many suppliers felt pressure to pay.

It said it had identified over 50 different types of these payments, which benefited supermarkets by about $6 billion a year, making up 26 percent of combined supermarket retail sales revenue.

Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden said many small suppliers were confused by the system.

"There's the component where the supermarkets ask for it and then there's the other component where suppliers provide money in order to reduce the price and fund specials. There are two different things at play. Our market structure makes it really difficult for competitors to get into the market because the big two have really tied things up in such a way that the smaller players don't get these benefits."

Original Source Reference:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/personal-finance/682706/substantive-potentially-systemic-supermarket-concerns-raised-by-commerce-commission

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jul 6

#NZpol "no discussion of the technology. No debate about the merits or ethics of AI. Just a business opportunity" When society's supposed "betters" get in a room and decide something is good based purely on "NuMbER gO uP!" while ignoring any other considerations, results are usually... VERY DIRE.

Extract from Article "NZ Inc is going all in on AI data centres" by Joel McManus, writing for the Spinoff. Full URL below excerpted section.

Excerpt reads as follows:

"Any data centre development that Invest New Zealand manages to attract will be its own story, with the potential for legal, financial and political challenges. But the broader strategy is already in motion. New Zealand is selling itself as a home for data centres, whether the public likes it or not.

The 100 people in that room on the Auckland waterfront will decide a lot over the next five years – where the data centres go, how the water is sourced, how the profits are split. The public will get a say eventually, at resource consent hearings and council meetings, long after the powerful have already made up their minds."

Original Source Reference:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/06-07-2026/nz-inc-is-going-all-in-on-ai-data-centres

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jul 5

In summary?

A meme in which a dog in the upper frame is looking at a computer screen, and saying "What a lovely day on the inter-"

Same dog, but in the bottom frame he has just said "Good lord".

Obviously what he saw was frightening. Yes. It was probably a story about the government. It's like that these days.

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jul 4

Everything except a whole lot of stuff that's... hold on... yep, confirmed... in That Very Book That Is Literally Infallible To Many. All I'll say is, in a time Long Ago I was in the congregation when a priest at Welly's "Basillica" gave a tongue lashing to Bolger's Govt. While looking at Bolger.

An alteration of a meme originally attributable to @coach.fun

It shows a family, sort of a 50's kind of vibe style-wise in terms of clothes, furniture and family make-up (traditional nuclear family, OF COURSE), which consists of 1 x standard issue boring looking traditional Dad in a standard grey suit and Brylcreem hair, 1 x an annoying looking boy (naturally with blond hair because that's what all good boys have, not like those nasty Other Boys), whilst 1 x Standard Issue Mother and 1 x Daughter look on (they must only be seen, not heard).

The little boy asks his father (who is holding a book, it's probably the Bible): "So if the Bible or our Leaders tell us we should help poor people, help heal the sick, respect others, not lie, take some personal responsibility and certainly not use the Lord's name in vain when caught not doing any of it... why do we support National?

The father, font of knowledge apparently to his family of course but often for some inexplicable reason also to society, and yet really mostly full of shit like most people, replies:

"Oh Billy, we don't actually practice these things. We only preach them!"

Well, I suppose he's not strictly lying there, I'll give him that.

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 28

A % here or there may not matter to some people. But if you're abandoning supports for training while also reducing main benefits, apprenticeships, services for young people etc.. DON'T expect people to "pick themselves up" when they're dealing with a sys basically designed to NOT be able to help.

Paula Bennett to the House Debate May 06 2014

"Labour Party don't like it eh, they couldn't do it (laughs) they couldn't help actually people that do need assistance and are low income, they just sit there and snipe, snipe, snipe, well I'll tell you what! This government's making a difference for those very low income people!"

SUPPLEMENATARY QUESTION to the Minister

"When taking into consideration that she has announced that her budgeting services initiative for example, quote, "represents a 61% increase in funding for the Sector by 2015/16", can the Minister explain why there had been considerable drops in funding under watch in the sector as a whole, which includes, but is not limited to, drops in funding allocations for Services for Young People (-26%), Employment Related Training Assistance (-12%) Prevention Services (-8%), Families Commission (-12%) and much more, all of which might have made a difference in assisting a lot of low income people?"

