Posts Tagged ‘International’

Take the oil!

Written By: - Date published: 6:23 pm, January 28th, 2019 - 87 comments

Before he was elected President, Donald Trump’s approach to United States illegal attacks on Iraq and Libya was that their only mistake was that the US didn’t “take the oil.” After becoming President, his approach to oil-rich Venezuela was “can’t we just invade them?”

Update: John Bolton confirms its about the oil.

Jacindamania – international edition

Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, August 25th, 2017 - 137 comments

It can’t be many tiny countries that have a leader of the opposition make positive international headlines, but Jacinda Ardern has managed it.

War HUH!

Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, February 13th, 2015 - 417 comments

NZ is again being asked to go to war in Iraq. The Clark Labour Government said no a decade ago, but in 2015 there may be a compelling reason to join the fight; this time it’s the right thing to do. New Standard author te reo putake puts the case for NZ entering the battle against ISIS.

Ukraine

Written By: - Date published: 3:27 pm, March 10th, 2014 - 50 comments

That thing about truth and war…

Adventures in the slave trade

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, October 22nd, 2012 - 74 comments

Slavery was abolished in the 19th century, wasn’t it? From wage-slavery to human-trafficking, modern day forms of slavery have many faces, all in the interests of profits for the few.  What are these different faces, and what impact do they have on the lives of ordinary people?

Selling New Zealand: 100% Muddle-Urf

Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, October 11th, 2012 - 18 comments

Why is John Key backing the flagging tourist industry as a major export earner for NZ’s future? His trip to Hollywood was partly about using the Hobbit to promote NZ as a tourist destination. Why is the government so fixated on attracting more US tourists?

Over or Into The Wall?

Written By: - Date published: 1:11 pm, October 15th, 2011 - 39 comments

Will the protests around the world hit the brick wall of ingrained habits? Or will we manage to get over, around or beneath that particular barrier to progress?

So Sport and Politics Should be Kept Separate?

Written By: - Date published: 2:56 pm, November 22nd, 2010 - 3 comments

Seems Eric Cantona wasn’t listening.

I particularly liked the response given by Valérie Ohannesian of the French Banking Federation who, seemingly devoid of any sense of irony stated that,  “One of the main roles of a bank is to keep money safe. This appeal will give great pleasure to thieves, I would have thought.”

Petrol prices score political points

Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, May 6th, 2008 - 1 comment

It seems that NZers are not the only ones interested in petrol prices. From The Guardian: Barack Obama, facing increasingly close primary contests today in Indiana and North Carolina, fought off a populist push by Hillary Clinton to capitalise on American unease at rising petrol prices. The BBC has this on the unrelenting politics: To […]

How Boris won London by not being Boris

Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, May 6th, 2008 - 13 comments

Tory candidate Boris Johnson has triumphed in the mayoral race for London in a campaign masterminded by the Australian political tactician Lynton Crosby. The Sydney Morning Herald has the story: Brought in at the end of last year, the mysterious Crosby – “you know I don’t do interviews”, he responded to an email from the […]

Does money buy happiness after all?

Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, April 23rd, 2008 - 29 comments

In 1974, economist Richard Easterlin, published a study in which he argued that economic growth didn’t necessarily lead to more satisfaction. In poor countries, gaining the necesseties of life raised happiness but beyond those gains there was no increase. This became known as the Easterlin paradox. Just last week, two young economists presented what they […]

Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, April 23rd, 2008 - 2 comments

The NY Times reports on the symbiotic relationship between media “military analysts” and the Bush administration. Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from […]

Twin peaks

Written By: - Date published: 3:31 pm, April 22nd, 2008 - 50 comments

We have all heard of the peak oil crisis that is already manifesting itself in fuel prices. Now, consider peak food, the point where our ability to produce food peaks even as demand grows. Wheat was the first plant to be domesticated, around 10,000 years ago. Our civilisations are built on the excess calories available […]

Inflation targeting puts Kiwis under the gun

Written By: - Date published: 2:34 pm, April 16th, 2008 - 31 comments

As you know, petrol and food prices are up. These are international prices spiralling up due to growing demand and limited or falling supply. When demand exceeds supply prices rise. Now, when food and petrol goes up, that’s inflation. In fact it’s most of the current inflation: out of 3.4%, 0.9% is from petrol and […]

Winston and the FTA

Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, April 9th, 2008 - 28 comments

New Zealand First’s opposition to the China FTA is no surprise but it is interesting to reflect on the grounds for it that Winston Peters has laid out: a) the deal is not good enough. A pretty weak argument when the other option is no deal. b) the immigration provisions are bad and shouldn’t be […]

China Syndrome

Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, April 5th, 2008 - 23 comments

Liberal democracy (ie. democracy where there are truly competitive elections) is the dominant ideology of government of our time, having seen off monarchy and totalitarianism in both its fascist and communist guises. And if there’s one thing the world’s liberal democracies agree on is that spreading liberal democracy is a good idea, (unless it interferes […]

Hiding from the hakapiks

Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, April 3rd, 2008 - 6 comments

There is a Novotel hotel beside the Canadian High Commission on The Terrace in Wellington. Check out this billboard on the wall of the hotel nearest the High Commission, you can see the Canadian flag in the bottom left corner. So, that’s where the baby seals are hanging out during the hunt. Good on the […]

