International

Categories under International

Zucked in

Written By: - Date published: 7:38 am, February 19th, 2021 - 19 comments

For a while the Australian Federal Government has been proposing legislation requiring Facebook and Google to compensate Australian media interests for posting links to local media stories.  Facebook has just replied by giving the Australian Government the middle finger.

Texas’s power crisis

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, February 18th, 2021 - 89 comments

Over in the US of A in the great state of Texas and in surrounding states locals are experiencing unusually cold weather and are suffering from the effects.  But instead of blaming their not fit for purpose electrical systems they are blaming the Green New Deal, even though it has not been implemented.

The Very, Very Lucky Country

Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, February 17th, 2021 - 5 comments

While Australia is rightly branded The Lucky Country, it looks like we can reasonably be called the Very, Very Lucky Country.

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi …

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, February 17th, 2021 - 144 comments

Yesterday Jacinda Ardern chose to use decidedly undiplomatic speech to address Australia’s removal of its citizenship from a Jihadi bride leaving her as New Zealand’s problem, even though her link to New Zealand was tenuous and she was for all intents and purposes Australia’s problem.  And even though Ardern had previously asked Scomo to be careful with the issue.

Pandemic to endemic covid-19

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, February 13th, 2021 - 84 comments

Back in May, I wrote a post “Covid-19: may be endemic“. That is looking like it is more and more likely. The depth of infection in world populations means that recombinant variants are likely. Vaccines and previous immunity will reduce the death rates and infection rates. But won’t stop reinfection. Human behaviour will keep covid-19 as an endemic disease.

We Must Resist China

Written By: - Date published: 11:57 am, February 11th, 2021 - 81 comments

New Zealand should continue to protest against China’s massive oppression of Uighur peoples. It’s what a country with a conscience ought to do.

WTF were you thinking Air New Zealand?

Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, February 9th, 2021 - 57 comments

One News has reported that a subsidy of Air New Zealand has been providing assistance to Saudi Navy boats accused of committing atrocities against the people of Yemen.

Uyghur allegation escalation?

Written By: - Date published: 6:25 pm, February 6th, 2021 - 67 comments

Radio New Zealand carried a long story this week from the BBC of rape allegations in Xinjiang based on accounts from two Uyghur women Tursunay Ziawudun and Gulzira Auelkhan. Independent analyst Bernhard at Moonofalabama asks the question “Why do these Uyghur witnesses stories constantly change?

Reasons to abandon NZ’s Five-Eyed Folly

Written By: - Date published: 2:35 pm, February 4th, 2021 - 29 comments


Wayne Brown’s recent suggestion “Is it time to sell our seat on FiveEyes?” is from someone well placed by experience to form an educated opinion. “Trade sanctions of the type Australia is facing are a weapon used by both USA and China. So let’s have a debate on whether we need Five Eyes, or whether it’s time for us to trade on independently.”

Covid19 Vaccine Rollout and Global Inequality

Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, February 2nd, 2021 - 24 comments

2023-2024 for a global rollout 0f the Covid vaccine will put stark lines of demarcation between which populations can trade and travel easily, and those who can’t. 

Twelve months of living with Covid

Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, February 1st, 2021 - 21 comments

One year on from the declaration by the WTO that Covid was a public health emergency and with the benefit of hindsight it is interesting to see who heeded the scientific advice and how it worked out.

UK COVID-19 death toll hits 100,000 and The PM offers an insincere apology.

Written By: - Date published: 6:11 am, January 29th, 2021 - 21 comments

Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s Blog In late March 2020, the medical director of the NHS Stephen Powis said that keeping the UK COVID-19 death toll to under 20,000 would be a good result. Ten months later, almost to the day, the UK’s official death toll from COVID-19 hit 100,000, a few days after an […]

Queue jumping the Covid vaccine rollout

Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, January 27th, 2021 - 96 comments

National and ACT are concerned that New Zealand is not at the front of the queue obtaining Covid vaccine supplies.  Even though our Covid status is still outstanding with no community transmission having happened for months, and even though to realistically open our borders every country in the world will have had to achieve herd immunity.

Hong Kong arrests uncovering an ‘ugly plot?’

Written By: - Date published: 6:15 pm, January 25th, 2021 - 6 comments

Retired Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal Judge Henry Litton raises some important questions about the motivations of the 53 would-be legislators recently arrested in Hong Kong. Five Eyes countries including New Zealand were quick to condemn the arrests, but Litton states their aim was to implement a wider plot called “10-steps to mutual destruction,” and to use their powers as legislators to create chaos.

Both sides reporting in the time of Trump

Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, January 24th, 2021 - 85 comments

You would think that after the Trump years the media would be turning away from the reporting of “both sides” of an issue and in many cases they are.  But there is a recent example of a hold out urging that extremist views should be given media attention.

