Readers aged 50+ should remember this great NZ situation comedy written by Roger Hall, based on life in the Public Service in Wellington. ‘Do they ever do any work?’ is the inevitable thought that occurs — that question hasn’t changed. 🙂

This episode has obviously been video’d from the TV and includes at the halfway point some commercials of the time, nostalgic in themselves. The sound level is low, so turn up the volume.

by John McLean

It is a well-known but sordid fact that Labour governments will always seize on a particular outrage committed by one or two persons as an excuse to clamp down on the rights of everybody, e.g. the Christchurch mosques massacre and the Bondi shooting in Sydney, both of which led to a frenzy of State authoritarianism in respect of gun ownership and free speech.

Within 72 hours of the Christchurch massacre, then Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern announced a ban on military style automatic firearms, some of their related parts and all high capacity magazines — exactly what farmers need to control pests in the countryside. This was policy on the hoof purely for public perception — to use the astonishment and horror of the massacres to “justify” such an attack on the age-old right of farmers and others to have an effective gun.

Ardern allowed only two days for Parliament to hear submissions on this important restriction and then the Bill was passed with the help of a frightened and, as usual, worthless National Party. David Seymour, ACT’s sole M.P. at the time, was the only one to keep his head and vote against it.

Ardern tried to justify this and her clampdown on “hate speech” by telling yet another of her many lies: “It would make New Zealand safer”. To any would-be gunman, the law of the land is irrelevant; there are always ways to purchase what is illegal, e.g. drugs. Although virtually ineffective, Ardern’s law did manage to achieve one objective: it did inconvenience farmers who, like employers, landlords, evangelical Christians and self-employed business people, were very high on her “hate list” and are still very high on the Labour Party’s hate list.

Her government also tried to use the massacre to limit the individual’s right to free speech — a form of censorship that Ardern has devoted herself to ever since she was hounded out of office by the the reaction to her overeach and power of the anti-sham vaccine movement. In the words of her Justice Minister, Andrew Little, “In New Zealand our political and social culture has been very defensive of the rights of free speech. We err on the side of letting people say stuff”. And so we damned well should.

Speech did not cause the Christchurch massacre; an evil man with a gun did — and he wasn’t even a New Zealand citizen. Speech does not kill and there is no justification in using a single criminal act as an excuse to limit the right of the free speech of everybody. Our centuries-old right of free speech belongs to the people and not to some passing jacks-in-office such as Ardern and Andrew Little. If we’re not free to say what we think, we no longer live in a free society.

Labor politicians in Australia hate free speech every bit as much as their New Zealand counterparts as they showed in the aftermath of the Bondi shootings of fifteen people in 2025. In Canberra the Albanese government rushed in and passed within a matter of weeks an ill-thought out statute called The Combatting Anti-Semitism, Hate and Extremism Act 2026. As in the Christchurch case, it has nothing to do with making Australia safer, since the two gunmen perpetratrors were Islamic immigrants whose ingrained hatred of Israel and Jews did not need to be further advanced by any “anti-Semitic” tract or booklet.

The real purpose of the Act seems to be to ban certain political parties which, by telling certain truths outside the Establishment’s lies, might take voters away from the two main parties (just as Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is doing at present). Part IV of this sinister Act allows the government to prohibit certain organisations as “hate groups”. In other words, the law is being weaponised against any political party whose arguments can’t be met by the Establishment. Just like in Germany where there are moves to ban the popular AfD party which is, in fact, the largest opposition group in Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, where it holds 151 seats and is poised for greater things.

So, what sort of organisation in Australia is being targeted as a “hate” group so dangerous that it has to be destroyed by the law? The first target of the new statute is a party called the White Australia Party, described as “a right wing political party”. Oh dear! Can’t have that.

