Is there a Democratic Party specialist out there who can tell me how the second vote brings the Superdelegates back in with at least as much power as lat times' Presidential nominee selection?
This discussion on MSNBC on how Biden really goes head to head with Sanders in the Democratic primaries is instructive:
He doesn’t talk up progressive policies like some candidates….
I think Biden's negative attack line is ill founded. This sort of attack line will not convince anyone, for one simple reason, it buys into Trump's underdog status, that he is being unfairly victimised by the establishment. And bolsters Trump's claims that he is a victim of a conspiracy by the jealous liberals. The same with calls from the Democratic Party establishment for impeaching the President.
Biden’s negative attack politics avoids the issues that really matter to voters. And plays into Trump’s brand of personality politics.
Rather than concentrate on Trump's negative traits and build his campaign around it, Biden needs to be putting up some positive progressive policy.
In contrast to Biden who avoids raising progressive issues, to the surprise of the Fox presenters Bernie Sanders wins over a picked Fox audience by talking about single payer health care.
Biden's video is an odd one for a Democrat primary pitch, which needs about how your policies pitch to Democrat segments, not speaking over their heads to Trump-waverers.
But that doesn't get to my particular question of how this is going to play out any different to Clinton V Sanders in the nomination shit fight.
"……..how this is going to play out any different to Clinton V Sanders in the nomination shit fight."
That's a good question. As Sanders says @17:14 minutes in the above video
….look, if we spent all of our time attacking Trump, you know what, the democrats are gonna lose, alright?
The remarkable thing is that Sanders said this before Biden had launched his campaign, and immediately did what Sanders said the Democrats shouldn't.
Sanders didn't know Biden was going to do this, and is probably aghast that he has. Sanders was replying to question put to him, to which he replied ‘we’ [the Democrats], shouldn't do this.
If Biden is picked over Sanders in the Democratic Primary it will be an exact repeat of what happened before.
Ms. Hill said that Judge Thomas had repeatedly asked her to go out with him in a social capacity and would not take no for an answer. She said he would talk about sex in vivid detail, describing pornography he had seen involving women with large breasts, women having sex with animals, group sex and rape scenes.
Judge Thomas would also talk about his own “sexual prowess” in workplace conversations, Ms. Hill said. And he once mentioned a pornographic film whose star was called “Long Dong Silver,” which turned into an infamous name in American political lore.
“It would have been more comfortable to remain silent,” she said. “But when I was asked by a representative of this committee to report my experience, I felt that I had to tell the truth. I could not keep silent.”
After Ms. Hill’s opening statement, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.*, the Delaware Democrat who was then chairman of the committee, began questioning her on the specific locations of her harassment allegations. She mentioned the “incident of the Coke can,” which — as she had described a half-hour earlier — involved Judge Thomas asking her who had put pubic hair on his can of cola.
Mr. Biden asked, “Can you describe it, once again, for me please?”
Two of the large corporate donars that Biden courted at this fundraiser were internet company Comcast who are opposed to Net Neutrality, and large private insurance company Blue Cross, whose business model will suffer if Bernie's Medicare For All gets through.
If the Swedish allegations against Julian Assange were genuine and not simply a ruse to arrest him for extradition to the United States, where is the arrest warrant now from Sweden and what are the charges?
Only the more minor allegation has passed the statute of limitations deadline. The major allegation, equivalent to rape, is still well within limits. Sweden has had seven years to complete the investigation and prepare the case. It is over two years since they interviewed Julian Assange in the Ecuadorean Embassy. They have had years and years to collect all the evidence and prepare the charges.
So where, Swedish prosecutors, are your charges? Where is your arrest warrant?
Julian Assange has never been charged with anything in Sweden. He was merely “wanted for questioning”, a fact the MSM repeatedly failed to make clear. It is now undeniably plain that there was never the slightest intention of charging him with anything in Sweden. All those Blairite MPs who seek to dodge the glaring issue of freedom of the media to publish whistleblower material revealing government crimes, by hiding behind trumped-up sexual allegations, are left looking pretty stupid.
What is the point of demanding Assange be extradited to Sweden when there is no extradition request from Sweden? What is the point in demanding he face justice in Sweden when there are no charges? Where are the charges from Sweden?
The answer to that is silence.
Sweden was always a fit-up designed to get Assange to the USA. And now they don’t need it, so Sweden has quietly gone away. All the false left who were taken in by the security services playing upon a feminist mantra should take a very hard look at themselves. ….
Welcome to another Morrissey rape culture special.
Sweden was always a fit-up designed to get Assange to the USA.
We have to assume you endorse that offensive claim, given that you troubled yourself to post it here. You now need to support it, in two ways:
1. Demonstrate that the two women complainants made false complaints and were participants in a criminal conspiracy (hence this being another Morrissey "rape culture" special).
2. Come up with a plausible explanation for why the US government couldn't request Assange's extradition from the UK seven years ago and instead needed him extradited to Sweden first, but now can simply request extradition from the UK (This one's not rape culture, just the usual Morrissey nutbar conspiracy theory).
I was the one who posted comment 2? Best go back for another look, it's got your name on it. Comment 2 makes a bold claim with nothing to support it, hence the 2.x comments underneath it asking for the poster of that claim to support it with evidence. If you need to have this stuff explained to you, maybe you should just leave your computer switched off.
Leaving aside for a moment the comical notion that Craig Murray is one of the most respected commentators in Britain (not least because you're making an implied argument from authority and we've been over that ground so many times before), Craig Murray didn't post that assertion here, you did.
Unless you were just dropping some random spam on the thread because you don't have voluntary control over your actions, you posted that claim here as an endorsement of it. That means it's effectively your claim on this thread. If you can't support it, just say so.
You're free to hold whatever opinions of me you like. At issue is whether you can offer anything to support the claim you posted in comment 2. I note that the answer is still "No."
Any of us is free to demand that people making bold and unlikely assertions provide some supporting evidence for them. There's no penalty for failure to comply, beyond the embarrassment of having been exposed as a bullshitter – assuming one feels embarrassment at such exposure, that is. I think Morrissey's impervious to it.
"that people making bold and unlikely assertions… "
That is only you at this point. Anyone with some nous long ago worked out this was about journalism, not rape culture. Hence why any decent independent journo has dismissed your talking point.
In that case, any decent independent journo would be able to substantiate the claim "Sweden was always a fit-up designed to get Assange to the USA." Where is the support for this assertion?
Thanks francesca; insightful links within links within links.
"Take my loathing of Assange, for example. I feel like I can’t even write a column condemning his arrest and extradition without gratuitously mocking or insulting the man. When I try to, I feel this sudden fear of being denounced as a “Trump-loving Putin-Nazi,” and a “Kremlin-sponsored rape apologist,” and unfriended by all my Facebook friends. Worse, I get this sickening feeling that unless I qualify my unqualified support for freedom of press, and transparency, and so on, with some sort of vicious, vindictive remark about the state of Assange’s body odor, and how he’s probably got cooties, or has pooped his pants, or some other childish and sadistic taunt, I can kiss any chance I might have had of getting published in a respectable publication goodbye."
C. J. Hopkins (15 April, 2019) [“If you do not appreciate Mr. Hopkins’ work and would like to write him an abusive email, please feel free to contact him directly.“]
Thank you francesca for that link. An admirable piece, well written, meticulously argued and above all … correct in it's conclusions.
Of course, the real point here, which the advocates of this line are pretending to miss and energetically trying to disappear from everyone’s line of sight, is that Sweden is no more interested in prosecuting Assange for his alleged sexual offense than the UK is for his bail jumping. The sex allegation from Sweden, like the bail jumping allegation in the UK, is just a doorway to his extradition to the United States.
The sex allegation from Sweden … is just a doorway to his extradition to the United States.
I keep seeing this asserted as an article of faith, with no supporting evidence for the assertion. Is there anything, other than that some people fervently believe it?
The indictment is, however, a snare and a delusion. It is surprisingly spare and seems to have been written with a particular purpose in mind — to extradite Assange from England. Once he is here, he will be hit, no doubt, with multiple charges.
Under the U.S.-U.K. extradition treaty, one cannot be extradited from the United Kingdom if the extradition is for “political purposes.” This explains why the indictment does not contain any charges alleging that Assange conspired with the Russians to impact the 2016 presidential election. It may also explain why the indictment focuses on hacking government computers rather than on leaking stolen government information, in as much as leaking could be characterized as being done for political purposes.
When Assange arrives in the United States through extradition, as many expect he will, the government will then be able to indict him for his participation in that election. It is not out of the question that the government will come up with additional charges against Assange.
U.S. Justice Department officials would not confirm that the U.S. agreed to take any sentence off the table. But they pointedly noted that the charge the U.S unsealed against Assange does not represent a capital offense and carries a maximum of five years in prison.
The Justice Department has 60 days from the time of the request for extradition to add any charges and would not comment on future charges.
The indictment is, however, a snare and a delusion. It is surprisingly spare and seems to have been written with a particular purpose in mind — to extradite Assange from England. Once he is here, he will be hit, no doubt, with multiple charges.
Again, this is opinion. All of these opinions assert that the Swedish request to extradite Assange was made on behalf of the USA, with no basis other than that the author firmly believes it.
The USG is not going to signal in advance any charges that carry the death penalty or imply 'political reasons'. Otherwise extradition to the USA will likely fail legally in the UK and quite possibly Sweden as well. Demanding the production of impossible evidence is a logical fallacy akin to demanding one perfect piece of evidence to support climate change.
What I can rely on is the preponderance of evidence, the reasonable balance of probabilities given what they've already done to Manning (and would do to Snowden if they could) … and the indisputable fact that the Justice Dept has unsealed one charge already. An act that only makes sense if they intend to extradite when the opportunity avails itself.
Sure, a reasonable person wouldn't put any duplicity past the US government. However, the claim that the Swedish complaints were a conspiracy on behalf of the US government is an extraordinary claim requiring extraordinary evidence. And any evidence presented has a severe uphill struggle ahead of it, against the fact that the US could just have requested Assange's extradition from the UK back then, just like it has now.
