(another great Triffie Laitplang pic)

more to come

from the National Party

Chris Hipkins can’t be trusted to run the economy and ease the cost of living. The COVID-19 Inquiry found that Kiwis are still paying the price of his decisions during the pandemic.

The Royal Commission found:

•⁠ ⁠Around half of Hipkins’ $60b COVID spend-up had nothing to… pic.twitter.com/OCJlKd8Bcw

— NZ National Party (@NZNationalParty) March 10, 2026

from ACT

[Yesterday], New Zealand finally got what Labour never wanted: a proper account of the covid-19 response.

This report exists because ACT fought for it. Brooke van Velden led the work to expand the inquiry’s terms of reference, informed by public submissions and focused on the questions New Zealanders still wanted answered – questions Labour’s version never even asked. We now have something real to learn from, and a chance to make sure the social, economic, and human costs are never brushed aside again.

And I’m writing to you today to make sure the people responsible never get the chance to do this again.

New Zealanders made huge sacrifices during covid. Many supported the initial response in 2020. But this final report confirms what so many people already knew from experience: the Government went too far, for too long, and ignored the wider cost.

It finds that:restrictions were initially balanced, but later extended beyond what public health advice recommended.

Treasury’s warnings that spending should be timely, temporary, and targeted were ignoredtens of billions were sprayed across programmes, many unrelated to the pandemicspending ramped up house prices and caused the cost of living to soar

Auckland stayed locked down longer than officials advised was necessary

Ministers were warned against a two-dose vaccine mandate on 12–17 year olds because of myocarditis risks, but kept the mandate anywayopportunities to improve decision-making were repeatedly missed

the debt built up during that period has left New Zealand weaker and more exposed today

That is a devastating indictment.

And it matters because the people responsible want back in power – yet refused to front up to the inquiry.

Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson are gone. But Chris Hipkins, who was responsible for much of the response, is now Labour leader. Ayesha Verrall, another central figure from that time, is Labour’s health spokesperson. They want New Zealand to forget. ACT will not let that happen.

This report was only possible because ACT secured a coalition commitment to expand the inquiry beyond Labour’s narrow, self-protective version.

Labour’s original inquiry sidestepped the real pain of lockdowns, mandates, school closures, business collapse, inflation, debt, mental health damage, and the breakdown in social cohesion.

Brooke van Velden changed that. She delivered the broader inquiry New Zealanders deserved, with public hearings and real input from the people who actually lived through the consequences.

That is what ACT does. We don’t just say the right thing in opposition and then go quiet in Government. We use the leverage you gave us to force transparency, expose failure, and push for better.

from NZ First

Bombshell 2020 Memo:
MOH Knew COVID Was Low-Risk | Liz Gunn Reads https://t.co/BwptgUHdVk

— Liz Gunn (@LizGunnNZ) February 25, 2026

by Judy Gill

Parliament does not begin with debate. It begins with spoken invocations — one in English, one in te reo Māori or other languages spoken by our Members of Parliament. Here is what they contain, and what they do not..

Each sitting day in New Zealand’s Parliament opens with two spoken invocations delivered by the Speaker of the House:

• A prayer in English

• A karakia in te reo Māori

.The Speaker rises and reads both texts aloud before the House proceeds to business. Members stand while they are delivered.

These invocations are not mandated by statute or Standing Orders, but they form part of the established daily opening procedure of Parliament.

WHAT IS SAID

The English prayer addresses God and asks for wisdom, integrity, and guidance in serving the people of New Zealand. It is short and general in tone.

In the modern form currently read in the Chamber, it does not name Jesus, Muhammad, or any other specific religious figure.

The te reo Māori karakia commonly begins:

E te Atua

Grammatically this is singular:

• te = singular article

• Atua = God / deity

If it were plural, it would say:

E ngā atua

That is not the form used in the parliamentary opening.

The karakia asks for understanding, sound judgement, integrity, and guidance in the work of the House. It does not invoke named Māori atua. It does not invoke tūpuna (ancestors).

Both invocations are theistic in language but broadly framed.

WHAT USED TO BE SAID

Until 2017, the English prayer used in Parliament included explicit reference to Jesus Christ and to the Sovereign. The traditional wording concluded:

“…the honour of the Queen… through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

In November 2017, the version being read in the Chamber was revised so that the phrase “through Jesus Christ our Lord” and the reference to the Sovereign were no longer included in the spoken form.

The earlier wording did not use a full Trinitarian formula such as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” It did not include references to the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. It did not name non-Christian religious figures.

THE POSITION TODAY

Parliament opens each sitting day with:

• A prayer in English

• A karakia in te reo Māori

• An invocation of Atua (singular)

• A request for wisdom and guidance

.

This is a daily practice and part of the formal opening of the House.

.

Reference:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98742522/parliament-prayer-changes–no-more-queen-or-jesus

🔎 #NZEducationWatch

📜 #NZBillOfRights

⚖️ #OneLawForAll

🎓 #TeachDontPreach

🏫 #MakeNZEducationSecularAgain

🇳🇿 #MakeNewZealandSecular

📚 #EducationNotIndoctrination

🚫 #EducationNotMarxism

🗣️ #TeReoNotReoLish

🗿 #MataurangaMaoriIsReligion

🧿 #TeAoMaoriIsReligion

The plandemic/scamdemic was so lucrative for them

By Roger Childs

Headhunters is firmly rooted in the Scandinavian experience, and it moves with the speed of a demented lemming heading for the cliff-edge of a fjord. –The Guardian

The highly versatile Jo Nesbø

Scandinavia has a rich heritage in crime literature and Jo Nesbø is one of the best. The man has many strings to his longbow: soccer player, song writer, vocalist, economist, children’s writer as well as novelist.

