Peter
cloudynetwork.bsky.social
Peter
@cloudynetwork.bsky.social
🇬🇧 in NZ 🇳🇿. Random commentary on politics and econ. Mostly econ. Used to tweet about tech in the distant past.
It's as if Priti Patel or Braverman are back. What on earth. Labour's demise is now complete.
November 17, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Exactly. What's tearing the country apart is the huge gap between the wealthy and everybody else and decades of underspending on public services. Right wing rhetoric had directed the blame towards a convenient "other".
Mahmood parrots much of the far right's lies (& I include the Tories in that group).

International comparisons of which country takes the most refugees & the financial & other support offered should be common currency by now, but it's not because the right don't want the truth to be known.

#bbcpm
The Home Secretary says "we have become the destination of choice in Europe, clearly visible to every people smuggler and would-be illegal migrant across the world"

That is a factually untrue claim: the Home Office shows that the UK is fifth, getting 1/10 claims, while Germany gets 1/5 claims
November 17, 2025 at 6:12 PM
This is happening to swathes of accounts globally. Complaints are not being validated. Just acted on by AI / Bots or human agents who don't care.

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Disability advocate has Facebook account shut down
The social media giant told Blake Forbes he breached its "community standards" but he suspects he was targeted for activism.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 17, 2025 at 6:32 AM
It will never be enough for the right wing and simply becomes inhumane for those who care about people.
Sad to see.

edition.cnn.com/2025/11/16/u...
Britain to announce ‘most significant’ change to asylum rules in years, setting Europe’s longest route to settlement | CNN
Britain plans to carry out the most significant reform of its asylum policy in modern times by making refugee status temporary and quadrupling the wait for permanent settlement to 20 years, as the Lab...
edition.cnn.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Oh I see RFK's game now. Discredit real medicine so he and his mates can grift on quackery. It was obvious all along really.

edition.cnn.com/2025/11/15/h...
The trend of unproven peptides is spreading through influencers and RFK Jr. allies | CNN
More Americans are injecting themselves with unapproved chemicals that are pitched as ways to build muscle, rejuvenate skin and extend life, the latest example of the nation’s fascination with alterna...
edition.cnn.com
November 16, 2025 at 7:17 PM
MTG is more MAGA than Trump. Don't get me wrong, they are all morally reprehensible but at least MTG sticks to her views. Trump changes like the weather.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump news at a glance: Marjorie Taylor Greene raises fears for her safety as row with Donald Trump escalates
President’s one-time ally says she has been contacted by private security firms after denunciation by president. Key US politics stories from Saturday 15 November at a glance
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Houses are vastly more expensive than decades ago. Fact. Watch this to see why this is really the case.

youtu.be/zLmrM1ocBGY?...
From Commodity to Asset: The Truth Behind Rising House Prices
YouTube video by Blair Fix
youtu.be
November 16, 2025 at 4:04 AM
"One billion dollars". Trump...

www.bbc.com/news/article...
dr. evil from the movie dumb and dumber is sitting in a chair .
ALT: dr. evil from the movie dumb and dumber is sitting in a chair .
media.tenor.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:20 AM
People don't realise. Without these standards, hardcore pornogaphy could be on TV at 2pm in the afternoon. There could also be a channel that broadcasts the personal details of people Seymour doesn't like.
Any opportunity to cause harm to our society, they’ll take it! We will never level up as a unified nation as long as these pus oozing parasites are anywhere near the halls of power. Vote them all out AotearoaNZ 🙄 #OneTermGovernment #nzpol
Riding in on their hate-fueld hobbyhorse to save Princess Plunkett?
What a farce.
November 15, 2025 at 3:57 AM
4% isn't a "wage hike".

Japan's automotive union group vows no retreat on wage demands despite tariff pain

ground.news/article/japa...
Japan's automotive union group vows no retreat on wage demands despite tariff pain
Japan's top automobile industry union group has no plans to scale back its wage demands at labour talks next year despite a heavy drag on the sector's earnings from U.S. tariffs, its chief told Reuter...
ground.news
November 15, 2025 at 3:56 AM
"No new wars" my ass. 🤦‍♂️
They rounded a bunch of random Venezuelans with tats and pretended they were in tren de aragua, then started blowing up random Venezuelan boats they claim “carried drugs,” in order to slowly groom their base into supporting a full ground war on Venezuela that was always about oil
Whole bunch of stuff beginning to make a lot of sense.
November 15, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Imagine if they did something about the demand for drugs instead.
I’m at the War on Drugs.
I’m at the War on Terror.
I’m at the combination War on Drugs and War on Terror.
⚠️ Hegseth announces what he calls “Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR” and claims the entire Western Hemisphere is “America’s neighborhood.”