The Justice Department has 60 days from the time of the request for extradition to add any charges and would not comment on future charges.
According to the doctrine of specialty protection, once he's extradited he can only be tried on the charges in the extradition paperwork. Or if the US really really wants to add more charges, the rules say they have to get approved by the same UK courts that approved the extradition.
If Assange ends up going to Sweden before winding up in the US, then he's got the extra protection that both the UK and Sweden have to agree to what he gets charged with.
Of course, wannabe Dictator Donny might just slap on the extra charges after they get their hands on him and say to the UK and/or Sweden "waddaya gonna do abouddit?".
There's that irony that the Tinyfingers Tyrant that Assange was so keen and active in helping elect is much more likely to just blow off international norms and obligations than Hillary would have been. Let alone that Obama and Holder decided way back in 2013 that trying to prosecute Assange would have a real and seriously chilling effect on real journalism, so the national interest was best served by not prosecuting. The so-called "New York Times" problem. Hillary would most likely have respected and gone along with that prior assessment.
A legal process that will be dragged out for years. The USG doesn't need to get to a conviction as long as they have Assange in prison somewhere.
The entire game has been a cynical abuse of legal process from the outset. What makes you think anything will change once they have their hands on him? Read this story from another whistle-blower and let us know what you think his chances are:
The government will invoke something in Julian’s case called CIPA – the Classified Information Protection Act. That means that the court must do everything possible to “protect” classified information from being revealed, even to the jury. The first thing that’s done in a CIPA trial is that the courtroom is sealed. The only people allowed inside are the defendant and the defendant’s attorneys, the prosecutors, the bailiff, the clerk, and the judge. The jury also would be there in the event of a jury trial, but it gets a little more complicated in that case. The bailiff will lock the courtroom doors and put tape around them, and he’ll cover the windows with plastic or canvas, all so that nobody outside can hear anything.
This is another round of that cowardly game where liberal pundits pretend to believe in the professed objectives of the government so they can claim to be abetting its actions in innocent good faith, and when it all turns to shit they can say: “We didn’t know that was gonna happen!”
The entire game has been a cynical abuse of legal process from the outset.
Yeah, it might look that way if you don't attach any significance to the allegations Assange scarpered from Sweden the same day his lawyers learned he was about to be arrested, nor to the way he scarpered to the Ecuadorean Embassy when he learned he lost his fight not to be extradited to Sweden.
Note that while all this was going on in 2010 through 2012, the doctrine of specialty protection would made him safer from the US if he had been extradited back to Sweden from the UK. Because then both the UK and Sweden would have to OK him getting sent to the US, rather than just the UK. According to some pieces I've seen, extraditing him to Sweden from the UK would also give him recourse to an EU court to fight a further extradition to the US, which he wouldn't have in a direct UK to US extradition.
If Assange had fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy to escape Swedish justice, then logically he would have left that Embassy when the Swedish investigation was dropped and no charges laid. But of course that was never the reason why he sought asylum; it was always about escaping American injustice.
And please stop pretending the Americans will be satisfied with a minor 'hacking' charge that carries a five year (out in three) sentence. That just insults everyone's intelligence.
And please stop pretending the Americans will be satisfied with a minor 'hacking' charge that carries a five year (out in three) sentence. That just insults everyone's intelligence.
Please link to where I have made any claim that might be interpreted like that.
Misrepresenting someone else's position like that does you no credit.
That's a statement of what the rules require. It's not expressing an opinion that the Drumpf administration will be satisfied with just the one charge that has so far been unsealed.
If you don't want to be misrepresented, be clear on what you mean. Can I take it that you now accept the USG will likely lay more charges once they have their hands on him, regardless of any 'specialty protection'?
Lets be real here, the USG doesn't give a shit about how long this process takes; as long as they have Assange in a prison somewhere, they have the outcome they want.
I have no doubt the likes of Barr and the loofah-faced shitgibbon would like to nail Assange on a huge array of charges. On any useful facts, and completely fabricated too if they think they can get away with it. For the express purpose of getting convictions to set precedents expanding dictatorial presidential powers. Assange sitting in a UK or Swedish prison is useless for that.
But the point of getting convictions to set precedents is one aspect where specialty protection might play a role. Because if specialty protection provisions are violated, those are solid grounds for appealing a conviction. Because correct judicial processes were not followed. By the time an appeal rolls through, there may be a new prez and AG not inclined to fight the appeal and uphold the conviction. And if a conviction is overturned on appeal, then it's not a precedent.
So their opportunity to get the convictions and set the precedents might be just the next 21 months.
There's a big assumption right there; it assumes a sympathetic Democrat will be elected. If you were Assange I doubt very much you'd bet you life on that.
And even less likely that you'd bet on a fair hearing in a secret trial held in an East Virginia 'espionage court' that has never acquitted a defendant in all of it's history.
The only reason why we're talking about Assange all these years later has nothing to do with Sweden or the UK … it's absolutely been all about the USG's desire to make an example of Assange, to punish him for exposing their own illegal behaviour.
We abrogate our personal right to violent defense and retribution to the nation state. We have a legal system, police, courts and prisons to defend us within the state, and a military system to act outside of it. These systems are legally created and empowered to commit violence on our collective behalf. In an ideal world there would be no criminals, no aggressor states and we could disband them, but for the time being we are stuck with this morally ambiguous compromise. We may personally abhor violence as much as we like, but collectively we cannot abandon it. We justify this by placing rules and conventions on these systems; we require they act within the law, lest we become no better than the criminals, terrorists and invaders we pursue.
Yet the crucial irony is that Assange is being punished by the USG for exposing it's own illegal behaviour. You are pirouetting on a very thin patch of legal ice indeed, if you imagine the same govt will give one tiny shit what you or I think when they do finally get their hands on him.
That Polemicist piece is certainly a polemic. But I don't find it very credible when it misrepresents things like how the Swedish system works by trying to make a big deal out of the fact Assange hadn't been charged.
While elections aren't generally based upon one policy, CGT was a big policy that Labour spent many years building up support for.
Its potential to produce a strong revenue stream is not easily overlooked Nor is its potential to enable the Government to do more good.
Therefore, to throw it all away without a bat of an eyelid, how much damage to the party do you think Jacinda has caused?
Will their be a drop in support for Labour in the next poll?
This nationwide Horizon Research Poll – taken between February 28 and March 15 – found 44 per cent of New Zealand adults supported introducing a capital gains tax and 35 per cent opposed it.
A further 16 per cent are neutral on the new tax, while 6 per cent did not know.
Polling by political leaning showed 60% of Labour voters supported it.
Thanks, cleangreen. I don't think he's off his rocker; it's hard to admit for anyone to admit one has been completely wrong. He has to come to terms with it.
Poor fellow backed Hillary and her mad Russiagate conspiracy too.
No one has the Right to Rubbish and impoverish the Workers of Aotearoa
Everyone has the Right to demand National hands back the Decent Livings of the People.
Although the kindly Chairman has been mobbing on about the Labour Party not proceeding with a Capital Gains Tax presently, he fails to state that the Labour Party has not declared they will abandon seeking to even up The Have Nots – caused by the Greedy Mobsters.
Far from it. The National Politicians over a series of decades, have stolen equity from large numbers of New Zealanders. Mostly by paying very low wages, and by slugging workers with excessive regressive GST and also latterly – by Excruciating Rental Fees. And By Selling off State Houses.
On top of which, The Nationals are said not to have paid adequate owed Taxes.
I do not know by which methodology that is determined. But I do know that if Poor People fiidle with their payments to Winz they go quickly to Prison.
Whereas National wealthy nonpayers – go without so much as a naughty nod. Certainly not Jail. The cover – ups. The jaunty accountants; – Oh yes. The Bell does not Toll for the Chairman's lot.
Now the Chairman knows this. And he is piddling around as if he has found his teeth and inspiration in some sort of magic dirty bucket.
It will take a long time to get Equity back into New Zealand. The Distortions and The Theft that has gone on – as promoted by National – will have to be dragged out as from polluted Rivers and Lakes. It will take Years.
Above all, it will take Integrity on the part of the Wealthy.
He fails to state that the Labour Party has not declared they will abandon seeking to even up The Have Nots…
The question is, will they sufficiently live up to that?
To date, Jacinda did say the accompanying tax cuts (related to the CGT now dropped) are also being dumped. That was one way Labour were going to even the field.
They've told teachers as they did nurses there is no more money.
It was reported again the other day there's no more money for child poverty reduction via the families package.
And there is no talk of other beneficiaries getting any extra than what's already been stated.
They could build more state homes, further increase the minimum wage to the living wage and vastly increase all benefits to make a major impact, yet they don't.
Agreed, Labour is wedded to maintaining the neoliberal status quo, with ongoing poverty for many the result. Unfortunately I don't think this behaviour is being forced on Labour by coalition politics – deep down they still completely believe neoliberal ideology.
Genter told Newshub Nation host Emma Jolliff on Saturday the party has to be pragmatic.
She later went on to say the Green Party is committed to working with the Government for the rest of the current term, and the best way to ensure it can push harder in the next is to get more MPs in Parliament.
The question is, is being pragmatic working for them in regards to them securing more votes? Polls indicate otherwise.
Or is it the so called woke side turning potential supporters off?
Whatever it is, is it time for the Greens to have a rethink?
Additionally, there seems to be an emphasis on appropriate prices around pollution, minus any talk on offsetting the inflationary burden on the poor. Is this a result of being too pragmatic? A bluer shade of green?
The question is, is being pragmatic working for them in regards to them securing more votes? Polls indicate otherwise. Or is it the so called woke side turning potential supporters off?
Yes, to the second question. Yes to the first, but I agree it isn't showing in polls, so I suspect that each effect cancels the other. That is to say, centrists like them pragmatic and hate them woke.
is it time for the Greens to have a rethink?