PM Ardern and President Biden as a comparison

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, January 23rd, 2021 - 34 comments

On his first day in office Joe Biden executed 17 executive orders making wide scale change to the Trump Administration’s policies.

Are Revolutions A Good Idea?

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, January 23rd, 2021 - 24 comments

Revolt? Revolution? Pain in the ass? Depends, like comedy, on timing. And which side of history you end up on.

Is Ted Cruz the dumbest politician ever?

Written By: - Date published: 7:59 am, January 22nd, 2021 - 33 comments

Now that Donald Trump has more time to play golf and attend court there will be jockeying for leadership of the Republican Party, or what will be left of it once Trump’s new Patriot Party emerges. One early contender is Ted Cruz.  There is a problem with him however, he is an imbecile.

Inauguration Day

Written By: - Date published: 6:01 am, January 21st, 2021 - 57 comments

According to the constitution of the United States, a president’s four-year term “shall end at noon on the 20th day of January”. On Wednesday, the end of Donald Trump’s presidency will see Joe Biden assume the office in the enduring inauguration ceremony at the US Capitol.

-The Guardian

Everybody gets a pardon

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, January 20th, 2021 - 32 comments

Donald Trump’s final decision as President may be to pardon a number of people.  There is speculation that the exercise of the Presidential prerogative of mercy may have a price attached …

“You can’t vote that problem away”

Written By: - Date published: 6:03 am, January 15th, 2021 - 111 comments

Alexandria Oacasio-Cortez burns in the aftermath of the Capitol attacks, and the left in New Zealand seems content to ridicule our own people radicalising to the alt-right.

The twitter purge

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, January 14th, 2021 - 109 comments

Over the past few days Twitter has suspended not only Donald Trump’s twitter account but 70,000 accounts world wide many associated with the propagation of Qanon conspiracies.

The Parler purge

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, January 12th, 2021 - 87 comments

Parler, which attracted right wing extremists because of its refusal to apply any rules to what people said, has had its application banned by Google and Apple and Amazon has now refused to host its data.  But it has also had all of user’s data downloaded and archived and made available to everyone, including law enforcement authorities.  Think Dirty Politics but on industrial scale.

The Republican ostrich effect

Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, January 11th, 2021 - 21 comments

Reading the effect of the Wednesday riot at the US Congress has been interesting. The Trump position has as usual been as infantile and self-adsorbed as all of his disaster of a presidency has been. The Republican politicians have been been more nuanced. But it looks to me like they would like to not rely on cheeseburgers to stop Donald Trump running again in 2024.

The ugly finale of the Trump Presidency

Written By: - Date published: 1:02 am, January 9th, 2021 - 150 comments

Wednesday’s insurrection further tarnishes America’s reputation as a credible democratic nation. Significant changes will be needed before this reputation can be restored and it is hard to be optimistic that the US political system is capable of reforming itself in the way it needs to.

Anatomy of a failed coup

Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, January 8th, 2021 - 175 comments

America’s descent into chaos was almost completed yesterday.  An amazingly inept display by local police saw a takeover of Congress and a temporary disruption of the confirmation of the clearly expressed view of the majority of Americans.

US democracy is under threat

Written By: - Date published: 11:44 am, January 7th, 2021 - 43 comments

Short post to update on developments in Washington.

Trump’s next 48 hours

Written By: - Date published: 11:18 am, January 6th, 2021 - 66 comments

With crucial Senate run off races in Georgia and Congress meeting to receive the declared results of the US election and with Republicans determined to oppose the results at every turn the next couple of days will be very significant for America’s future. Update (lprent): The democratic senators from Georgia are called as victors. A riot pushed by an irresponsible President Trump happened at the Capitol building with people dead. Congress subsequently made a determined proclamation that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are confirmed a the newly elected president and vice-president. As for Donald Trump – goodbye to unstable rubbish..

The UK is now the world’s Covid cot case

Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, January 6th, 2021 - 25 comments

Well after the emergence of a mutated Covid virus that is much easier to spread and faced with surging infection rates Boris Johnson has put England into a lockdown similar but not as strong as New Zealand’s original lockdown.  But the question is, has he done too little too late?

No extradition for Assange

Written By: - Date published: 12:27 am, January 5th, 2021 - 104 comments

Great news. While unexpected, Nicky Hager who was an expert witness for Assange at the trial, thought this might be a possibility when he spoke to the Fabian Society in November. More details tomorrow.

Update: Bail application to be heard on Wednesday London time.

Chris Bishop goes woof woof on variant ‘B.1.1.7’

Written By: - Date published: 1:26 pm, December 28th, 2020 - 43 comments

I realise that this would normally be our silly season, but it seems a bit macabre with the northern winter death toll. But nothing really excuses Chris Bishop for being a complete dickhead in barking for immediate offshore testing for travellers from the UK. It is pointless. The government are a bit more sensible. They’re instituting an extra test at our border.