(It is unclear what exactly this will entail and is so broadly defined as to be potentially used to justify military operations targeting any number of countries.)
November 15, 2025 at 1:14 AM
it's the neoliberal/neoclassical doctrine in full effect. Justify causing misery and ruining a country because "we can't afford it" while simultaneously "affording" to funnel billions to the richest with subsidies, contracts, tax breaks, preferential regulatory environments...
Hmm, so inflation is 3% and Govt is paying a touch under 2.9% interest on its debt. Govt is also getting a fat return on its financial assets... which outweigh its debts by around $70bn. Meanwhile, we can't afford to invest in the country and Treasury are sounding alarm bells!
November 14, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by Peter
I'll end with the overall working-age benefits picture. It's still going up more than I thought it would - and that's a high bar. [Ends]
November 14, 2025 at 9:54 PM
What goes through these peoples minds? And an Admiral with about 50 awards? Like this wouldn't attract tons of attention. Such high ranking people are well known and don't turn up randomly.

www.bbc.com/news/article...
Man charged after suspected fake navy admiral at Llandudno Remembrance event
Police said the incident at the Remembrance Sunday event caused "significant public concern".
www.bbc.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Imagine parts of the US military budget instead targeting the causes of drug use in the USA ..🤦‍♂️

www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11...
US announces ‘Southern Spear’ mission as forces deploy to South America
US reportedly carries out 20th attack on a vessel in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing four people with 'no survivors'.
www.aljazeera.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:22 PM
So if it's illegal for Blue states to do it...it must be illegal for Red states to do it. Wonder how they will resolve thst contradiction.

edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/p...
Trump Justice Department sues to stop California from redistricting to give Democrats more House seats | CNN Politics
The Trump administration moved Thursday to join a Republican-led legal challenge to California’s effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, throwing the full ...
edition.cnn.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Funny how billionaires don't complain about "market distortion" and "crowding out" when it's a golf course propped up by public funds. Corporate welfare is the biggest welfare of them all it seems.
Atomic Take: Actually, rural Nova Scotia is a great place for gold courses. We just shouldn't subsidize them. We definitely shouldn't dismantle parks and nature reserves for them.

If it makes economic sense, just buy the land and build it.
November 14, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Reposted by Peter
Give a man a fish and someone with a thousand fishes is going to bitch about people getting free handouts. Teach a man to fish? Yeah, that person with a thousand fishes is going to bitch about that too.
November 14, 2025 at 1:28 AM
What they are doing is to be applauded, it's also one for people who don't think "White privilege" is a thing. Here it is, it shouldn't exist at all but since it does here is how it can be used for good. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/u...
How White suburban moms are standing up to Border Patrol with whistles and phones | CNN
Women in suburban Chicago are using what they call their White privilege to be the face of dissent in their communities on behalf of neighbors of other races and setting examples for their own childre...
edition.cnn.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:24 PM
$50 Billion in welfare to one company. Tesla and Musk may be the single biggest "welfare queen" in US history.
In his futile attempt to justify Musk's $1 trillion pay package, this Musk fluffer overlooks:

-Musk's tax rate on his $450BN is only 2.5% so far.
-Tesla & SpaceX received $3.7BN of US subsidies & loans.
-SpaceX has $22BN in US govt contracts.
-Tesla has received $22BN in US ZEV/GHG/IRA credits.
November 13, 2025 at 6:24 PM
"towards using subscriptions through private companies." .. the *real* reason for these changes. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Bill to expand Road User Charges introduced
A bill to make road tolling easier and shift Road User Charges towards a digital tracking system has been introduced to Parliament.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 13, 2025 at 6:17 PM
With the price of tickets these days.....
November 13, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Press the button. Fund the NHS. It's not hard.....Job cuts? Tory lite is UK Labour now.

www.bbc.com/news/article...
NHS gets go-ahead to make thousands of redundancies
The compromise deal would allow the NHS to overspend this year.
www.bbc.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Actionable solutions to housing affordability offered here that would be equally (maybe more even) applicable to New Zealand.

youtu.be/ysHZCI0WpXE?...
“Brutal Truth: UK Housing Market 2025" Top Economist warns
YouTube video by ProfSteveKeen
youtu.be
November 12, 2025 at 4:47 AM