No. They are stuck in the electoral cycle. That time will come after the next election. It will factor in the extent to which any blue-green alternative gets support. If so, the woke will shrivel on the vine – when anyone with half a brain realises that their survival requires authenticity (thus centrism). If not, woke identity politics will persist as an affliction. Too many activists within think the stance is real democracy!
there seems to be an emphasis on appropriate prices around pollution, minus any talk on offsetting the inflationary burden on the poor. Is this a result of being too pragmatic? A bluer shade of green?
No and no. Either poor messaging, poor reporting, or both. Greens ought to signal intelligent design of tax policy includes reducing income tax to the extent that govt income gets boosted by pollution taxes, ftt, land tax etc. They may have done so, but not being part of the coalition, could be the media haven't reported it (deeming it irrelevant). I've noticed in past years a tendency of our media to ignore press releases from the Greens.
They may be"stuck" in an electoral cycle but waiting to rethink things will be leaving it late to drum up more support – especially if it is due to them having no current backbone.
Genter had an opportunity in the interview to highlight how (within the confines of coalition) they are going to tackle the inflationary burden on the poor, she didn't.
They lack a fighting spirit in my view and it’s not enticing support. Many wanted the Greens to help take Labour left, seems by their lack of fight, they've gone the other way. And this, IMO is turning voters off. Along with rediscovering the word cunt etc…
To be brutally honest, we lack evidence that the poor are sufficiently motivated to be an effective force in politics. Recall the so-called `missing million' voters. Labour proclaimed a drive to recruit them but I noticed a lack of evidence of success at the following election. Can't blame the Green parliamentarians for learning from the Labour experience.
My calculator reckons Labour achieved 19.5% of their target million. Glass a fifth-full – better than empty, but evidence the Labour persuasion campaign failed to shift the 80% most alienated by democracy…
Yes, I do. And from memory, despite all their bluster, Labour did very little (policy wise) to entice them. No living wage on offer, no across the board benefit increase, no redistribution via tax cuts accompanying their CGT.
The Greens support spiked up when they reached out to beneficiaries.
If they were really pressing for safer roads why don't they put the roading money into providing them?
Do you really think that spending $100 million dollars on a combined cycling/walking track from Ngauranga to Petone in Wellington is a sensible expenditure when the money could have gone toward something useful like the Melling interchange which has just been put back for at least a decade?
The walking track might be used by 10 people/month. The cyclists might be a few more in Summer but I'll bet there won't be more than a dozen of them on a day like today.That woman's ideas on what should be done in transport are totally nuts.
Have a look at this. It sounds so impressive until the kicker in the last line saying, in effect. We are going to put this into the “come back in 10 years and then consider doing it file”. https://createsend.com/t/t-2E2B0FC1CEC333D52540EF23F30FEDED
An historian tweets about Thomas Paine's, dude must have been a crypto-Marxist, views on taxation.
And if any originalists out there want to argue about what the founders thought about taxation, let's revisit Thomas Paine's 1792 tract entitled The Rights of Man where he advocated for a system of "progressive taxation." https://t.co/aWyVMPr4Ow
Paine's argument was that over a certain amount of wealth (for him that amount was £23,000) society is far better off redistributing the excess to the poor, the young, the elderly, and the infirm…and the harm that would accrue to those still very rich people was quite minimal.
I suppose we may assume that Paine was worth a little bit less than that when he died. That amount would convert to about £1,800,000 today or about $3.5 million. I suppose that would mean cutting an average Auckland house in two and giving half to the poor.
WTF did this get posted late missing a April 1st release?
Mourning the loss of Jacinda Ardern and Simon Bridges' friendship
The prime minister and the leader of the opposition are supposed to be enemies, but Madeleine Chapman just wants Jacinda Ardern and Simon Bridges to be friends again.
"Trump has said he will withdraw his country from the international Arms Trade Treaty. The agreement, signed by Barack Obama in 2013, aims to regulate the sale of weapons between countries." Aims, but fails to succeed. Sham regulation!
"In a statement released after Mr Trump's speech, the White House said the treaty "fails to truly address the problem of irresponsible arms transfers" because other top arms exporters – including Russia and China – have not signed up to it." https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48076262
BBC, a year ago: Which country dominates the global arms trade? "the total international trade in arms now worth about $100bn (£74bn) per year, Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), tells the BBC." https://www.bbc.com/news/business-43873518
"In its latest figures, the defence industry think tank says that major weapons sales in the five years to 2017 were 10% higher than in 2008-12. US now accounts for 34% of all global arms sales, up from 30% five years ago, and are now at their highest level since the late 1990s… The US's arms exports are 58% higher than those of Russia, the world's second-largest exporter. And while US arms exports grew by 25% in 2013-17 compared with 2008-12, Russia's exports fell by 7.1% over the same period."
China "is now the world's fifth largest seller of arms. This puts it behind the US, Russia, France, and Germany, but ahead of the UK. China's arms exports rose by 38% between 2008-12 and 2013-17, and the country now has the world's second-largest defence budget after the US – $150bn compared to the latter's $602bn in 2017."
"In 2014 the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) came into force, with the aim of regulating the international trade in conventional weapons. It requires states to monitor arms exports, and ensure that their weapons sale don't break existing arms embargoes, or end up being used for human-rights abuses, including terrorism. Yet so far its impact has been limited, say critics. "We are disappointed by the way a number of states have decided to implement it, says Amnesty's Oliver Feeley-Sprague."
"We think the UK, US and France among others, by continuing to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and its allies in the coalition operation in Yemen, are clearly violating the ATT's provisions."
"The ATT may have had a bigger impact on curbing the flow of weapons to non-state actors, says Sipri's Pieter Wezeman – but so far it has not had any visible impact on the overall trade in arms."
Bob Menendez, top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, said: “This is yet another myopic decision that jeopardizes US security based on false premises and fearmongering. While Americans from all walks of life have come to painfully understand the threat posed by not doing enough to prevent weapons from ending up in the wrong hands, it is disturbing to see this administration turn back the clock on the little progress we have made to prevent illicit arms transfers.”
The Senate has so far failed to approve the treaty because of Republicans’ “paralyzing fear of backlash from the NRA”, Menendez added. “This is another reminder that if we’re going to get anywhere to break the inaction on the kind of commonsense steps to stop gun violence and keep people safe, we must stop letting the NRA set the agenda in Washington.”
Rachel Stohl, the managing director of the Stimson Center thinktank in Washington, and a consultant to the arms trade treaty process, said: “Today the president once again walked away from America’s leadership role in the world and undermined international efforts to reduce human suffering caused by irresponsible and illegal arms transfers.
“Un-signing the treaty will undermine international peace and security, increase irresponsible and illegal sales of conventional weapons, and harm the American economy.”
Yes, Trump is exhibiting a lack of moral leadership from a global perspective. I doubt he sees the situation from that perspective – likely just doing realpolitik to represent his electoral base. I assume the sham regulation was a UN thing despite Obama leading it, so the failure to get China & Russia to support it seems evidence of the usual incompetence. They gave Trump no basis to take it seriously. Then the UK & France violated the agreement, to prove the point.
I'm just as happy about that as you. I was alerting everyone to the fact that TDS is distracting them from the cause of the problem. Solving the problem requires international agreements that nations adhere to. Not the current sham.
Inclined to agree, OT. I have always seen the so-called chairman as a concern troll, who instead of giving up, doubles down on pretending to be an ally. But I still don't think he is: he is here to spread discouragement.
Well, if it comes down to a choice between rabbiting on here or going out to the shed most of us old chaps find it is warmer inside at the keyboard than out in a drafty shed in the backyard.
But yes, geriatric seems a pretty fair description for the the people who comment here.Is anyone under 50?
,,,According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, Portugal welcomed 6.8 million foreign tourists in 2010. By 2016, this figure had risen to 18.2 million, an increase of 168 per cent. Overall, only Japan experienced a more significant increase in visitors this decade….
As a reward for this success, the locals are paying a very high price for tourism. It is simple, the inhabitants of Porto and Lisbon can no longer stand it, strangled by the increase in the price of living. Boosted by very cheap flights and thousands of short-term Airbnb-type accommodation, mass tourism has driven housing prices up by 20%.
Salaries, on the other hand, do not keep pace with this increase. As a result, thousands of residents have to leave their homes because they cannot afford the rents. Let us take a striking example: in Lisbon, there are now nine tourists for every resident of the city. In Porto, there are eight tourists per inhabitant; in Albufeira, in the Algarve, there are 39 tourists per inhabitant. In comparison, the same ratio is about four to one in London and five to one in Barcelona. To house all these people, we need apartments, which do not benefit the locals. From 7,500 Airbnb in Lisbon in 2015, they rose to 12,700 in 2018, an increase of almost 70% in three short years.
However the latest is that with Brexit anxieties shifting the British Pound, tourists have shifted destination from Portugal to other locations with currencies that haven't moved much against the Pound. If we can control our freedom campers and try for higher priced tourists we might not get trashed along with our countryside.
This short blog post and the linked PDF document is the result of a collaborative effort by Anne-Marie Blackburn, Dana Nuccitelli, Bärbel Winkler, Ken Rice and John Cook. When the climate change (mis)information briefs pushed by David Legates and others started to make the rounds in January 2021 we wondered whether ...
A part of this morning's transport announcement which hasn't got a lot of attention yet: biofuels are back: “Our Government has agreed in principle to mandate a lower emitting biofuel blend across the transport sector. Over time this will prevent hundreds of thousands of tonnes of emissions from cars, ...
After almost twenty years of ignoring the Māori vote, National may run in the Māori seats again: A former National MP is excited the party could stand a candidate in the Māori electorate seats for the first time since 2002. One News reported last night that National's leader Judith ...
If one stubbornly clings to the Elimination strategy (I don’t support it, but that will have to wait for another occasion) then try to get it right. You need secure borders. We have attempted this with a very large measure of success. It has not been perfect as the Covid-19 Response ...
Diaspora: perception departs from reality In this collection of articles are two papers currently captivating the attention of people following the science and emergence of climate change, especially the rapid variety we've accidentally unleashed and which is now unfolding around us. The synthesis and review article Earth's Ice Imbalance by Slater ...
