The big news this week is that the $ 60 billion US aid package for Ukraine passed Congress. It will be signed into law by President Biden later this week.  After considerable debate the bill was put forward by Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, against strong opposition from right wing members of his own party.  Johnson’s decision means he will face considerable political and personal attacks from members of his own party, and could lose his position.  But his moral courage is an example to politicians everywhere, that sometimes being on the right side of history requires bravery ..read more

After six months of meaningless government statements, nationwide protests for Palestine continue this week to demand New Zealand act to stop Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have scaled the heights of hypocrisy with condemnations of Palestinian resistance groups but refuse to condemn Israeli genocidal attacks on Palestinians which have left over 34,000 killed – mostly women and children. In their latest hypocritical double-somersault, Luxon and Peters have condemned Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel last week but ..read more

New Zealand’s consumers price index increased 4 per cent in the 12 months to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ April 17. This was higher than the Reserve Bank prediction of 3.8%. The 4 per cent increase follows a 4.7 per cent increase in the 12 months to the December 2023 quarter. ”Price increases this quarter are the smallest since June 2021. However, they remain above the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s target range of 1 to 3 per cent,” Consumer Prices senior manager Nicola Growden said. Non-tradeable inflation, that is the price rises of goods and services pro ..read more

Rising tension in the South China Sea is study in Chinese hybrid war doctrine China responded to the deployment of a joint US, Australian, Japanese and Philippines task group that conducted a ‘Maritime Cooperative Activity’ in the South China Sea.  Immediately, the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command announced its own naval and air patrols in the area and issued a statement blaming Philippines saying that “Under the guise of ‘protecting fishing’, Philippine government ships have illegally violated and provoked, organised media to deliberately incite and mislead, continuing t ..read more

We cover cannabis culture around the world, why our Police prioritise busting grows over burglaries or thefts, and what’s happening with medicinal cannabis here? All this and more on 95bFM’s Marijuana Media with Chris Fowlie from NORML and Milly from bFM Drive – thanks to The Hempstore!   [stream on 95bfm] [download mp3] [RSS] [iTunes] Christiania middle class hippies tear up ‘Pusher Street’ open-air marijuana market A sad moment for freewheeling cannabis enthusiasts as Christiania residents, now middle-class former hippies who squatted an abandoned military base in the centre of Copenha ..read more

Dear Mr Peters and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, We call on the NZ Government to demand the Israeli authorities end their inhumane blockade and siege and allow the international Freedom Flotilla safe and unhindered passage to their destination – Gaza  We are pleased to announce that a team of three New Zealand doctors have been selected to join the international Freedom Flotilla which is due to sail for Gaza very soon. Our Kiwi team of volunteer doctors are Dr Wasfy Shahin and Dr Faiez Idais to be led by Dr Adnan Ali. They will be joined by hundreds of prominent civilians, human right ..read more

Ukraine continues to hold its line and Russia has not managed a large advance in the last week. Both sides prioritising the air war. Drones, missiles and bombs being thrown across the border. Russia attacking frontline units and Ukraine’s power grid. Scoring a notable victory on 11 April by destroying the large Trypillya generation plant, that supplies power to Kyiv. Ukraine meanwhile continues to interdict Russian oil exports and the flow of weapons to the frontline. On land, Russia’s frontline units are demonstrating increasing sophistication and tactical ability.  Factors that combined ..read more

The New Zealand government has scaled new heights of hypocrisy in condemning today’s Iranian attack on Israel but refusing to condemn Israel’s blatant incitement to a wider Middle East war with its missile attack on the Iranian Consulate in Syria two week which killed several Iranian leaders. Israel’s attack on Iran produced not a whimper from the Prime Minister or Minister of Foreign Affairs but both have lined up to condemn Iran’s response. It is apartheid Israel which wants a wider regional conflict; it is apartheid Israel which launched a deadly provocative attack on the Iranian consulate ..read more

The economy of New Zealand is officially in recession. New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.1 percent during the October-December period, following a 0.3 percent contraction in the third quarter, according to the Statistics Department, a government agency. (see https://tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/gdp-growth). Economists traditionally define a recession as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. On a per capita basis, the economy fared even worse, with GDP shrinking 0.7 in the last quarter of 2023 because the net immigration surge of 133,000 people in the year ..read more

It feels like a lost war, a defeat. Already in crisis, under existential pressure, the opposing forces sue for an armistice and a settled peace that is commercially viable. The collapse and retreat of the TVNZ board on the news front simultaneous to the forced surrender of NewsHub by the Americans on 10 April 2024 – a dark day for journalism, for broadcasting and for the nation – has been received in part like a general capitulation of television as an ongoing medium ie. Freeview, and a general capitulation of news and current affairs as an ongoing genre, as a thing. There’s an audience for ne ..read more