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 28

I'll just add on one other thing: remember when even just the *last* National govt barked hard about "useless druggies", and that turned out to be the usual hysterical, conservative BS? Wasted *over $1M* on that. What else did Paula do re vulnerable communities? She gutted things AGAIN, of course!

We had to wait for Term 2 of the then-Key regime to get the full brunt of Paula Bennett's attacks on welfare to drift through with a harder kick than ever before... (to that time, at least - this current Govt from 2023 has gone even harder under Louise Upston).

Extract of Table from post on "Inside NZ's war on the poor"

---

PER CAPITA TAX RECEIPTS 2011-2012
Second Phase of Key Government
Term where the most action taken against Beneficiaries et al

"Notice what has gone UP and what has gone DOWN…

Full Tables below, but, quick glance tells us that things like:

Invalids Benefit (⇩4%)
Unemployment Benefit and Emergency Benefit (⇩8%)
Student Allowance (⇩3%)
Tailored Sets of Services to Help People into Work or Achieve Independence (⇩1%)
Disability Assistance (⇩2%)
Veterans Pensions (⇩7%)
Youth Justice Services (⇩7%)
Strong Families (⇩5%)
Employment Assistance (⇩16%)
Widows Benefit (⇩6%)
Services to Protect the Integrity of the Benefit System (⇩8%)
Study Scholarship and Awards (⇩5%)
Transition to Work (⇩4%)
Connected Communities (⇩10%)
Services for Young People (⇩26%)
Employment Related Training Assistance (⇩12%)
Planning, Correspondence and Monitoring (⇩26%)
Trialling New Approaches to Social Sector Change (⇩34%)
Administration of Trialling New Approaches to Social Sector Change (⇩34%)

…. have all gone markedly DOWN"

https://exhalantblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/28/inside-nzs-war-on-the-poor/

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 22

#NZpol Same old Tory shite masquerading as "concern for the whole Nation, you understand". What Luxon would like to say to you is no sensible voter would impede the growth of billionaires, asset stripping and kickbacks, NO! The benefits will *always* trickle down to *aspirational* bottom feeders!

The Always Has Been Meme, repurposed for Aotearoa this time (one astronaut wears the Laser Kiwi Flag, while the one pointing a gun wears the outline of the Beehive (within which hallowed halls of this sometimes truly wretched hive of scum and villainy plots are hatched, monies accrued, hands are shaken, self-help books are swapped from the PM's office, and populations fleeced...).

Laser Kiwi Astronaut says, staring at Aotearoa NZ: "Wait. After more billionaires than ever in Aotearoa, the message is still 'They're the real victims here"?

Government Drone Astronaut replies: "Always has been".

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 16

A meme showing someone with what appears to be rain falling on them in the left panel with the caption "People who worship billionaires"

And on the right panel, a guy pissing over the fence... onto the person.

So it's not rain is it?

No. It's Elon Musks piss. Gotta be his piss. It'd be like him to piss on people. Cos he does that. All the time. Might even do it for real, who knows, the guy is fucking weird.

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 16

Two responses to that...

A Tweet from The Other Place from L Ron Mexico

"Being a fan of a billionaire must feel like walking around a casino you don't own and hooting like a badass every time the house wins, licking the urinals, calling the trash can "sir"

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 15

It seems at this point someone needs to set a table up outside the offices of Stuff with the "PROVE ME WRONG" sign on it at this point... (It's in Brandon Street if you really need to know) Not so much Dirty Politics game but a Filthy Politics shitshow from now.

A "Prove Me Wrong" meme with a quote from the documentary The Myth of the Liberal Media superimposed on the sign:

"Most independent research has found that media are influenced by wealthy business and conservative interests"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtwLWkC4XaY

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 12

Really wish we could put these sorts of people on a secluded island somewhere, they can run their own duels or whatever, sort it out themselves. Most people, even of countries we're always told are "bad", "losers" etc — all *just want to fucking get on with LIVING LIFE*. It's hardly unreasonable.

A meme showing riot cops in the background and the badges as such of of the US NSA and the NZ GCSB. Over the top are the words from the song "The Fletcher Memorial Home" by Pink Floyd, from the Final Cut album...