Why Bush doesn’t like going out in public

Written By: - Date published: 10:51 am, April 2nd, 2008 - 16 comments

Do you think our politicians are unpopular? This story from the Washington Post puts any of those thoughts in perspective: There’s a reason President Bush almost never appears before members of the general public: They really don’t like him. Despite the delirious mood of Washington Nationals fans on opening night at their new stadium, Bush […]

Al Gore’s new climate change campaign

Written By: - Date published: 11:44 am, April 1st, 2008 - 2 comments

Al Gore has just launched a $300 million, bipartisan campaign to try to push climate change higher on the nation’s political agenda. The website is www.wecansolveit.org – you can see the debut ad, “Anthem,” here. The campaign plans to bring together “unlikely bedfellows” of differing political stripes and use shows like American Idol to promote […]

Canada’s shame

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, March 27th, 2008 - 23 comments

For those of you who saw the title and thought this post was about Celine Dion, sorry, it’s about the seal cull.  Every year Canada kills and skins hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals, leaving their bodies to rot. The seal cullers’ favoured tool is the vicious hakapik a long pole with a sharp […]

Obama faces challenging times

Written By: - Date published: 10:17 am, March 23rd, 2008 - 12 comments

Some commentators have been drawing parallels between John Key and Barack Obama’s style of appeal. That was all very well when it appeared to be going Obama’s way but now in this recent article in the Guardian suggests that Barack Obama is also facing challenging times. Barack Obama looks at his wireless device in Beckley, […]

GDP up; parents’ time with kids plummets

Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, March 20th, 2008 - 19 comments

One of the most interesting questions from the audience at the Stiglitz interview in Wellington last week was whether he thought we were focusing unduly on “economic growth” as the sole indicator of societal wellbeing. The point being that, as in the headline, it’s easy to imagine situations in which GDP’s rising but quality of […]

Obama vs Key

Written By: - Date published: 11:34 am, March 20th, 2008 - 21 comments

With Barack Obama doing so well in the Democrat primaries and being seen as the candidate of change, National wants to paint John Key as the kiwi Obama. And some in the media have lapped it up pointing to such amazing similarities as: ‘they were both born in 1961!’, ‘they both have two children!’, ‘they’re […]

What the hell is the sub-prime crisis?

Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, March 19th, 2008 - 49 comments

The sub-prime crisis is at the heart of the world’s current economic problems. It all boils down to financiers playing fast and loose with the rules of how money works, and the US government not keeping an eye on them. Essentially, they created a whole new class of interest-bearing pieces of paper that were supposedly […]

Join the great Sydney exodus

Written By: - Date published: 5:07 pm, March 18th, 2008 - 9 comments

Has the prospect of a Kiwi winter made you think longingly of a move across the ditch? Well if Sydney was your destination you may want to think twice. A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald points out that: “The latest Herald/Nielsen poll found 21 per cent of people surveyed are thinking of leaving […]

Family First to support “love vacation”?

Written By: - Date published: 2:57 pm, March 17th, 2008 - 13 comments

Finnish MP Tommy Tabermann (SDP) has proposed granting all employees a paid 7-day “love vacation” once a year. According to Tabermann, the purpose of such vacations would be to prevent relations from disintegrating and the spouses from drifting apart. During the seven days, couples could devote themselves to each other ‘both at an erotic and […]

Reacting to the Tibet unrest

Written By: - Date published: 12:14 pm, March 17th, 2008 - 23 comments

The clashes between rioters and police in Tibet that have left up to 100 dead are a particularly tough issue for New Zealand to address. Our principles tell us we should support human rights, the Prime Minister has said that New Zealand supports the right to peaceful protest and condemns any disproportionate violence against even […]

Communists on the move in Germany

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 pm, March 16th, 2008 - 5 comments

Here’s a lead line from a Washington Post article that will strike fear and horror into the heart of any self-respecting rightwinger: “Nineteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the old East German Communist Party is making a comeback.” “Known these days simply as the Left, the ex-communists have broadened their appeal by […]

Viva Obama

Written By: - Date published: 2:14 pm, March 13th, 2008 - 6 comments

Following a_y_b’s post about the deliciously punny Yes, Pecan! ice cream, we’ve found some more Obama-flavoured silliness which is also, incidentally, the best campaign song ever. Here’s ‘Viva Obama’, by some random mariachi band: And if that’s not enough Viva Obama goodness you can also download the ringtone and get the MP3 for your iPod […]

Yes, Pecan!

Written By: - Date published: 12:08 pm, March 13th, 2008 - 2 comments

Ben and Jerry’s icecream endorsed Obama when Edwards pulled out. To celebrate Obama’s win in Vermont, Slate recently ran a competition to name an icecream in his honour. The winner? “Yes, Pecan!”.

Clinton’s 3am ad

Written By: - Date published: 9:55 am, March 12th, 2008 - 4 comments

Hillary Clinton’s ad warning of a national emergency at 3am and featuring sleeping children has been considered highly politically effective. It’s spawned hundred of YouTube parodies and was considered potentially damaging enough that the Obama campaign responded publicly. It’s now been discovered that one of the children featured in the nine-year-old stock video footage – […]