iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Pablo rule of politics: in capitalist democracies under economic stress, the amount of time politicians spend invoking God, LBGTQ, immigrants, Communism and/or wokeness in campaigns is inversely proportional to their chances of winning. True for all sides. Bread and butter issues are what matter.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

It seems to me that instead of talking about what type of taxes, if any, Labour and other progressive parties should be talking about why progressive taxation is essentially to good democratic governance. The literature is vast on this and Nordic countries are proof of its utility. So why not us?

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Word from the US: AI moguls are eyeing their boltholes in NZ because the MAGA administration will not put regulatory brakes on the industry and they see armageddon coming sooner rather than later, especially if data centres move into low orbit energy efficient constellations as has been proposed.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

There is a "jump the shark" phase in politics. There is an "emperor wears no clothes" phase in politics. There is history repeating as tragedy, then as farce phases in politics. But the MAGA administration has reached a new level by simultaneously combining all of these into the comic villain phase.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Given the background of gold gilding, self-naming of extant public buildings and building of monuments to himself, the Executive Order re-naming Lake Ontario "Lake America" is now official confirmation that the US has entered Mad King rule. It was bad before. Now it is just nuts.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Labour must understand that supporting National's pretence that they are doing something about kid's social media use when in fact they are kicking the problem down the road is an election neutralising ploy that will leave Labour holding the failure bag once it takes office.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

If the opponent's platform is all about being anti-taxes with no positive policy initiatives, then it truly is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory for Labour to be timid and status quo-ish when it comes to election promises. They must read the room better. Bold is beautiful. Positive policy!

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

It might help the Russian claim about NZ spying to at least get the actors right. Their story-- about a Russian human "asset" working for money, handled by the NZSIS in the NE Russia/PRC border region on behalf of MI6 in the service of the 5 Eyes intelligence network--has some serious holes in it.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Is the NACT election campaign strategy based on promoting sectarian hatred of public sector workers by private sector 'battlers?" Or to push public sector cuts so deep that they cannot easily be reversed and private interests can exploit the service delivery gaps? Just wondering.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

This month's "A View from Afar" podcast is online. Selwyn Maning and I discuss geopolitical change, institutional lag and industrial resilience, starting with a brief look at the Xi-Trump bilateral summit last week and ending with a look towards future repercussions. www.youtube.com/live/_FEsGvc...

youtube.com

AVFA Podcast: Summits, Geopolitics, Institutional Lag, Industrial Resilience

YouTube video by Evening Report

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

The next "A View from Afar" podcast featuring Selwyn Manning and Director Paul G. Buchanan airs Monday May 18 at 12:30PM NZ time, 8:30PM Sunday May 17 US East Coast time. Subject: "Geopolitical Change, Institutional Lag and Industrial Resilience. A background to current events."

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

In boxing terms, Iran is doing an Ali rope-a-dope defense against the US. Absorbing blows, shifting its centre of gravity, counter-punching just enough to stay in the fight--nimble, agile and patient. Under Trump and Hegseth the US is a lumbering Foreman looking for a knockout.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Trump fires two female cabinet secretaries--admittedly, they are very bad people--in just over a year in office but keeps several males--Hegseth, Kennedy, Patel, Mullin, etc.--who are demonstrably incompetent, corrupt, nuts or some/all of the above. That tells us something about his world view.

et.al

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

The latest "A View from Afar" podcast featuring Selwyn Manning and myself is now available. The subject is the US/Israel-Iran war and possible upsides stemming from it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtJO...

youtube.com

A deep-dive into the US-Israel war in the Middle East

YouTube video by Evening Report

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

The next "A View from Afar" podcast with Selwyn Manning and Director Paul G. Buchanan is scheduled to air on Monday March 30 12:30PM NZ time, Sunday March 29 7:30PM US East Coast time. Discussion will focus on the why of and scenarios for ending the US/Israel war on Iran.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates serving as background props while Trump rambles about war as bombs fall on Iran (1200+ civilian dead so far) was not a good look. The team's PR department should have read the global room better and postponed the meet-and-greet. It was a major cringe.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

A thought: The Epstein client list epitomises the decline of liberal internationalism. The list is a who's who of (mostly Western) liberal internationalist leaders: billionaires, bankers, academics, royalty, politicians, diplomats, former prime ministers, sundry oligarchs, etc.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

The "A View from Afar" podcast cohosted by multimedia journalist Selwyn Manning and myself re-launches on Sunday February 22 at 6PM US East Coast time, Monday February 23 at 12 PM noon NZ daylight savings time. The operational title is "Confronting the US Black Hole Vortex in International Affairs."

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Used as the basis for authority, repression obeys a form of Newtonian Law: it wanes over time. You cannot repress the same amount of people with the same amount of force forever. Their numbers will grow and your ability to repress will drop unless you further increase the use of force. That only

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

There is a perverse irony to the fact that the man murdered today by ICE in Minneapolis while attempting to protect a female protester from being roughed up by ICE agents had a concealed carry license for his handgun.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

The current NZ govt might remind Trump that the NZDF lost 10 KIA in Afghanistan, the most since the Vietnam conflict (37 KIA). In each case NZ sent front-line troops to support US and UN missions, so were not "standing back" in either of them (as Trump claims about NATO/ISAF in Afghanistan).

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Well, it happened. Trump and Hegseth are trying to distance themselves from the order to kill shipwrecked survivors of a US military strike by throwing the Commanding Office of the operation, Adm. Frank Bradley, under the bus. This was predictable because Trump and Hegseth have no honour or moral

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Will Dick Chaney get the historical revisionist whitewash obituary that such as Kissinger and Kirk received from media or will ideological feuds within MAGA push a more objective account? Groyper vs national populist vs Neo-con is the new rightwing historical framing device.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

The NZ equivalent of Trump advisor Stephen Miller--aka the American Goebbels--increasingly appears to be David Seymore, adapted (mutatis mutandis) to local context. Same vibe, different places.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

It seems that much of Trump's approach to politics stems from his history of "getting away" with transgressions thanks to his power and privilege. This includes his history of sexual abuse and bullying, now translated and magnified into US policy-making. The Epstein files might help rein him in.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

When it comes to internal governance, small political parties are like small towns: most politics is personal.#nzpol

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Cognitive dissonance is watching dancing at well-organized Tel Aviv hostage release street parties, then switching to images of Palestinian relatives standing in rubble waiting for Israeli prisoners to return to what is left of "home." There is an uncomfortable asymmetry to it.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

A politician specialised in race baiting, xenophobic and misogynistic insults who joined anti-govt protests that called for a PM's execution cries crocodile tears about opponents "inciting" violence against him when someone smashes his house window in protest. Double standard?

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

We can assume that there is something at work behind the scenes for NZ to refuse the Palestinian right to Statehood. Whether that factor is domestic, foreign or a combination of both is a matter of conjecture but it removes NZ as a champion of a global norms-based order. Craven.

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pablopersonal.bsky.social @pablopersonal.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

After much public hinting, 5 Eyes partners Australia, Canada and the UK delayed announcing recognition of Palestinian right Statehood in order for NZ join them against an intransigent US stance. NZ has not, so they have now gone ahead with the announcement before the UNGA. What

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