It reads

"Take all your overgrown infants away
somewhere and build them a home
a little place of their own
the Fletcher Memorial Home for
incurable tyrants and kings

And they can appear to themselves
everyday on closed circuit tv
To make sure they're still real
It's the only connection they feel..."

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 12

#NZpol A key impetus now ofc is AI "catchup" in defence and coordination, caught Collins first, now Penk, but in a world led by some of the *worst* people and *other* hyper-Imperialist plans? The crux of it is staying "good" w/ FVEY partners so we don't get spanked hard by Big Daddy... the US.

A meme showing the Eye of Sauron peering across Mordor from Barad-dûr, (the Dark Tower). Below sits the logos/badges of the US NSA and the NZ GCSB, with a statement from then-PM John Key superimposed...

It reads:

"The two things that had endured "even in the worst of times" of the diplomatic rift were the Five Eyes relationship and Antarctic co-operation"

Some further info if you're after it...

"The Shadow World of the Five Eyes and NZ's Own Adventurism gone wrong"

https://exhalantblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/26/the-shadow-world-of-the-five-eyes-and-nzs-own-adventurism-gone-wrong/

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 11

"Cuba’s government has not been as pliant as the U.S. expected... So Trump is threatening to invade Cuba, a threat he apparently means very seriously, especially since it is Marco Rubio’s lifelong ambition to successfully carry out the overthrow of the Cuban government."

Extract from Article

"The UN reports that the U.S. policy is killing babies and children: “infant mortality has doubled to 9.9 per 1,000 births; childhood cancer survival rates have fallen from 85 to 65 per cent; and essential medicines are available at only around 30 per cent of normal supply levels.” The UN human rights chief’s verdict on the U.S. is scathing: “Such severe sanctions packages that target entire sectors of an economy and produce broad, indiscriminate and harsh effects on populations are incompatible with basic principles of international human rights law.”

But even this condemnation is too mild. The U.S. pressure campaign amounts to nothing but terrorism: making people sick, making them poor, making them suck in carbon monoxide, starving them, denying children their cancer treatments, in order to try to force a change in their government’s policy."

ORIGINAL SOURCE REFERENCE
https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-u.s.-is-terrorizing-cuba-to-make-rich-men-richer

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 11

Said many times myself, moderates IMO - the kind of pathetic fig leaf label many Neolibs cloak themselves in - are anything but moderate. tinyurl.com/2x55wbwm And if neoliberalism IS society's only "answer"? Well the FR will be only too happy to soak up the people it damages. tinyurl.com/2w7k6s8x

Excerpt from Politically expedient "moderation" has simply allowed for bigger storms to gather power"

"Moderates fear losing power
And to be blunt, many fear that more than changing the system on which such power resides

People are in general always afraid to lose various forms of perceived “power” to start with. But when it comes to politicians, it always seems exponentially harder for them to “let go”, and either admit to what’s really holding them back from navigating a path for us to get on top of our real, societal problems, much less taking action on the issues they all know exist but seemingly “can’t find a solution just right now…”.

For individuals, power may take the form of some perceived status (in their family, their workplace, among friends, any other part of the wider community they are seen). For journalists, it may be loss of “access” to powerful people, personalities, institutions – and politicians, naturally.

But for the politicians… it may be the fear that they lose some kind of fiefdom they’ve built up (some of it perhaps from years of prostrating themselves before those who have no interest at all in how “the people” do quite frankly) which has made many shy away from taking real action on real problems, settling instead for yet more baubles, more titles, more (frankly empty) status among Party peers even at the cost of alienating the electorate-at-large.

This holds the very real danger of increasingly existing inside a small, and often always self-congratulatory bubble, walled off from the people who put them into power in the first place. Many may certainly enter the political arena as wide-eyed idealists… only to exit as narrow-minded ideologues."

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 11

And if you won't take it from a publication like ProPublica, or any one of the hundreds of reports by now stripping down, tearing up and ultimately rejecting the kind of economic prescriptions these people are pushing, via their pet politicians, then at fucking least take it from this guy, SURELY?!

A quote from Warren Buffet, in an interview with the NY Times 20 YEARS AGO NOW!