Not surprisingly Jo Nesbø has an enviable international reputation for his novels, notably those centring around the very insightful, preceptive and sometimes disreputable detective, Harry Hole. As it happens Headhunters does not feature Hole and a policeman only features very late in the story when Inspector Brede Sperre is being interviewed on News Tonight.

This story is based round the complicated interactions between headhunter Roger Brown and Dutchman Clas Greve, candidate for CEO of Pathfinder a top technology company. 

The plot wriggles like a snake despite the settings being limited to Oslo and the nearby countryside. Nesbø’s descriptions are highly evocative and his characters are finely drawn. The pace never lets up and the outcomes along the way are rarely predictable. So often as in the best crime stories things are not what they seem.

Characters and roles

Roger Brown explains his key role – I’m a headhunter. It’s not particularly difficult. But I am king of the heap.

Brown lives in a beautiful home in the Norwegian capital, but despite his status and considerable income it is not enough to cover the expenses of his lavish lifestyle and the demands of his beautiful and fashionable wife Diana who owns an art gallery. Brown sums her up – ‘She has everything I lacked. A caring nature. Empathy. Height. To sum up, she was a beautiful soul in a beautiful body.’ 

So to compliment his earnings, he steals top quality art works at night. Brown works with agent Ove Kjikerud who disposes of the paintings in Sweden and provides quality replacement copies.

At an exhibition at her gallery Diana introduces Roger to Greve who is seeking a position with Pathfinder which the headhunter is recruiting for. As it turns out the Dutchman also possesses a highly valuable painting by Peter Paul Rubens. Or does he?

The hunter becomes the hunted

Brown discovers Diana’s cell-phone by Greave’s bed when he’s stealing the Rubens painting. Then when Ove lets him down over disposing of the canvass, the ensuing argument leads to Brown killing his agent, taking his wallet and cell-phone and heading off to a cabin in the countryside. This is the first of eight murders.  

Greve now realises that that the headhunter won’t recommend him for the Pathfinder job and having planted transmitters in Brown’s hair courtesy of his lover, sets out to hunt him down.  

The pace becomes fast and furious, culminating in a highly unexpected climax.  

If you haven’t read any of Jo Nesbø’s books, don’t hesitate. In the densely packed field of crime and thriller writers, the Norwegian stands near the top of the tree. 

Maybe if the cargo ships have deck guns and fire a warning shot or two, the Swedes might back off? It’s a country that can’t even defend its people against all the violence by the jihadist migrants it has let swarm in.

from RT.com

Sweden has intercepted a cargo ship believed to be part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” in the Baltic Sea, the country’s public broadcaster SVT reported on Saturday, citing the Swedish Coast Guard.

Moscow maintains that the notion of a Russian-operated “shadow fleet” is unfounded. According to Kremlin officials, the term is used to describe vessels that transport cargo outside the coverage of London-based insurance brokers.

Russia insists that even if such ships carry sanctioned cargo, Western countries have no legal basis to enforce these sanctions on the high seas under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Caffa, the vessel in question, was reportedly seized on Friday in cooperation with Swedish police aviation and the National Task Force. Authorities are currently conducting searches and questioning the 11 crew members, 10 of whom hold Russian citizenship.

The ship is listed on Ukraine’s sanctions list and sails under the flag of Guinea, although the Swedish Coast Guard says its flag status remains unclear.

According to tracking data, the cargo ship departed Casablanca, Morocco, in late February, bound for Saint Petersburg, and was expected to arrive on March 10. Built in 1997, the vessel had previously sailed under the flags of Malta and Russia before switching to the flag of Guinea, the data tracked by VesselFinder shows.

Swedish Minister of Civil Defense Carl-Oskar Bohlin posted on X that the authorities have yet to determine if the vessel “meets the requirements for navigating in our waters.” Bohlin cited “the significant challenge posed by the so-called shadow fleet” as the reason for the seizure.

The Russian embassy in Stockholm said it was in contact with local authorities about the ship’s Russian crew members and offered the detainees consular assistance.

The Caffa is the first cargo ship carrying grain to be seized on suspicion of sanctions violations. Previous interceptions by Western allies have primarily targeted oil tankers or other energy-related shipments, rather than general cargo vessels.

Moscow has condemned the recent seizures of Russian cargo vessels, which Western countries have conducted under various pretexts.

Original article

READ MORE: BRICS needs strategic maritime cooperation – Putin aide

Maybe ‘keep going and you’ll get wet feet’? — and a ferris wheel is nearby?

“Polar stratospheric clouds are rare and only form in the Arctic polar region.” (Pic by h0rdur)

But there is another explanation for the cause:

“A culmination of the gathering of ChemTrail chemicals in the skies. All the colors are reflective of different metals in the chemical soup being sprayed on the north western atmosphere.” geoengineeringwatch.org