The ultra-rich have done very, very well out of the pandemic. Globally, the wealth of the ten richest people rose by US$540 billion last year, enough money to pay for the pandemic in its entirity. And in New Zealand, local billionaire Graeme Hart saw his wealth increase by almost NZ$3.5 ...
Postmodernism has long been looked upon as an indecipherable ideology and a source of amusement. In 1996 Alan Sokal, a physics professor at New York University, had a hoax article published in ‘Social Text’ an academic journal of postmodern cultural studies. In ‘Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Anew study in Nature Sustainability incorporates the damages that climate change does to healthy ecosystems into standard climate-economics models. The key finding in the study by Bernardo Bastien-Olvera and Frances Moore from the University of California at Davis: The models have been underestimating the ...
In a recent interview with RNZ (14th of January), NZ Council of Civil Liberties Chair Thomas Beagle, in response to Simon Bridges condemnation of the post-Trump Twitter purge of local far Right and other accounts, said the following: “Cos the thing about freedom of expression is that it’s not just ...
Let’s be clear: if Trump is not politically killed off once and for all, he will become a MAGA Dracula, rising from the dead to haunt US politics for years to come and giving inspiration to his wretched family of grifters and thousands of deplorables well into the next decade. ...
Since its demise as an imperial power, and especially its deindustrialisation under Thatcher, the UK's primary economic engine has been its role as a money laundry, using its network of overseas territories as tax havens to enable rich people around the world to steal from the societies they live in. ...
Last month OMV quit the Great South Basin and surrendered its offshore exploration permits outside of Taranaki. This month, Australian-owned Beach Energy has done the same: Beach Energy Resources New Zealand has decided to abandon all of its oil and gas exploration permits off the South Island coast, including ...
The new Northland case has been linked to the South African strain of Covid-19, one of a number of new, more contagious Covid variants. Here’s how they emerge and why. Let’s start with the basics. The genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 is a strand of RNA ...
MARVIN HUBBARD, US citizen by birth, New Zealand citizen by choice, Quaker and left-wing activist, has been broadcasting his show, "Community or Chaos", on Otago Access Radio for the best part of 30 years. On 24 November last year, I spoke with him about the outcome of the 2020 General ...
This is a guest blog post by Daniel Tamberg, Potsdam, co-founder and director of SCIARA GmbH. The non-profit organisation SCIARA is developing and operating a flexible software platform for scientific simulation games that allows thousands of players to explore, design and understand possible climate futures together. Decision-makers in politics, business, ...
Yesterday's Gone: Cold shivers are running up and down the spines of conservatives everywhere. Donald Trump may have gone, but all the signs point to there being something much more momentous in the wind-shift than a simple return to the status quo ante. A change is gonna come. ONE COULD ...
Is it possible to live and let live in the post-Trump era? The online campaign to vilify Christopher Liddell, ex-White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to Trump, makes for an interesting case study. Liddell is a New Zealander whose illustrious career in corporate America once earned him plaudits ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 17, 2021 through Sat, Jan 23, 2021Editor's Choice12 new books explore fresh approaches to act on climate changeAuthors explore scientific, economic, and political avenues for climate action ...
This discussion is from a Twitter thread by Martin Kulldorff on 20 December 2020. He is a Professor at Harvard Medical School specialising in disease surveillance methods, infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety. His Twitter handle is @MartinKulldorff #1 Public health is about all health outcomes, not just a single ...
The Treasury forecasts suggest the economy is doing better than expected after the Covid Shock. John Kenneth Galbraith was wont to say that economic forecasting was designed to make astrology look good. Unfair, but it raises the question of the purpose of economic forecasts. Certainly the public may treat them ...
Q: Will the COVID-19 vaccines prevent the transmission of the coronavirus and bring about community immunity (aka herd immunity)? A: Jury not in yet but vaccines do not have to be perfect to thwart the spread of infection. While vaccines induce protection against illness, they do not always stop actual ...
Joe Biden seems to be everything that Donald Trump was not – decent, straightforward, considerate of others, mindful of his responsibilities – but none of that means that he has an easy path ahead of him. The pandemic still rages, American standing in the world is grievously low, and the ...
Keana VirmaniFrom healthcare robots to data privacy, to sea level rise and Antarctica under the ice: in the four years since its establishment, the Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund has supported over 30 projects.Rebecca Priestley, receiving the PM Science Communication Prize (Photo by Mark Tantrum) Associate Professor ...
Nothing more from me today - I'm off to Wellington, to participate in the city's annual roleplaying convention (which has also eaten my time for the whole week, limiting blogging despite there being interesting things happening). Normal bloggage will resume Tuesday. ...
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weaponscame into force today, making the development, possession, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons illegal in international law. Every nuclear-armed state is now a criminal regime. The corporations and scientists who design, build and maintain their illegal weapons are now ...
"Come The Revolution!" The key objective of Bernard Hickey’s revolutionary solution to the housing crisis is a 50 percent reduction in the price of the average family home. This will be achieved by the introduction of Capital Gains, Land, and Wealth taxes, and by the opening up of currently RMA-protected ...
by Daphna Whitmore Twitter and Facebook shutting down Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill is old news now but the debates continue over whether the actions against Trump are a good thing or not. Those in favour of banning Trump say Twitter and Facebook are private companies and ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade, albeit with razor thin Congressional majorities. The last time, in the 111th Congress (2009-2011), House Democrats passed a carbon cap and trade bill, but it died ...
Session thirty-three was highly abbreviated, via having to move house in a short space of time. Oh well. The party decided to ignore the tree-monster and continue the attack on the Giant Troll. Tarsin – flying on a giant summoned bat – dumped some high-grade oil over the ...
Last night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Michael Cowling, CQUniversity AustraliaWe’ve probably all been there. We buy some new smart gadget and when we plug it in for the first time it requires an update to work. So we end up spending hours downloading and updating before we can even play with our new toy. But ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Zero emission buses, cleaner cars and environmentally-friendly biofuels will soon be hitting New Zealand’s roads, as the Government delivers on its election promise to make our transport network more sustainable. ...
The Green Party is already delivering on its commitment for cleaner, climate-friendly transport through our Cooperation Agreement with the Government. ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
Prudence Steven QC, barrister of Christchurch has been appointed as an Environment Judge and District Court Judge to serve in Christchurch, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. Ms Steven has been a barrister sole since 2008, practising in resource management and local government / public law. She was appointed a Queen’s ...
The Government is delivering on its first tranche of election promises to take action on climate change with a raft of measures that will help meet New Zealand’s 2050 carbon neutral target, create new jobs and boost innovation. “This will be an ongoing area of action but we are moving ...
The Government is investing up to $10 million to support 30 of the country’s top early-career researchers to develop their research skills. “The pandemic has had widespread impacts across the science system, including the research workforce. After completing their PhD, researchers often travel overseas to gain experience but in the ...
A Waitomo-based Jobs for Nature project will keep up to ten people employed in the village as the tourism sector recovers post Covid-19 Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “This $500,000 project will save ten local jobs by deploying workers from Discover Waitomo into nature-based jobs. They will be undertaking local ...
Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw spoke yesterday with President Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. “I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Kerry this morning about the urgency with which our governments must confront the climate emergency. I am grateful to him and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta today announced three diplomatic appointments: Alana Hudson as Ambassador to Poland John Riley as Consul-General to Hong Kong Stephen Wong as Consul-General to Shanghai Poland “New Zealand’s relationship with Poland is built on enduring personal, economic and historical connections. Poland is also an important ...
Work begins today at Wainuiomata High School to ensure buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Minister joined principal Janette Melrose and board chair Lynda Koia to kick off demolition for the project, which is worth close to $40 million, as the site ...
A skilled and experienced group of people have been named as the newly established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis today. The Board will provide independent advice and assurance to the Minister for Children across three key areas of Oranga Tamariki: relationships with families, whānau, and ...
The green light for New Zealand’s first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...
The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. “All three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACC” said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...
The Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced. The grant for Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The New Zealand public sector and judiciary has again been ranked the least corrupt in the world. The 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released today by global anti-corruption organization Transparency International ranks New Zealand first equal ...
New Zealand is again ranked first equal with Denmark in the Transparency International annual index of perceived levels of public sector corruption. Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has welcomed New Zealand’s position in the 2020 index. He says New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Kaufman, Research Fellow, Vaccine Uptake Group, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute The federal government’s A$23.9 million COVID-19 vaccination information campaign, launchedyesterday, aims to reassure the public about vaccine safety and effectiveness. It will also provide information about the vaccine rollout. We’ve ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Hongi Luo, brand director at TikTok.In terms of cultural reach and impact, the ...
After Covid devastated its 2020, Basement Theatre comes roaring into 2021 with its Summer Season. Here’s the rundown of shows in-store, with some comments from programmer Nisha Madhan.Pre-FringeLust IslandWhen’s it on: February 2-6, 8pmWho’s involved: The women of improv troupe Hearthrobs (McKenzie’s Daughters, Salem Bitch Trials), including Brynley Stent, Alice ...
The whānau of Te Ahikaiata Turei supported by Māori and non-Māori staff at Unitec will take back a portrait of the Tūhoe leader who led the establishment of Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae and the values that brought the institute back from the brink of ...
A poll across the Early Childhood Education community found 93% in favour of pausing the ‘lunchbox rules’, or the Ministry of Education’s new Food Safety/choking changes to the Licensing Criteria, which came into effect on 25 January. “The message ...
Cycling advocates are calling for the transformation of urban transport, as New Zealand races to cut carbon. The Climate Change Commission will release its initial advice on Sunday 31 January. “Bikes and e-bikes are perfect for many local trips, ...
Three Ministers, led by the PM, joined in chorus today to warble about a bunch of measures aimed at helping to meet New Zealand’s 2050 carbon neutral target, create new jobs and boost innovation. Mind you, the measures mentioned seem to be more matters of decisions yet to be made ...