"There's class warfare, alright, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war — and we're winning..."

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 11

#NZpol Oh it's been a day, so I'm just gonna tap the fucking sign and hope like fuck people are motivated enough to actually look this shit in the face, fucking deal with it properly for once, and at the very, very, VERY MINIMUM we can start by throwing these particular assholes right the fuck OUT.

Reprehensible racism, planet-destroying arrogance and science-denialism cosplaying as Government: "That's New Zealand today, your leaders tonight..."

ORIGINAL SOURCE REFERENCE
https://exhalantblog.wordpress.com/2024/04/06/reprehensible-racism-planet-destroying-arrogance-and-science-denialism-cosplaying-as-government-thats-new-zealand-today-your-leaders-tonight/

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 4

#NZpol Can some politician stand on a fucking box and scream as hard as they can: "What you would get in the private sector is FUCKING IRRELEVANT TO THE IDEA OF PUBLIC SERVICE ANYWAY. That's THE FUCKING POINT of public service: SERVICE, NOT PROFIT AND KICKBACKS. Get it sorted out OR DON'T APPLY."

Article concerning a rise in fees (backdated to 2025) for Paula Bennett as chair of Pharmac:

"Seymour said he had compared the fees for the agency’s board with those of similar organisations in the private sector and found the Pharmac role was paid a third of what similar chairs in private firms were receiving.

“With this increase, the Pharmac chair will be paid half as much as a similar chair of a private company. It is important we get good people running critical organisations like Pharmac. I think we’ve struck a good balance here,” Seymour said."

Original Source Reference
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/pharmac-chairwoman-paula-bennett-gets-63-pay-increase-approved-by-david-seymour/JSGRGOS5Q5A2RJH4FQUABR7Y6M/

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· Jun 3

"US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at the weekend accused New Zealand of "free-loading" on defence. Use of Starshield might add to New Zealand's 'plus'-side ledger with Washington. However, it remained unclear who actually owned the Starshield satellites as it might still be SpaceX..."

Excerpt from RNZ article "New Zealand testing of Elon Musk's Starshield 'significant', US expert says"

Excerpt Reads:

"Dependency downside

Swope said the downside of moving this way was dependency.

"If there is a downside to this arrangement [it] is that New Zealand is tied to a service and to equipment that it does not own," he said.

"And ultimately, depending on how the political winds could shift, which you can never really anticipate, that service could be shut off and there'd be nothing New Zealand could do about it."

Original Source Reference:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/science-and-technology/597104/new-zealand-testing-of-elon-musk-s-starshield-significant-us-expert-says

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· May 31

#NZpol Took my head out of politics today bc WAVES HANDS. Actually I lie. Jammed with friends, ended up playing War Pigs, Shihad's FVEY, Floyds "Dogs" and Motorhead "Traitor" all in a row. From 420pm. IYKYK 🤘 Got home, Palestine is still being bombed, our govt are still being cunts. LE F'ING SIGH.

One of those Mamdani-inspired memes using typography and design similar to the current NY Mayor's campaign. This one says

"OH
for FUCK'S SAKE"

A pretty universal sentiment these days, what with EVERYTHING YOU SEE AROUND YOU!

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· May 25

Yes, well, about where their particular faith went...

Screenshot of previously unredacted footage of a member of the Atlas Network making off with A Jesus, who had just attempted to interrupt a meeting of the Luxon Cabinet with a discussion paper on "Ethics, Compassion and Service in the Public Interest: An Idea for Governance Whose Time Has Come?"

...but, ultimately, was proved wildly, *wildly* unsuccessful.

Wait, what? A seance?

No, honestly, it all happened via a seance gone wrong, it had been carried out by Simeon Brown, who'd tried to summon Paula White, fmr spiritual advisor to President Trump, for "advice" on "next moves" (apparently, it was Point 3 on the govt's agenda, but you'll have to consult far harder hitting journalism than here to get to the bottom of *that*), anyhoo, where was I, oh yes, Simeon's seance: wires got crossed somewhere in the ether and Jesus was just y'know, out there, cruising the universe (as you do I imagine when you're, what, THE Lord), saw an in, just wholesale took advantage of it, I KNOW RIGHT?! Whatever, read it on the Herald so it must be true).

