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That federation campaign

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, January 24th, 2019 - 110 comments

There’s an ad campaign that says “New Zealand is doing Australia better than Australia is”, and recommends federation of New Zealand with Australia and Jacinda being the first Prime Minister. Maybe it’s time.

Enter Sandmann

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 pm, January 21st, 2019 - 220 comments

The young racist who was filmed smugly grinning at a native American elder has put out a statement justifying his actions. Trump will be proud. Bigly proud.

The stoopid it burns …

Written By: - Date published: 11:32 am, January 21st, 2019 - 80 comments

Donald Trump has tweeted that he wants there to be more global warming.

D Day for US shutdown

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, January 20th, 2019 - 160 comments

Donald Trump is to make an announcement today concerning the shut down. And Buzzfeed has suggested that the Mueller Investigation has uncovered evidence suggesting that Trump instructed his lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress.

Is Brexit A Signal Of Decline?

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, January 18th, 2019 - 103 comments

What if Brexit is not a threat to democracy as a system of government or a threat to liberal values? And what if it is an example of British democracy’s best modern exemplars to the world of institutionalised democracy and the rule of all under the law since universal franchise was first granted?

No confidence?

Written By: - Date published: 7:48 am, January 17th, 2019 - 22 comments

Live feed of the UK debate in Parliament.

Beware the Ides of May

Written By: - Date published: 11:09 pm, January 15th, 2019 - 41 comments

It’s D Day for Theresa May’s Brexit plan. Will Jeremy Corbyn finally put her out of our misery?

Chinese Herald changed Herald articles to be more China friendly

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, January 15th, 2019 - 70 comments

Stuff has reported that its opponent, the New Zealand Herald, has via its Chinese version amended stories to make them more acceptable to the Chinese Government.

Peters to Pence on the Pacific – a return to colonialism?

Written By: - Date published: 9:38 pm, January 14th, 2019 - 120 comments

Winston Peters went to Washington last December to see US VP Mike Pence and invited the US to engage more in the South-West Pacific without informing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Patrick Smellie described this apparent oversight as “deeply worrying.” Even more worrying is what Peters said when he was there.

President Peaches

Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, January 12th, 2019 - 150 comments

I’m moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches! Donald Trump has yet another bizarro, almost Freudian, moment as his threat to invoke a national emergency to fund his wall falls flat. Peaches, people! Not impeachment, peaches!!!

Brexit: Tories Lose Control of the House and the Process

Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, January 10th, 2019 - 67 comments

Another day, another humiliating defeat for Theresa May. Surprisingly,  the news is no better for Jeremy Corbyn.

Emergency Wall

Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, January 9th, 2019 - 28 comments

President Trump is preparing the ground to use the State of the Union address to declare that the Congress delaying funding of the wall on the Mexican-U.S. boundary is a national emergency.

The Bigliest shut down ever

Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, January 9th, 2019 - 95 comments

Donald Trump in the longest presidential temper tantrum every is refusing to reopen the US Government unless Congress agree to funding his Mexican Border wall.

Elizabeth Warren and Foreign Policy

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, January 9th, 2019 - 17 comments

An analysis of recent public comments made by Elizabeth Warren and the possible implications for New Zealand of a Warren Presidency.

Russell Brand’s New Year’s Revolutions!

Written By: - Date published: 10:05 am, January 8th, 2019 - 35 comments

Russell Brand has a some advice for people making New Year’s resolutions. It’s funny, sweet and particularly positive.

Julian Assange and the Streisand Effect.

Written By: - Date published: 6:45 pm, January 7th, 2019 - 161 comments

Wikileaks has tried to silence media organisations on behalf of Julian Assange. Why is a ‘transparency’ organisation opposed to free speech and have they made things worse for the Aussie hacker?

UPDATE: The list has been leaked. Link in post.

Political punditry in 2019

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, January 4th, 2019 - 79 comments

The media has recently reviewed its predictions from last year and made a few new ones.  How did it go?  And what is going to happen in the next 12 months?

The Race To Replace Trump has Started

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, January 1st, 2019 - 112 comments

Elizabeth Warren has announced that she will be seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination to be the 46th President of the USA. With the Republicans unsure about whether Trump will run again due to the difficulties of campaigning from Federal prison, the Presidential election should be a shoo in for the Dems. Warren is just the first; there will be many more candidates who will see this as the opportunity of a lifetime.

Japan restarts commercial whaling

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, December 27th, 2018 - 10 comments

Japan have withdrawn from the International Whaling Commission and will resume commercial whaling.

Go Democracy Go!

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, December 26th, 2018 - 68 comments

It’s going to be a strong year for democratic politics.

Random 2019 predictions …

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, December 22nd, 2018 - 114 comments

What will happen in 2019?

China; Hack to the Future!

Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, December 21st, 2018 - 287 comments

China has apparently been sprung hacking hundreds of western businesses and Government agencies, including some here in NZ. Should we be worried?

New Zealand First or America First?

Written By: - Date published: 9:41 pm, December 19th, 2018 - 37 comments

In Washington last week Winston Peters urged America to involve itself more in the Pacific, in a speech the Prime Minister was apparently unaware of. Referring to Africa, John Bolton outlined what that involvement would mean – American interests first and only. Dangerous with the neocons in charge of the playpen.

 

COP24

Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, December 17th, 2018 - 23 comments

Nearly 200 nations agreed to the accord in Poland over the weekend. And the goal is to seek to limit global temperature rises to below two degrees Celsius.

You are stealing our future

Written By: - Date published: 9:51 am, December 16th, 2018 - 94 comments

In a powerful speech a young 15 year old woman from Sweden has told the world’s leaders why action against climate change is urgent and that if the political system is preventing the necessary action from being taken then it is time for system change.

The SPOTY’s 2018

Written By: - Date published: 1:10 pm, December 15th, 2018 - 39 comments

Here’s your chance to vote in the Standard’s Politician of The Year awards. The SPOTY’s are recognised worldwide as the leading indicator of political success in NZ and have been awarded annually for over two hundred years.

Now it’s your turn to prick the Thorndon Bubble, dear reader. Who’s your Politician of the Year?

Trump’s smocking gun

Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, December 14th, 2018 - 82 comments

This week in America former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen admitted electoral finance violations by using campaign money to pay off two hookers to stop them going public during the last election campaign with news about Trump’s infidelity.  And Russian national Maria Butina was convicted of conspiring to infiltrate the NRA.

A Right Shambles

Written By: - Date published: 9:48 am, December 13th, 2018 - 34 comments

With the UK Tories self imploding, the US President contemplating jail time, Angela Merkel moving on and the conservative parties on both sides of the Tasman looking increasingly irrelevant, what should the left do to fill the gap?

US turnout – the single advantage of having a stupid elected monarch

Written By: - Date published: 7:27 am, December 12th, 2018 - 19 comments

The voter turnout in the US mid-terms was the highest that it has been in a hundred years. For the first time that I think Donald Trump, the elected monarch of the strangest “democracy” on the planet actually achieved more than boasting and meaningless hand-waving. Of course that appears to have been an unwelcome accident to him.

Brexit vote on Tuesday

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, December 10th, 2018 - 41 comments

With a vote on the Brexit deal soon and with defeat a distinct possibility both Labour and the Conservatives need a Plan B and they need it inside 48 hours.

Safe from prying 5Eyes

Written By: - Date published: 10:22 pm, December 8th, 2018 - 62 comments

I like my Huawei phone. Apparently the US National Security Agency can’t break its encryption. That’s presumably the “security” issue why Spark is being blocked from using Huawei, and why Meng Wanzhou is held hostage in Canada at the behest of US neocons.