My grandfather used to say “wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills faster”.

You can wish for a fairer tax system but that ain’t happening. What is happening right now is spending decisions by the government and you can do something about that.

Our contribution has mostly been assisting in military training, humanitarian aid and giving them some ageing equipment.

OK I don’t see the relevance in the conversation though. It’s still money we are spending one way or another.

Last I checked our per capita contribution to Ukraine was lower than even Russian allies like China.

Again I don’t care.

We can and should do more.

We should do less if not nothing. We have dire need in this country. Waiting lists are huge. Many areas are missing key specialists like cardiologists and people are waiting almost a year for assessments. People are probably dying waiting to be seen.

I agree we should be supporting the Palestinians, but these two stances aren’t mutually exclusive.

They are. We have no money to spend but if we are forced to spend money on foreign aid it should go to the most needy. There are plenty of countries helping Ukraine and nobody is helping Gaza.

We have more than enough to look after our own people AND support democracies fighting for their freedom.

no we don’t. We are fucking broke. We can’t afford to pay our teachers and nurses and doctors and they are fleeing the country in order to make a living.

Defending a democracy being invaded by their autocratic neighbour is something I fully support. We should be doing everything in our (limited) power to help.

I disagree that we should do EVERYTHING in our power to help. I think we should do everything in our power to help our own aging population and our children. I think that’s where our money and efforts should go.

People of Ukraine are getting plenty of help from Europe and the USA we aren’t really contributing anything of importance. Hell I would rather we spent that money helping helping the Palestinians who are being genocided by an invading and occupying army. Nobody is helping them out and if anything the EU and the US are helping the genocide by providing tens billions of dollars in cash and even more in weapons and ammunition to make sure Israel doesn’t leave even one school, hospital, mosque, or a public building standing.

No money for hospitals, doctors, teachers, nurses, etc but I guess the military budget comes from a different ledger entry so…

Sure but not that relevant.

The point is that the secret police is intimidating journalists in order to prevent them from publishing politically incorrect articles and headlines.

I would not be surprised at all. The GCSB is presumably investigating various people all day every day as the core part of their job.

This is so dishonest. You know this isn’t happening. If you actually believe that GCSB is investigating reporters and editors for publishing pro US or pro Israel content I have lost all respect for you.

I’m really struggling with your argument.

I thought I was very clear. The press should remain free. It should not be pressured by the government whatsoever. Reporters should not live in fear that they are going to be investigated by the secret police for publishing articles.

You are saying that the foreign owned press is manipulating the public through media and that in your opinion we should not do anything about that?

Yes exactly. The government should not be messing with the press.

This is different from your position which is that the we should only do something about this when it involves publishing articles which are politically incorrect and against government policies and positions.

Just because he is a journalist doesn’t give him the right to surreptitiously edit other journalists articles to change their alignment. This wasn’t a beat down, or a shake up, or a browbeating.

He was the editor. It was literally his job to do that.

Dude did things that most people would align with a foreign state actor and was investigated for it.

This is what we should be screaming against. Being investigated for expressing politically incorrect ideas goes against every value we have as a democracy.

Im not saying it wasnt scary or intimidating, If i was him id be kacking my dacks. BUT i belive it was the correct course of action.

It doesn’t surprise me that you believe it was the correct course of action but it does scare and alarm me. It’s insane how easily a country can be persuaded to ditch press freedom.

Part of the investigation, im speculating here, was probably checking that this was his view point and that he wasnt doing this under duress. While it may not feel like it, the invistigation was possibly for his benefit and to help him if he was being forced to do this. Now in this instance it wasn’t the case.

No that was not a part of the investigation. The investigation was to put the scare of god into him any other member of the press who wants to express support for ideas or countries the government deems unacceptable.

One more thing.

This investigation is a signal sent to the press to induce a chilling effect on reporting which goes against the current government narrative.

No reporter wants to be invested by the secret police (which GCSB is by any definition)

The press should have the freedom to edit any way it pleases and to push any ideology it wants. That’s what the free press is all about. Why should Murdoch and the other oligarchs be the only ones pushing their agenda?

It’s clear Putin has immense sway over the US government. I will predict our government will soon fall in line with Trump in this regard because Luxon and Seymour are both MAGA turds.

Two things.

1. Do you think there are any editors are RNZ or other press outlets who make pro US, pro Israel, pro EU or pro UK edits
2. Do you think the GCSB investigated anybody for being pro any of those countries?

I do not believe as you’re implying that freedom of the press involves not investigating foreign states manipulating that press to change the public opinion.

I disagree. Freedom of the press involves exactly that. In fact the most of the press in our country is owned by foreigners and you can bet your ass those countries are manipulating the press in order to change public opinion. The only difference is that you align with the politically correct ideology those countries push. This only worries you if the foreign nation is Russia or China or Iran or whoever the current government has convinced you are you enemies.

You are missing the point. The press is allowed to be biased. They are allowed to say false things. They are allowed to report stories that go against what the current politically correct ideology is.

The government should never intimidate the press when they report politically incorrect ideas and thoughts.

We have money for defense though!

Born with a silver spoon up his nose.

Maybe not but my point stands. If the future of your company is dependent on one vendor you fucked up.

If people are willing to become dependent on a particular vendor for their survival they get no sympathy from me.

Well they should be encouraged to stop relying on the USA for their well being.

What a joke our government has become.

Is this a joke?

These people are clowns so everything they do and say is a joke.

National and ACT have always been about destroying unions and the working class. Everything they do has that goal at the end of the chain.