Michelle Kidd defines her role at Auckland’s specialist family violence court as te kaiwhakatere – the navigator. It’s a one-of-a-kind job, helping guide defendants through the court system. And there’s no one better suited to it than Whaea Michelle.First published November 24, 2020.Whaea Michelle is part of Frame, a series of short ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sallie Yea, Associate professor & Principal Research Fellow, La Trobe University Each year, thousands of men and boys labour under extremely exploitative conditions on commercial fishing vessels owned by Taiwanese, Chinese and South Korean companies. The Taiwanese fleet, which operates in all ...
Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis believes the Crown should maintain responsibility for the care and protection of at-risk and vulnerable children, regardless of their race. Moreover, he is confident his all-Maori team of advisers will not be taking race into account as they help to improve Oranga Tamariki’s care and protection of ...
It’s easy to sacrifice John Banks. It’s a lot harder for brands, sports organisations and government to truly stop funding racism. Are they willing to try?Yesterday John Banks, the former Auckland mayor and MP, became subject to one of the fastest firings in media history when audio covering his approving ...
A community is outraged after Auckland Council granted consent for a row of trees planted by local kids to be removed along a revitalised waterway in South Auckland, reports Justin Latif. An Auckland Council decision to give contractors the all-clear to chop down 12 mānuka and kānuka trees shading Māngere’s Tararata ...
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu hopes that the recent changes to Oranga Tamariki leadership present an opportunity for a long overdue paradigm shift that will place whānau at the heart of the child welfare sector. Pouārahi Helen Leahy says that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rice, Professor of Management, University of New England Elon Musk is now the world’s richest person, edging out previous title holder Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. His rocketing fortune is due to the booming share price of Tesla, the maker of electric vehicles ...
There are now three returnees who contracted the virus in the Auckland isolation facility then left into the community while positive. These are some of the questions that need to be resolved. At 10.20pm last night the Ministry of Health confirmed that the two cases they’d been treating as probable ...
Having a hard time remembering to scan in on the NZ Covid Tracer app when you’re out and about? Get this song stuck in your head and you’ll never forget again.Learn the lyrics:Aotearoa, it’s time to get scanning!I mean if you think about it, it never really wasn’t time we ...
We conclude our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with a review of his stories by John Newton Roger Hickin’s Cold Hub Press is one of the small miracles of contemporary New Zealand publishing. Over the last decade, on what can only be a shoe-string budget, the ...
Thursday 28th January, AUCKLAND: Drive Electric, the not-for-profit with one mission – making electric vehicle uptake in New Zealand mainstream, welcomes the announcement by the Government today as a sign of what’s to come through 2021, and we are confident ...
The Government announced today key policy decisions on the proposed clean car policies. The MIA has stated on many occasions that we support well thought out and constructive policies that will lead to an increased rate in the reduction of CO2 emissions from ...
Get wild, get cultured, get fed and then get to bed: the essential guide to a perfect few days in the southern city. There’s one thing that preoccupies the staff of The Spinoff almost as much as arranging popular food items into arbitrary lists, and that’s Dunedin. A quite remarkable ...
John Banks’ racist exchange with a Magic Talk listener on Tuesday was the latest in nearly 50 years of talkback controversies. Donna Chisholm has the receipts.John Banks axed over Māori ‘stone age culture’ comments on Magic Talk1972: On Radio I, sports talkback host Tim Bickerstaff launches a “Punch a Pom ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission.Two new community Covid-19 cases have been identified as the more infectious South African variant, but Auckland Mayor Phil Goff sayit would be "premature to go into lockdown now". The two new cases of Covid-19 identified in the ...
Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine in Southland to Fonterra’s ...
KiwiRail STOP Hauling COAL Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Dunn, Associate professor, University of Sydney The government is rolling out a new public information campaign this week to reassure the public about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, which one expert has said “couldn’t be more crucial” to people actually getting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Therese O’Sullivan, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan University The COVID vaccine rollout has placed the issue of vaccination firmly in the spotlight. A successful rollout will depend on a variety of factors, one of which is vaccine acceptance. One potential hurdle to vaccine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernard Walker, Associate Professor in Organisations and Leadership, University of Canterbury Kiwis know what it’s like when life throws curveballs. We’ve had major quakes, floods, fires, an eruption, a terrorist attack and now a pandemic. In those situations, it’s the ability to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Irwin, Emeritus professor, Murdoch University While we continue to be occupied with the COVID pandemic, another life-threatening disease has emerged in northern Australia, one that’s cause for considerable alarm for the millions of dog owners around the country. This disease — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cath Ferguson, Academic, Edith Cowan University Almost half of Australian adults struggle with reading. Similar levels of struggling readers are reported in the United Kingdom and United States. This does not mean all struggling readers are illiterate. It means they often struggle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abbas Shieh, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Design, Islamic Azad University The industrial revolution transformed cities, resulting in places of residence and work becoming more distant than ever before. This spatial segregation is still largely embedded in the design of our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Review: Occupation: Rainfall, written and directed by Luke Sparke Historically, when a sequel to a film was greenlit, you could rest assured this was because the first film made a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 28, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tourism suffers in the shadow of Covid-19, two new positive cases in Auckland confirmed, and National will contest the Māori electorates.The front page of the January 4 Greymouth Star carried grim tidings for several of the glacier towns on the ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Two people who left managed isolation on January 15 have been confirmed as positive Covid-19 cases, with the Ministry of Health urging anyone who visited the same locations during the same time period as the infected pair in Auckland to ...
The watchlist of 'offensive or unreasonable' babies' names is to be reviewed, to include more names from other languages. Generations of the Īhaka family have played a meaningful role in bringing Te Reo and stories of Māori to our wider community. Archdeacon Sir Kīngi Matutaera Īhaka (Te Aupōuri, 1921-93) was known as the orator of ...
After Morocco’s flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire in Western Sahara on Friday 13 November 2020 war broke out between the two sides. In the midst of this war Tauranga based Ballance Agri-Nutrients has decided to carry on importing phosphate ...
Nicholas Agar suggests that our handling of the pandemic could be partly down to our distinctive Treaty of Waitangi relationship, and Māori ideas that enabled us to make it through without tens of thousands of deaths A mission for universities in the coming decade will be a deep understanding of the meaning ...
A young girl who once sent $5 to an embattled America's Cup team is now among the women on the water helping run the contest for the Auld Mug. As an eager and generous nine-year-old, Melanie Roberts posted a letter, with a $5 note, to OneAustralia’s America’s Cup team. It was 1995, ...
At 5am today, cock’s crow, the embargo lifted on the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist. Here are the books in the race, followed by thoughts from poetry editor Chris Tse and books editor Catherine Woulfe. A shortlist of four books in each category will be announced March 3, with ...
Ignoring those QR codes when you drop into the supermarket? Can’t be bothered when you grab a coffee? The people serving you notice, and you’re freaking them out.So far, New Zealanders’ use of the Covid-19 Tracer app has been notably woeful. Food industry workers who’ve watched streams of customers walk ...
Steve Braunias reveals the longlist of the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards Apart from one or two unfortunate omissions which cast doubt on the sanity and intellectual acumen of judges, especially the nobodies who judged this year's non-fiction, the longlist for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards is ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea’s biggest hospital is straining to provide medical services to the growing population of the capital Port Moresby – with an estimated growth rate of 3 percent annually, a medical executive says. Port Moresby General Hospital chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Nationals who attend Thursday’s memorial service in Tweed Heads for Doug Anthony, who died last month aged 90, may muse on the contrast between the state of their party when he led it and now. ...
Returning to quarantine-free travel in 2021 doesn't just need a vaccine, but a way to check whether arriving passengers are actually immune to the virus. A smart Kiwi science start-up is working with a global biometrics giant to make that happen. A deal signed between Kiwi research and development company Orbis Diagnostics, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlyn Forster, PhD Candidate, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney This summer’s wetter conditions have created great conditions for flowering plants. Flowers provide sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen, attracting many insects, including bees. Commercial honey bees are also thriving: ...
Lotto scratchie tickets featuring the pop band Six60 are being withdrawn after a public backlash. In a statement, Lotto NZ said there had been a mutual decision made with the band to remove the tickets from sale following the negative feedback, and it offered an apology. The band faced criticism, both ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New England Shell-crushing predation was already in full swing half a billion years ago, as our new research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals. A hyena devouring ...
Vodafone has suspended advertising on the radio station amid calls for talkback host John Banks to be taken off air after yet another racist outburst. Alex Braae reports. In an alarming segment of talkback radio, former Auckland mayor John Banks endorsed the views of a caller who described Māori as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Welch, Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland When a COVID-19 case was found in Northland last Sunday, Aotearoa’s second-longest period with no detected community case came to an end. ESR scientists worked late into Sunday night to obtain a whole genome sequence ...
He has the perfect moustache, an exceptional mullet, and he uses terms like ‘face hole’ on national TV. Who or what is Dr Joel Rindelaub?I was drawn in by the moustache, but it was the mullet that really kept me there. Watching TVNZ’s Breakfast yesterday morning I was fixated. Often, ...
We’ll never be royals with nearly a quarter of declined baby names featuring “Royal” in some form or another. Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs has released the list of names declined in 2020 by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and ...
After a raft of inquiries delving into and recommending what should be done about the politically beleaguered Orangi Tamaraki, along with the briefing papers we suppose he has been given, we imagined Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis would have no more need for expert advice. Wrong. He has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University There’s a common assumption men take longer than women to poo. People say so on Twitter, in memes, and elsewhereonline. But is that right? What could explain it? And if ...
Just as sexuality is a spectrum, so too is asexuality. In Ace of Hearts, members of New Zealand’s asexual community talk about the challenges and misconceptions of identifying as ace.First published November 17, 2020.Ace of Hearts is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff.“A ...
Sam Brooks wasn’t allowed to watch kids TV as a kid. Now, as a 30 year old man, he watches it for the first time.My mother’s approach to parenting was unorthodox. I wrote weekly book reports on top of my actual homework, I did maths equations in Roman numerals and ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk More leading Indonesian figures have made racial slurs against Natalius Pigai, former chair of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) – and all West Papuans, says United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda. “Since the illegal Indonesian invasion in 1963, Indonesian ...