This party wants to limit immigration from the Third World so as to preserve Australia’s European population and heritage. Nothing wrong with that — a policy with enormous potential for disenchanted Australians who see every day — especially in Melbourne — more and more of their streets being taken over by Indians and other Asians. Furthermore, this “white Australia” policy was the very policy that Australia followed very rigidly for the first 187 years of its 238 year history (1788 to 1975). So, a policy that was acceptable to Australians for several generations and widely supported by them is now considered so dangerous by Albanese and his mafia that any groups advocating it must be banned.

On the other hand, they have not used the legislation to ban any radical Islamic group of the type that provides background to certain violent Islamic criminals. As I say above, the legislation is not about making Australia safer but about preventing potentially popular ideas from taking root and growing. The rise in popularity of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has frightened the Establishment (both Labor and Liberals) so much that they cannot risk anything like the White Australia party developing in a similar way. Just like when One Nation was taking off, they imprisoned Pauline Hanson on false charges for ten weeks.

So much for the government in Canberra, but the New South Wales state government was no less opportunistic in pushing through rushed laws to protect the Jewish community and put many thousands of taxpayer dollars into the hands of Jewish groups. It should be noted that the Labor Premier of New South Wales, Mr Chris Minns, has long been groomed by Israel to do its dirty work abroad. In 2003 Israel gave him an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel on the Israel Ramham junket program which aims to capture young Western politicians at an early stage and groom them to be a reliable asset for Israel and Jews in general.

In the immediate aftermath of the Bondi shootings Minns repaid all this care and attention by pushing through rushed laws, restricting the right of protest. This was aimed primarily at Palestinians who were periodically protesting against Israel’s genocide of the Muslims in the Gaza Strip. These rushed laws — in the name, of course, of “community safety” — were later struck down unanimously by the judges of the Court of Appeal as “unconstitutional”.

In defence of his war against free speech Chris Minns bleated: “We don’t have the same freedom of speech laws that they have in the United States. And the reason for that is that we want to hold together a multi-cultural country”. This is a most revealing comment as it admits that what flows from a multi-cultural society is a restriction on free speech in order to accommodate such an unnatural and dangerous phenomenon as “multi-culturalism”.

In the words of former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, “We always knew it; the idea of a multi-cultural society cannot succeed. It is doomed to failure from the start.” And the distinguished Canadian psychologist and author, Jordan Peterson: “Multi-culturalism is unlikely to succeed due to differing characteristics of different cultures. If you think you can import a multitude of cultures without a unifying rubric and not import the problem of interpersonal and social conflict, you’re either blind or stupid or both.”

Not one voter in Australia or New Zealand has ever been asked whether we want to share these two great countries that were built by British settlers with all sorts of riff-raff from the Third World. Instead, this important decision to destroy traditional demographics was taken by arrogant and treasonable political parties such as Labour and National in New Zealand and Labor and the Liberals in Australia.

It is time for the ordinary people of Australia and New Zealand to take back control of our destinies once and for all by quitting the parties that have been responsible for this terrible treason. No wonder parties like the White Australia party have to be banned; it’s all part of the price of the unnatural and destructive multi-culturalism that has been forced on us by the permanent political elite.

Meta yesterday agreed to pay up to $17.1B and adopt child-safety measures for Facebook and Instagram to resolve lawsuits brought by 52 attorneys general over child privacy laws and social media addiction (explore 101).

The settlement effectively ends a landmark trial that began in California last week, where states accused Meta of illegally collecting data from children under 13 and designing features to addict children (see previous write-up). Meta, which did not admit wrongdoing, will initially pay $12.1B and up to $17.1B if Snap, TikTok, and YouTube settle similar lawsuits. The funds will reportedly support youth online safety initiatives. Meta will also introduce a two-hour daily limit for users under 18 and disable notifications during school hours, among other changes.

While a fraction of Meta’s $201B in revenue last year, the settlement is the largest state consumer protection settlement since the 1990s, when tobacco companies agreed to pay over $206B. A Big Tobacco whistleblower says social media giants used the same addiction playbook—read his interview here.