Okay, okaaaaaaaaay.

Original Image Source Accreditation here...:

"The devil carries Jesus up to a mountain to tempt him with an earthly kingdom" (Luke 4:5–8; Matthew 4:8–10) Missal, France c.1470-75; Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, MS 425, fol. 48r. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· May 19

#NZpol So Goldsmith literally said to our faces — while smiling — "None of us know what the benefits are...". Oh that's just *fine* then. Quick scowl at what handing shit to AI overlords has gotten so far: UK NHS (handed over to (f'n NZ citizen) Thiel? *Fuuucked*, + more besides. This f'n guy.

A man holds his head in his hand (I think the other one fell off due to lack of food thanks to the cost of living crisis this govt is also helping to excaerbate, and it doesn't make for good visuals to have a stump in view...), while behind him on a monitor is the image of Paul Goldsmith, who we are assured is part of a government that's 'right across things', yet has just been promoting the benefits of AI (to help replace an intended 9000 additional public servants slated to be sacked) with the very chirpy and reassuring aside: "We don't even know what the benefits are yet!" of even using this stuff... in the first place.

Amazing stuff. Wish it was parody. It isn't. It's a real government actually trying to get reelected... by sacking a great deal of its own workers.

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· May 18

#NZpol The 'In Fossil Fuels We Trust' backbone to NZF's energy policies — nevermind the Nat's of course and we need not spontaneously self combust or go into instant rigor mortis by mentioning ACT's policies mmm-kay — is dealt a death blow here, surely? CAN OUR NEXT GOVT PLAN FOR *REALITY* PLEASE?

AOTEAROA's GAS IN 5 EASY POINTS

A screenshot of extracts from a Newsroom Article by journalist Marc Daalder, titled:

"The mystery of the disappearing gas reserves: NZ’s proven gas reserves have fallen by two thirds in the past four years, but we’ve only burned half that amount. What happened to the rest?"

EXTRACT READS:

"Generally, as proven reserves are produced, operators drill new wells to upgrade probable reserves to replace them. Over time, gas flows up the categories, from contingent to possible to probable to proven and then, ultimately, to production.

Could the ban be responsible for the present situation because it chilled the market, leading to less investment in new development? It’s certainly a theory worth exploring – but it doesn’t hold up under investigation.

In the five years before the ban was introduced, the industry drilled 37 development wells at a cost of $1.4 billion. In the five years after the ban, the industry drilled 54 such wells at a cost of … $1.4 billion.

That does not give the impression of a chilled market, by any means.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that New Zealand just doesn’t have a great gas resource. It’s there, it just by-and-large costs more to produce than people are willing to pay for it.

_______________________

BONUS FACTOIDS:

- Nearly $2 billion has been spent on drilling since the ban was imposed.
- We got *lucky* with Maui, and have done well out of Pohokura and Kupe and a handful of other fieldss.
- Billions have now been spent looking for more and we just haven’t found it.
- The traditional energy trilemma – security, affordability and sustainability – no longer needs to be traded off against one another but are now aligned.
- We can pursue a future of cheaper energy, unconstrained by geopolitical chaos, by seeking power from the sun and the wind. Or we can try drilling … again.

ORIGINAL SOURCE REFERENCE:
https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/15/the-mystery-of-the-disappearing-gas-reserves/

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· May 17

"In Weenink's maiden parliamentary speech, she described herself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative." Absolutely dribble from those who are, in fact, perfectly happy cutting off poorer people "beCauSe We ALL kNoW thEy'D jUst Buy DRugS" but still love to talk about "how much I care!".

You may have heard that saying... "I'm socially liberal, but fiscally conservative." This is a highly *neoliberal* construct and mindset, as it allows a great many *platitudes* to be spoken about "lifting people out of the poverty trap" (which can only be done with higher incomes, *or benefit levels where needed*, and especially so in a world where living costs are undeniably rising), but also allows room to cut off that very passage to a life anywhere *above* "merely surviving". Yet in reality, this is precisely where *many* people are stuck *right now*.

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· May 13

#NZpol Before big announcements check links. Kinda crucial if you're trying to convince me you can run, ya know, the actual country? Uh huh, seems small, but I put it in the same camp as people with domain names for their company while using... Gmail for official emails. Yeah, details matter.