“The Government’s failure to even conduct a standard cost-benefit analysis for the most expensive infrastructure project in New Zealand’s history is mind-bogglingly arrogant,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “A ...
The Ministry of Health is today drawing backlash from the local New Zealand vaping industry following its release of proposed regulations for the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act. Vaping Trade Association New Zealand (VTANZ) President, ...
Sophie Gilmour and Simon Day are joined by special guest Hugo Baird, co-owner of Grey Lynn’s Honey Bones and Lilian, to talk about opening new pub Hotel Ponsonby.Auckland is a city of many bars but few really good pubs – the kind of places you’d be just as comfortable going ...
The appointment of an advisory board for Oranga Tamariki is welcome and should be a step toward a total transformation of the care and protection system to a by Māori, for Māori approach, Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft said today. Minister ...
Taking control of your financial wellbeing can have cascading positive impacts for your life and it can also be fun. With the help of the team at Kiwi Wealth, we’ve compiled some simple tricks for balancing your books in 2021. There’s something about the beginning of a new year, especially after ...
Is there a Democratic Party specialist out there who can tell me how the second vote brings the Superdelegates back in with at least as much power as lat times' Presidential nominee selection?
This discussion on MSNBC on how Biden really goes head to head with Sanders in the Democratic primaries is instructive:
I think Biden's negative attack line is ill founded. This sort of attack line will not convince anyone, for one simple reason, it buys into Trump's underdog status, that he is being unfairly victimised by the establishment. And bolsters Trump's claims that he is a victim of a conspiracy by the jealous liberals. The same with calls from the Democratic Party establishment for impeaching the President.
Biden’s negative attack politics avoids the issues that really matter to voters. And plays into Trump’s brand of personality politics.
Rather than concentrate on Trump's negative traits and build his campaign around it, Biden needs to be putting up some positive progressive policy.
In contrast to Biden who avoids raising progressive issues, to the surprise of the Fox presenters Bernie Sanders wins over a picked Fox audience by talking about single payer health care.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uco6HDQswNM
Biden's video is an odd one for a Democrat primary pitch, which needs about how your policies pitch to Democrat segments, not speaking over their heads to Trump-waverers.
But that doesn't get to my particular question of how this is going to play out any different to Clinton V Sanders in the nomination shit fight.
"……..how this is going to play out any different to Clinton V Sanders in the nomination shit fight."
That's a good question. As Sanders says @17:14 minutes in the above video
The remarkable thing is that Sanders said this before Biden had launched his campaign, and immediately did what Sanders said the Democrats shouldn't.
Sanders didn't know Biden was going to do this, and is probably aghast that he has. Sanders was replying to question put to him, to which he replied ‘we’ [the Democrats], shouldn't do this.
If Biden is picked over Sanders in the Democratic Primary it will be an exact repeat of what happened before.
With a good chance of the same awful consequence.
A snowball has a better chance in Hell than Biden has of winning the nomination. To say he's toxic is to insult toxins.
Biden is another trough money hunter and he will be corrupted again by big money as all others have been.
Biden was close to big Corporations as Hillary was.
He's repulsive and unelectable.
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/12/gropers-no-62-his-dishonor-clarence.html
Possibly even closer….
Hours After Entering 2020 Race, Biden to Attend Big-Money Fundraiser Hosted by Comcast, Blue Cross Execs
Two of the large corporate donars that Biden courted at this fundraiser were internet company Comcast who are opposed to Net Neutrality, and large private insurance company Blue Cross, whose business model will suffer if Bernie's Medicare For All gets through.
So Where is the Swedish Warrant?
by CRAIG MURRAY, Apr. 27, 2019
If the Swedish allegations against Julian Assange were genuine and not simply a ruse to arrest him for extradition to the United States, where is the arrest warrant now from Sweden and what are the charges?
Only the more minor allegation has passed the statute of limitations deadline. The major allegation, equivalent to rape, is still well within limits. Sweden has had seven years to complete the investigation and prepare the case. It is over two years since they interviewed Julian Assange in the Ecuadorean Embassy. They have had years and years to collect all the evidence and prepare the charges.
So where, Swedish prosecutors, are your charges? Where is your arrest warrant?
Julian Assange has never been charged with anything in Sweden. He was merely “wanted for questioning”, a fact the MSM repeatedly failed to make clear. It is now undeniably plain that there was never the slightest intention of charging him with anything in Sweden. All those Blairite MPs who seek to dodge the glaring issue of freedom of the media to publish whistleblower material revealing government crimes, by hiding behind trumped-up sexual allegations, are left looking pretty stupid.
What is the point of demanding Assange be extradited to Sweden when there is no extradition request from Sweden? What is the point in demanding he face justice in Sweden when there are no charges? Where are the charges from Sweden?
The answer to that is silence.
Sweden was always a fit-up designed to get Assange to the USA. And now they don’t need it, so Sweden has quietly gone away. All the false left who were taken in by the security services playing upon a feminist mantra should take a very hard look at themselves. ….
Read more….
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/04/so-where-is-the-swedish-warrant/
Welcome to another Morrissey rape culture special.
Sweden was always a fit-up designed to get Assange to the USA.
We have to assume you endorse that offensive claim, given that you troubled yourself to post it here. You now need to support it, in two ways:
1. Demonstrate that the two women complainants made false complaints and were participants in a criminal conspiracy (hence this being another Morrissey "rape culture" special).
2. Come up with a plausible explanation for why the US government couldn't request Assange's extradition from the UK seven years ago and instead needed him extradited to Sweden first, but now can simply request extradition from the UK (This one's not rape culture, just the usual Morrissey nutbar conspiracy theory).
The amount of stuff written about Assange may soon match the size of the Wikileaks release.
Smearing is no argument. That won't deter the likes of you, of course.
In other words, no you can't support your claim.
You're the one who has to support your sleazy allegations.
I was the one who posted comment 2? Best go back for another look, it's got your name on it. Comment 2 makes a bold claim with nothing to support it, hence the 2.x comments underneath it asking for the poster of that claim to support it with evidence. If you need to have this stuff explained to you, maybe you should just leave your computer switched off.
No, it was posted yesterday by Craig Murray, one of the most credible and respected independent commentators in Britain.
Leaving aside for a moment the comical notion that Craig Murray is one of the most respected commentators in Britain (not least because you're making an implied argument from authority and we've been over that ground so many times before), Craig Murray didn't post that assertion here, you did.
Unless you were just dropping some random spam on the thread because you don't have voluntary control over your actions, you posted that claim here as an endorsement of it. That means it's effectively your claim on this thread. If you can't support it, just say so.
"Comical". Craig Murray is “comical”. Coming from a Russiagate truther, that really is comical.
You're free to hold whatever opinions of me you like. At issue is whether you can offer anything to support the claim you posted in comment 2. I note that the answer is still "No."
Morrissey, 100% absolutely correct. Thank you.
"You now need to…
1. Demonstrate that etc
2. Come up with a plausible explanation etc"
And if Morrisey doesn't, will he get lines?
What a bossy bitches you are Psycho.
Perhaps you should leave it to PM and Morrissey to argue about and hold your own thoughts in abeyance Brigid.
Any of us is free to demand that people making bold and unlikely assertions provide some supporting evidence for them. There's no penalty for failure to comply, beyond the embarrassment of having been exposed as a bullshitter – assuming one feels embarrassment at such exposure, that is. I think Morrissey's impervious to it.
"that people making bold and unlikely assertions… "
That is only you at this point. Anyone with some nous long ago worked out this was about journalism, not rape culture. Hence why any decent independent journo has dismissed your talking point.
In that case, any decent independent journo would be able to substantiate the claim "Sweden was always a fit-up designed to get Assange to the USA." Where is the support for this assertion?
Morrissey
This is a long one but its a serious essay and the most comprehensive I've read so far
http://www.thepolemicist.net/2019/04/avoiding-assange.html
Thanks very much, Francesca.
Thanks francesca; insightful links within links within links.
Thank you francesca for that link. An admirable piece, well written, meticulously argued and above all … correct in it's conclusions.
The sex allegation from Sweden … is just a doorway to his extradition to the United States.
I keep seeing this asserted as an article of faith, with no supporting evidence for the assertion. Is there anything, other than that some people fervently believe it?
with no supporting evidence for the assertion.
https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/438709-pentagon-papers-lawyer-indictment-of-assange-snare-and-delusion
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-gave-verbal-pledge-death-penalty-assange-sources/story?id=62414643
We cannot know what the US Justice Dept plans to do, but we can know for certain what they have not ruled out.
Besides a 'verbal' commitment from the Trump govt would have to be worth less than the paper it was not written on.
The indictment is, however, a snare and a delusion. It is surprisingly spare and seems to have been written with a particular purpose in mind — to extradite Assange from England. Once he is here, he will be hit, no doubt, with multiple charges.
Again, this is opinion. All of these opinions assert that the Swedish request to extradite Assange was made on behalf of the USA, with no basis other than that the author firmly believes it.
The USG is not going to signal in advance any charges that carry the death penalty or imply 'political reasons'. Otherwise extradition to the USA will likely fail legally in the UK and quite possibly Sweden as well. Demanding the production of impossible evidence is a logical fallacy akin to demanding one perfect piece of evidence to support climate change.
What I can rely on is the preponderance of evidence, the reasonable balance of probabilities given what they've already done to Manning (and would do to Snowden if they could) … and the indisputable fact that the Justice Dept has unsealed one charge already. An act that only makes sense if they intend to extradite when the opportunity avails itself.
Sure, a reasonable person wouldn't put any duplicity past the US government. However, the claim that the Swedish complaints were a conspiracy on behalf of the US government is an extraordinary claim requiring extraordinary evidence. And any evidence presented has a severe uphill struggle ahead of it, against the fact that the US could just have requested Assange's extradition from the UK back then, just like it has now.
The Justice Department has 60 days from the time of the request for extradition to add any charges and would not comment on future charges.