(Summarised by 1440 Daily Digest)

Chicago.

By Jack Dolan, Staff writer

During a meeting at San Diego City Hall last week, where one hot topic is the growing use of Flock Safety technology — AI powered cameras designed to deter crime and track down lawbreakers — an attendee dressed in full Darth Vader costume approached the podium.

Breathing heavily into the microphone just like the famous movie villain, he told those sitting at the dais, “we must continue utilizing Flock technologies so that we can follow and surveil the Rebel scum,” according to a story by my colleague Hailey Branson-Potts.

It was just the latest act of popular resistance against the nationwide use of a surveillance system critics describe as Orwellian.

On its face, the idea is to put in place a network of high-resolution cameras to create a database police can use to track down hit-and-run drivers, stolen cars and missing people. The mere existence of such a network, proponents say, would give would-be criminals pause, knowing there’s nowhere to run without being watched.

But the technology does not only record would-be criminals. Flock cameras across California have probably captured your license plate and/or face as you go about your regular day, and stored them in a database the owners of the cameras can use as they see fit.

And then there are the dozens of examples of rogue cops using Flock cameras for their own personal agendas, such as tracking wives, girlfriends or ex-girlfriends.

Despite opposition, cameras have never been more popular

It’s not like ordinary citizens don’t use similar technology.

My neighbors and I all have our own security cameras — they’re pretty ubiquitous in L.A. — and the first thing we do these days is share footage after a catalytic converter is stolen or a drunk driver careens into parked cars along our street. The images are usually too dark and grainy to be used as evidence in court, but they’re more than sufficient to show us who is shady.

To the person who failed to pick up the poop their dog left in front of my gate a few nights ago, I know who you are!

In light of the national debate, it feels worth mentioning that never, in all the time my neighbors and I have had our cameras, has somebody asking for my footage looked sheepish or prefaced the request with an apology for behaving like an authoritarian regime.

Many people crave authority when they feel like someone has done them wrong. But paying taxes to be watched by the government, 24/7, starts to feel a bit dystopian.

The Flock camera backlash

An online activist group that calls itself DeFlock has a searchable map of more than 135,000 of the cameras across the U.S., including several thousand in Los Angeles County. It also lists 132 cities that have rejected the technology by canceling contracts with the company that makes them.

In July, the LAPD said it stopped using data collected by Flock cameras installed around the city because of privacy concerns and questions about who else can access the data. Advocates worry the Trump administration will use the information to track down undocumented immigrants.

As the LAPD negotiates stronger safeguards with Flock, Mayor Karen Bass, who is locked in a tight reelection campaign, has apparently decided to sever ties to the company completely.

My colleague Libor Jany reported earlier this month that Bass said Flock had “lost the trust of Angelenos and residents across the country, especially in immigrant communities targeted by the federal administration.” She still supports the use of such cameras, she just wants the LAPD to find a less controversial vendor. Her opponent, Nithya Raman, had previously said the city should cut ties with Flock.

It’s such a fine line to draw. Presumably everybody wants the evidence to hold people who commit serious crimes accountable, but nobody wants to turn into the evil empire in the process.

Except Lord Vader. He loves the idea.

🇩🇪 The AfD now has a commanding lead in eastern Germany

According to the latest Forsa poll, the party’s support has risen to 43%. In second place is the Left Party on 16%, followed by Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU on 13%.

Nationwide, the AfD also leads with 28% support,… pic.twitter.com/1rCN2Y8N1g

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 26, 2026

This was recorded in March in Budapest in support of Victor Orban in Hungary up for re-election; but the EU warmongers had other ideas and successfully interferred like they did in Romania…

The gallery of the Winter 2026 Salon entries that were awarded Highly Commended or Honours has been published in the Gallery. You can find the link to it here. Alternatively, select the Galleries menu from the top of the page and navigate to the page from there.