Screenshot of Opportunity Party webpage for online tax calculator which shows.. oops, the page you are looking for cannot be found.

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· May 11

Without a proper systemic turnaround, this shit won't change. More of the same, but with velvet glove, is not a selling point at this stage of meltdown. I mean, I hate to be cynical about things, but there's an awful lot who fall into the following category, more than people probably want to admit.

Moderates fear losing power

And they fear it more than changing the system on which that power resides.

The difficulty always has been for politicians in particular to navigate this one, because so many of them are too afraid to lose power.

Those personal fiefdoms that they've build up over years of prostrating themselves before those who have no interest at all in how "the people" do quite frankly has made many succumb to even more easy baubles.

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· May 10

I've just done a quick transcript @algeriaworblebot.bsky.social which you can see text of by hitting the alt description below, hope that helps.

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO CLIP

Clip: Tania Waikato talks to Simon Mercep on Q&A

TRANSCRIPT:

SIMON MERCEP (Q&A Interviewer) "I want to ask you, when you look across the communities of this country, Maori or non-Maori, realistically how much support do you see for that vision?"

TANIA WAIKATO: "I can tell you in cery specific terms because of the work we have done over the last 2 years, and one of the key things that happened in the last 6 months - which is not something that I organised at all, it's something that just happened - is that the govt decided that it was going to repeal the requirement for schools to give effect to Te Tiriti of Waitangi, and the spontaneous reaction to that was 72% of all of the schools in NZ voluntarily decided they wanted to continue.

And that wasn't through any advocacy or anything I did, that was a voluntary choice..."

SIMON MERCEP (Q&A Interviewer): "So you do see a groundswell behind it...?"

TANIA WAIKATO: "Well what I see is a maturing, as a country, through education. The reason that these educators took that stand and felt so strongly about it, and took a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal about it, is because that requirement required them to learn. And they learnt. And then they implemented it. And they went 'this is actually amazing, this is really helpful not just for us as teachers but for us to teach the children, and for us to have this framework that brings us all together, instead of dividing us. And that's the key thing that I think is being pushed by this particular govt, they're trying to use Te Tiriti as something that divides us when it's something that can bring us all together."

FULL INTERVIEW / REFERENCE
https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/05/10/why-green-candidate-tania-waikato-believes-she-can-beat-rawiri-waititi/

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· May 6

So then... "...Researchers aim to ‘smooth the way for future Pentagon satellite programs and give personnel important know-how’, states DefenseScoop. This know-how includes developing ‘critical capabilities for the next war’..."

SCREENSHOT OF EXTRACT FROM Progressive International website article: "Developing For The Next War: New Zealand’s Five Eyes Satellite Research"

EXTRACT READS:

"The NZDF has been linked to Five Eyes spying for decades. In 1996 there were six to ten electronic warfare specialists on each Navy frigate, and twenty-one personnel in an electronic warfare Army troop, investigative journalist Nicky Hager revealed. Their work involved ‘collecting information from the content of intercepted communications’. Both services cooperated directly with New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau, which is integrated with the NSA.

Although the National Reconnaissance Office is a US Department of Defense agency, when Radio New Zealand asked the NZDF late last year if a satellite used for the research belonged to the Department of Defense, the military replied that it was ‘not currently authorised to provide further details’.
‘Fvey Payloads’: Tui And Korimako

As part of National Reconnaissance Office-commissioned research, New Zealand produced the Tui FVEY (Five Eyes) payload, which was launched into low-Earth orbit on 14 January 2025 with the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter 12 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Tui is the primary payload of the Otter 6U CubeSat—CubeSats being a class of small satellite measured in units of 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm. Low-Earth orbit enables high resolution image capture, reduces data transfer latency, and provides high revisit rates, as satellites orbit the Earth roughly every ninety minutes."

ORIGINAL SOURCE REFERENCE:
https://progressive.international/wire/2026-04-29-developing-for-the-next-war-new-zealands-five-eyes-satellite-research/en/

Alan (not ekshully a B'Stard)@alans-world· May 1

Well, certainly wouldn't be the first time we've seen that general attitude...