According to the doctrine of specialty protection, once he's extradited he can only be tried on the charges in the extradition paperwork. Or if the US really really wants to add more charges, the rules say they have to get approved by the same UK courts that approved the extradition.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-wikileaks-assange-could-beat-the-us-and-stay-out-of-jail?ref=home
If Assange ends up going to Sweden before winding up in the US, then he's got the extra protection that both the UK and Sweden have to agree to what he gets charged with.
https://www.aklagare.se/en/nyheter–press/media/the-assange-matter/kan-assange-utlamnas-fran-sverige-till-usa/
Of course, wannabe Dictator Donny might just slap on the extra charges after they get their hands on him and say to the UK and/or Sweden "waddaya gonna do abouddit?".
There's that irony that the Tinyfingers Tyrant that Assange was so keen and active in helping elect is much more likely to just blow off international norms and obligations than Hillary would have been. Let alone that Obama and Holder decided way back in 2013 that trying to prosecute Assange would have a real and seriously chilling effect on real journalism, so the national interest was best served by not prosecuting. The so-called "New York Times" problem. Hillary would most likely have respected and gone along with that prior assessment.
A legal process that will be dragged out for years. The USG doesn't need to get to a conviction as long as they have Assange in prison somewhere.
The entire game has been a cynical abuse of legal process from the outset. What makes you think anything will change once they have their hands on him? Read this story from another whistle-blower and let us know what you think his chances are:
https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/56007-rsn-the-railroad-that-awaits-julian-assange
http://www.thepolemicist.net/2019/04/avoiding-assange.html
The entire game has been a cynical abuse of legal process from the outset.
Yeah, it might look that way if you don't attach any significance to the allegations Assange scarpered from Sweden the same day his lawyers learned he was about to be arrested, nor to the way he scarpered to the Ecuadorean Embassy when he learned he lost his fight not to be extradited to Sweden.
Note that while all this was going on in 2010 through 2012, the doctrine of specialty protection would made him safer from the US if he had been extradited back to Sweden from the UK. Because then both the UK and Sweden would have to OK him getting sent to the US, rather than just the UK. According to some pieces I've seen, extraditing him to Sweden from the UK would also give him recourse to an EU court to fight a further extradition to the US, which he wouldn't have in a direct UK to US extradition.
If Assange had fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy to escape Swedish justice, then logically he would have left that Embassy when the Swedish investigation was dropped and no charges laid. But of course that was never the reason why he sought asylum; it was always about escaping American injustice.
And please stop pretending the Americans will be satisfied with a minor 'hacking' charge that carries a five year (out in three) sentence. That just insults everyone's intelligence.
And please stop pretending the Americans will be satisfied with a minor 'hacking' charge that carries a five year (out in three) sentence. That just insults everyone's intelligence.
Please link to where I have made any claim that might be interpreted like that.
Misrepresenting someone else's position like that does you no credit.
Precisely where you say this:
Or if the US really really wants to add more charges, the rules say they have to get approved by the same UK courts that approved the extradition.
That's a statement of what the rules require. It's not expressing an opinion that the Drumpf administration will be satisfied with just the one charge that has so far been unsealed.
If you don't want to be misrepresented, be clear on what you mean. Can I take it that you now accept the USG will likely lay more charges once they have their hands on him, regardless of any 'specialty protection'?
Lets be real here, the USG doesn't give a shit about how long this process takes; as long as they have Assange in a prison somewhere, they have the outcome they want.
I have no doubt the likes of Barr and the loofah-faced shitgibbon would like to nail Assange on a huge array of charges. On any useful facts, and completely fabricated too if they think they can get away with it. For the express purpose of getting convictions to set precedents expanding dictatorial presidential powers. Assange sitting in a UK or Swedish prison is useless for that.
From that point of view, time is of the essence for them. They will be well aware that Obama and his admin decided in 2013 that they weren't going to try to prosecute Assange. (edit: Assange should have been aware of that in 2013 too https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/julian-assange-unlikely-to-face-us-charges-over-publishing-classified-documents/2013/11/25/dd27decc-55f1-11e3-8304-caf30787c0a9_story.html?utm_term=.7ac6ab87cd23 sorry about the messy link added in). And that the next Dem prez may be inclined to take the same view. So their opportunity to get the convictions and set the precedents might be just the next 21 months.
But the point of getting convictions to set precedents is one aspect where specialty protection might play a role. Because if specialty protection provisions are violated, those are solid grounds for appealing a conviction. Because correct judicial processes were not followed. By the time an appeal rolls through, there may be a new prez and AG not inclined to fight the appeal and uphold the conviction. And if a conviction is overturned on appeal, then it's not a precedent.
So their opportunity to get the convictions and set the precedents might be just the next 21 months.
There's a big assumption right there; it assumes a sympathetic Democrat will be elected. If you were Assange I doubt very much you'd bet you life on that.
And even less likely that you'd bet on a fair hearing in a secret trial held in an East Virginia 'espionage court' that has never acquitted a defendant in all of it's history.
The only reason why we're talking about Assange all these years later has nothing to do with Sweden or the UK … it's absolutely been all about the USG's desire to make an example of Assange, to punish him for exposing their own illegal behaviour.
We abrogate our personal right to violent defense and retribution to the nation state. We have a legal system, police, courts and prisons to defend us within the state, and a military system to act outside of it. These systems are legally created and empowered to commit violence on our collective behalf. In an ideal world there would be no criminals, no aggressor states and we could disband them, but for the time being we are stuck with this morally ambiguous compromise. We may personally abhor violence as much as we like, but collectively we cannot abandon it. We justify this by placing rules and conventions on these systems; we require they act within the law, lest we become no better than the criminals, terrorists and invaders we pursue.
Yet the crucial irony is that Assange is being punished by the USG for exposing it's own illegal behaviour. You are pirouetting on a very thin patch of legal ice indeed, if you imagine the same govt will give one tiny shit what you or I think when they do finally get their hands on him.
That Polemicist piece is certainly a polemic. But I don't find it very credible when it misrepresents things like how the Swedish system works by trying to make a big deal out of the fact Assange hadn't been charged.
While elections aren't generally based upon one policy, CGT was a big policy that Labour spent many years building up support for.
Its potential to produce a strong revenue stream is not easily overlooked Nor is its potential to enable the Government to do more good.
Therefore, to throw it all away without a bat of an eyelid, how much damage to the party do you think Jacinda has caused?
Will their be a drop in support for Labour in the next poll?
This nationwide Horizon Research Poll – taken between February 28 and March 15 – found 44 per cent of New Zealand adults supported introducing a capital gains tax and 35 per cent opposed it.
A further 16 per cent are neutral on the new tax, while 6 per cent did not know.
Polling by political leaning showed 60% of Labour voters supported it.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12217405
Morrissey,
Thanks for the Swedish stuff as we were suspicious of them, and now it is laid bare they were complicit.
Ignore Psyhco-Milt he is off his rocker today.
Thanks, cleangreen. I don't think he's off his rocker; it's hard to admit for anyone to admit one has been completely wrong. He has to come to terms with it.
Poor fellow backed Hillary and her mad Russiagate conspiracy too.
Ignore Psyhco-Milt he is off his rocker today.
I've refrained from publicly drawing a fairly obvious conclusion from some the stuff you post here – could the same courtesy perhaps be extended?
No one has the Right to Rubbish and impoverish the Workers of Aotearoa
Everyone has the Right to demand National hands back the Decent Livings of the People.
Although the kindly Chairman has been mobbing on about the Labour Party not proceeding with a Capital Gains Tax presently, he fails to state that the Labour Party has not declared they will abandon seeking to even up The Have Nots – caused by the Greedy Mobsters.
Far from it. The National Politicians over a series of decades, have stolen equity from large numbers of New Zealanders. Mostly by paying very low wages, and by slugging workers with excessive regressive GST and also latterly – by Excruciating Rental Fees. And By Selling off State Houses.
On top of which, The Nationals are said not to have paid adequate owed Taxes.
I do not know by which methodology that is determined. But I do know that if Poor People fiidle with their payments to Winz they go quickly to Prison.
Whereas National wealthy nonpayers – go without so much as a naughty nod. Certainly not Jail. The cover – ups. The jaunty accountants; – Oh yes. The Bell does not Toll for the Chairman's lot.
Now the Chairman knows this. And he is piddling around as if he has found his teeth and inspiration in some sort of magic dirty bucket.
It will take a long time to get Equity back into New Zealand. The Distortions and The Theft that has gone on – as promoted by National – will have to be dragged out as from polluted Rivers and Lakes. It will take Years.
Above all, it will take Integrity on the part of the Wealthy.
The question is, will they sufficiently live up to that?
To date, Jacinda did say the accompanying tax cuts (related to the CGT now dropped) are also being dumped. That was one way Labour were going to even the field.
They've told teachers as they did nurses there is no more money.
It was reported again the other day there's no more money for child poverty reduction via the families package.
And there is no talk of other beneficiaries getting any extra than what's already been stated.
They could build more state homes, further increase the minimum wage to the living wage and vastly increase all benefits to make a major impact, yet they don't.
Agreed, Labour is wedded to maintaining the neoliberal status quo, with ongoing poverty for many the result. Unfortunately I don't think this behaviour is being forced on Labour by coalition politics – deep down they still completely believe neoliberal ideology.
Genter told Newshub Nation host Emma Jolliff on Saturday the party has to be pragmatic.
She later went on to say the Green Party is committed to working with the Government for the rest of the current term, and the best way to ensure it can push harder in the next is to get more MPs in Parliament.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2019/04/greens-focused-on-delivering-what-we-can-genter.html
The question is, is being pragmatic working for them in regards to them securing more votes? Polls indicate otherwise.
Or is it the so called woke side turning potential supporters off?
Whatever it is, is it time for the Greens to have a rethink?
Additionally, there seems to be an emphasis on appropriate prices around pollution, minus any talk on offsetting the inflationary burden on the poor. Is this a result of being too pragmatic? A bluer shade of green?
The question is, is being pragmatic working for them in regards to them securing more votes? Polls indicate otherwise. Or is it the so called woke side turning potential supporters off?