“Wind, water, waves” – Highly Commended, Advanced Print – © Chris Ford

“Tiyani” – Highly Commended, Advanced Digital – © Kelly Munro APSNZ

The stylised mound by the point where the southbound on-ramp at Waikanae joins the freeway. It doesn’t seem to have any official name.

from the Daily Standard (NL)

There are statistics that are so bizarre, extreme and devastating to the political establishment’s multicultural fairy tale that the Mainstream Media and the Left-wing virtue elite are willing to sell their own grandmother just to keep them out of the news. But thanks to Swiss transparency legislation, the raw, uncensored truth is now out in the open. And that truth is hitting European asylum policy like a cluster bomb!

An internal evaluation report by the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM)—which was requested by the newspaper Blick and reviewed by the public broadcaster SRF—reveals that no less than 80.5 percent of a surveyed group of asylum seekers from the Maghreb countries (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia) are registered in police files as suspects of one or more criminal offenses!

Let that number really sink in for a moment: more than eight out of ten! By comparison, among asylum seekers from all other countries of origin, that percentage was 12.3 percent. We are not talking about a marginal deviation or a statistical ripple here; we are talking about a gigantic, crushing majority within this specific group that engages exclusively in theft, robberies, drug trafficking, intimidation, and violence in Europe!

99 percent have no chance, yet they remain stuck in our cities
And it gets many times worse. For those same Swiss government data show that 99 percent of asylum applications from these safe North African countries are without a chance and are rejected immediately!

So, they are one hundred percent economic fortune seekers who are abusing our laws. They throw their passports into the Mediterranean Sea—90 percent arrive deliberately without any identity papers—concoct a pathetic fairy tale for the immigration service, pocket free accommodation and living allowance, and immediately start terrorizing the local population.

And what happens when the rejection is finally final after weeks of litigation? Then the countries of origin refuse to take them back because they have ‘no papers’, or these people simply disappear into illegality to travel through the open Schengen area to Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, or Paris to continue their criminal careers there! It is the total capitulation of the European rule of law to organized thievery.

Original article

At least nine people have been killed and six others wounded in a Ukrainian strike on a passenger bus in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), according to Governor Leonid Pasechnik.

The attack occurred in broad daylight on Wednesday, when an intercity bus traveling from Lisichansk to Stakhanov was targeted, the governor said. Eight passengers were killed on the spot, while another, a young woman, later died of her wounds in hospital.

“This is yet another act of terrorism by the bloodthirsty Kiev regime. Cynical, inhumane, and unjustifiable. It is a war crime for which those responsible will surely be punished,” Pasechnik wrote on Telegram.

Meanwhile there are growing signs of revolt by Ukrainians against Zelensky/Nato’s disgusting war:

[translated from Ukrainian] “Ternopil: people are destroying a TCC vehicle, police nearby.

“At the scene on Kurbsa Street in Ternopil, police in full gear and special forces are present Military vehicles and a bus have arrived. According to eyewitnesses, a TCC official was taken out of the vehicle with broken windows and, amid shouts of “Shame!”, was put into the bus.”

Тернопіль: люди нищать автомобіль ТЦК, поруч — поліція.
❗️На місці події на вул. Курбаса у Тернополі перебувають поліцейські у повній екіпіровці та спецпризначенці

Приїхала військова техніка та автобус. За словами очевидців, із автомобіля з розбитими вікнами вивели службовця ТЦК… pic.twitter.com/ggM1eb009d

— BARMENY (@barmeny_ua) August 25, 2026

In Ternopol, Ukraine, a forced mobilization raid turned chaotic as locals intervened, reportedly beating and hospitalizing a conscription officer and damaging his vehicle. Kyiv now faces growing public resistance to its draft efforts amid the ongoing conflict. #Ternopol pic.twitter.com/IGg1mMGSPM

— WW3 Watchtower (@WW3Watchtower) August 25, 2026