Yes, to the second question. Yes to the first, but I agree it isn't showing in polls, so I suspect that each effect cancels the other. That is to say, centrists like them pragmatic and hate them woke.
is it time for the Greens to have a rethink?
No. They are stuck in the electoral cycle. That time will come after the next election. It will factor in the extent to which any blue-green alternative gets support. If so, the woke will shrivel on the vine – when anyone with half a brain realises that their survival requires authenticity (thus centrism). If not, woke identity politics will persist as an affliction. Too many activists within think the stance is real democracy!
there seems to be an emphasis on appropriate prices around pollution, minus any talk on offsetting the inflationary burden on the poor. Is this a result of being too pragmatic? A bluer shade of green?
No and no. Either poor messaging, poor reporting, or both. Greens ought to signal intelligent design of tax policy includes reducing income tax to the extent that govt income gets boosted by pollution taxes, ftt, land tax etc. They may have done so, but not being part of the coalition, could be the media haven't reported it (deeming it irrelevant). I've noticed in past years a tendency of our media to ignore press releases from the Greens.
They may be"stuck" in an electoral cycle but waiting to rethink things will be leaving it late to drum up more support – especially if it is due to them having no current backbone.
Genter had an opportunity in the interview to highlight how (within the confines of coalition) they are going to tackle the inflationary burden on the poor, she didn't.
They lack a fighting spirit in my view and it’s not enticing support. Many wanted the Greens to help take Labour left, seems by their lack of fight, they've gone the other way. And this, IMO is turning voters off. Along with rediscovering the word cunt etc…
Bring back Russel Norman.
To be brutally honest, we lack evidence that the poor are sufficiently motivated to be an effective force in politics. Recall the so-called `missing million' voters. Labour proclaimed a drive to recruit them but I noticed a lack of evidence of success at the following election. Can't blame the Green parliamentarians for learning from the Labour experience.
Have an idea Swordfish did some analysis on the turnout post election…but cant recall detail and a brief search hasnt found it
2017: 79%, 2,605,854 whereas 2014: 76.8%, 2,410,857
https://www.elections.org.nz/events/2017-general-election/2017-general-election-results/voter-turnout-statistics
https://www.elections.org.nz/events/2014-general-election/election-results-and-reporting/2014-general-election-voter-turnout
My calculator reckons Labour achieved 19.5% of their target million. Glass a fifth-full – better than empty, but evidence the Labour persuasion campaign failed to shift the 80% most alienated by democracy…
his attention was more granular IIRC
Yes, I do. And from memory, despite all their bluster, Labour did very little (policy wise) to entice them. No living wage on offer, no across the board benefit increase, no redistribution via tax cuts accompanying their CGT.
The Greens support spiked up when they reached out to beneficiaries.
Yes Chairman, we agree.
Russel Norman was a far more 'effective leader' of the Green's as he always was actively defending the environment..
This lot seem to be wishy washy and are more a 'social activist party' now rather than defender of the Environment.
Cannot remember when the Greens talked up ''NZ wide rail restoration' this year at all.
This weekend many died on roads.
But if rail passenger around the provinces was restored those lives would not have been lost.
Yes. And to be fair to the Greens, they are pushing for safer roads.
If they were really pressing for safer roads why don't they put the roading money into providing them?
Do you really think that spending $100 million dollars on a combined cycling/walking track from Ngauranga to Petone in Wellington is a sensible expenditure when the money could have gone toward something useful like the Melling interchange which has just been put back for at least a decade?
The walking track might be used by 10 people/month. The cyclists might be a few more in Summer but I'll bet there won't be more than a dozen of them on a day like today.That woman's ideas on what should be done in transport are totally nuts.
Have a look at this. It sounds so impressive until the kicker in the last line saying, in effect. We are going to put this into the “come back in 10 years and then consider doing it file”.
https://createsend.com/t/t-2E2B0FC1CEC333D52540EF23F30FEDED
An historian tweets about Thomas Paine's, dude must have been a crypto-Marxist, views on taxation.
https://tttthreads.com/thread/1051891074212327424.html
"(for him that amount was £23,000)".
I suppose we may assume that Paine was worth a little bit less than that when he died. That amount would convert to about £1,800,000 today or about $3.5 million. I suppose that would mean cutting an average Auckland house in two and giving half to the poor.
Thanks Joe90. Paine had the right idea!
The current 'low tax' ideology, is just that – mere ideology, promoted by and for the interest of the rich, at the expense of everyone else.
WTF did this get posted late missing a April 1st release?
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/health/lifestylefamily/mourning-the-loss-of-jacinda-ardern-and-simon-bridges-friendship/ar-BBWk6hT?li=BBqdg4K
Another distraction from Jacinda dumping the CGT?
Politics, as real as professional wrestling?
"Trump has said he will withdraw his country from the international Arms Trade Treaty. The agreement, signed by Barack Obama in 2013, aims to regulate the sale of weapons between countries." Aims, but fails to succeed. Sham regulation!
"In a statement released after Mr Trump's speech, the White House said the treaty "fails to truly address the problem of irresponsible arms transfers" because other top arms exporters – including Russia and China – have not signed up to it." https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48076262
BBC, a year ago: Which country dominates the global arms trade? "the total international trade in arms now worth about $100bn (£74bn) per year, Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), tells the BBC."
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-43873518
"In its latest figures, the defence industry think tank says that major weapons sales in the five years to 2017 were 10% higher than in 2008-12. US now accounts for 34% of all global arms sales, up from 30% five years ago, and are now at their highest level since the late 1990s… The US's arms exports are 58% higher than those of Russia, the world's second-largest exporter. And while US arms exports grew by 25% in 2013-17 compared with 2008-12, Russia's exports fell by 7.1% over the same period."
China "is now the world's fifth largest seller of arms. This puts it behind the US, Russia, France, and Germany, but ahead of the UK. China's arms exports rose by 38% between 2008-12 and 2013-17, and the country now has the world's second-largest defence budget after the US – $150bn compared to the latter's $602bn in 2017."
"In 2014 the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) came into force, with the aim of regulating the international trade in conventional weapons. It requires states to monitor arms exports, and ensure that their weapons sale don't break existing arms embargoes, or end up being used for human-rights abuses, including terrorism. Yet so far its impact has been limited, say critics. "We are disappointed by the way a number of states have decided to implement it, says Amnesty's Oliver Feeley-Sprague."
"We think the UK, US and France among others, by continuing to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and its allies in the coalition operation in Yemen, are clearly violating the ATT's provisions."
"The ATT may have had a bigger impact on curbing the flow of weapons to non-state actors, says Sipri's Pieter Wezeman – but so far it has not had any visible impact on the overall trade in arms."
Meanwhile in the US:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/26/trump-nra-united-nations-arms-treaty-gun-control
Yes, Trump is exhibiting a lack of moral leadership from a global perspective. I doubt he sees the situation from that perspective – likely just doing realpolitik to represent his electoral base. I assume the sham regulation was a UN thing despite Obama leading it, so the failure to get China & Russia to support it seems evidence of the usual incompetence. They gave Trump no basis to take it seriously. Then the UK & France violated the agreement, to prove the point.
I'm so pleased you are happy for US weapons to be legally sold to terrorists. It must be very reassuring for you.
I'm just as happy about that as you. I was alerting everyone to the fact that TDS is distracting them from the cause of the problem. Solving the problem requires international agreements that nations adhere to. Not the current sham.
The Chairman who writes on here has no idea of Poverty.
He is another Wealthy enemy of the population of New Zealand.
He is so happy to keep on crushing the people who do the work in NZ. A servant of The Bloated Wealthy.
Inclined to agree, OT. I have always seen the so-called chairman as a concern troll, who instead of giving up, doubles down on pretending to be an ally. But I still don't think he is: he is here to spread discouragement.
In Vino
Agree.
Agreed 100% Observer Tokoroa.
This blog seems to be very geriatric these days.
Probably a good thing there’s a place for old people to rant and rave and not drive their other halves insane.
Well done the standard, you deserve some sort of community award.
Well, if it comes down to a choice between rabbiting on here or going out to the shed most of us old chaps find it is warmer inside at the keyboard than out in a drafty shed in the backyard.
But yes, geriatric seems a pretty fair description for the the people who comment here.Is anyone under 50?
Is anyone commenting on any political blog under 50? It's not exactly the newest hit with the kids…
I can name a few blogs where there seem to be a considerable number under 50 – IQ that is.
hmmm…
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/huawei-new-zealand-1.5113504
I'm afraid Trudeau is last years flame.
The latest heartthrob is President Macron.
Portugal is having mass tourism problems as we are.
https://www.tourism-review.com/portugal-has-enough-of-mass-tourism-news10761
,,,According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, Portugal welcomed 6.8 million foreign tourists in 2010. By 2016, this figure had risen to 18.2 million, an increase of 168 per cent. Overall, only Japan experienced a more significant increase in visitors this decade….
As a reward for this success, the locals are paying a very high price for tourism. It is simple, the inhabitants of Porto and Lisbon can no longer stand it, strangled by the increase in the price of living. Boosted by very cheap flights and thousands of short-term Airbnb-type accommodation, mass tourism has driven housing prices up by 20%.
Salaries, on the other hand, do not keep pace with this increase. As a result, thousands of residents have to leave their homes because they cannot afford the rents. Let us take a striking example: in Lisbon, there are now nine tourists for every resident of the city. In Porto, there are eight tourists per inhabitant; in Albufeira, in the Algarve, there are 39 tourists per inhabitant. In comparison, the same ratio is about four to one in London and five to one in Barcelona. To house all these people, we need apartments, which do not benefit the locals. From 7,500 Airbnb in Lisbon in 2015, they rose to 12,700 in 2018, an increase of almost 70% in three short years.
However the latest is that with Brexit anxieties shifting the British Pound, tourists have shifted destination from Portugal to other locations with currencies that haven't moved much against the Pound. If we can control our freedom campers and try for higher priced tourists we might not get trashed along with our countryside.