Posts Tagged ‘obama’

Hope – A powerful but dangerous tool.

Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, April 2nd, 2018 - 27 comments

Some interesting musings on hope and dashed hope by “Upper Hutt boy in London” –  Nick Kelly.

Clinton vs Trump; Debate 2

Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, October 10th, 2016 - 235 comments

Round 2 of the Presidential debates. Trump is on the ropes, can Clinton land the knockout blow? Certainly, there’s a lot of Republican Party grandees hoping Hillary puts them out of their misery. Seconds out at 2PM, NZ time.

UPDATE: Obama nailed Trump’s real issue a few minutes ago; it’s insecurity. Video in post.

UPDATE 2: LIVE STREAM now in post.

DNC Day 3. Biden, Obama, and Trump Jumps the Shark

Written By: - Date published: 8:13 am, July 28th, 2016 - 88 comments

Day 3 of the DNC. Biden and Obama to speak later, Trump wishes he hadn’t spoken earlier. In what looks to be an embarrassing gaffe, the candidate of the 1%ers has requested help from Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails. In a normal election, that would be political suicide. This year, who knows?

UPDATE: Barack Obama LIVE STREAMING NOW.

 

Finally Fighting for Democracy?

Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, October 31st, 2015 - 31 comments

Boots on ground.

The smoke & mirrors of the surveillance-military-economic-complex

Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, May 21st, 2014 - 29 comments

There are a range of issues, which are part of a GCSB-intelligence-surveillance-military-complex. Some significant elements seem to be posing as diversions from other parts of the complex, and the way all parts hang together. What will he offer Obama to advance NZ’s position in the TPPA?

Caption contest

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, January 3rd, 2014 - 110 comments

Celebrity golf!  Which one will get voted off the island first!?  Meanwhile the world burns, the poor struggle, and the wealth gap continues to be a blight on our country.

Obama and the UK

Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, September 1st, 2013 - 26 comments

So Barack Obama is going to adhere to the US constitution this time around ( unlike as was the case with Libya) and await the potential green light of Congress before commencing with any military action in Syria.

Obama acts – at last

Written By: - Date published: 7:24 am, June 27th, 2013 - 96 comments

The Tea Party / Republican Party in Congress are a bunch of anti-science crazies who will never agree to any action to tackle climate change. But Obama doesn’t need them. And it looks like he has finally decided to act.

Sunday Reading

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, September 30th, 2012 - 17 comments

My regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. This week: Obama the Tory, fish, Planet Key and the UK’s hit political single.

Teetering on the brink

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, July 23rd, 2011 - 84 comments

Over the last couple of months two potential crises have been unfolding in two very different countries. Greece and America both looked to be in danger of defaulting on their huge debts and triggering a cascade of disastrous consequences.  The situation is still unfolding…

No victory in Iraq

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, September 2nd, 2010 - 6 comments

Barack Obama declared the U.S. combat mission in Iraq officially over on Tuesday but said he would not take a “victory lap”. No victory? That’s quite an understatement…

Key: Obama’s my pen pal

Written By: - Date published: 12:33 pm, September 1st, 2010 - 14 comments

Key says his personal relationship with Obama (met the guy twice) means he can call him. Don’t think it’s your winning grin mate. Think it’s because you’re PM of New Zealand. Anyway, this ain’t a game of collecting phone numbers, John. You’ve got to deliver something concrete. How’s that free trade deal coming?

The ground zero mosque

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, August 29th, 2010 - 31 comments

“The ground zero mosque” is the latest focus of and flash-point for deranged American right wing anger. The Guardian’s Charlie Brooker explains.

Let’s not rush things

Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, June 18th, 2010 - 7 comments

President Obama has just come out and said the US and the world needs to get off its oil addiction. But, just as we’ve been talking about climate change for nearly two centuries, before it was even a problem, and done nothing about it, Presidents have been declaring its time to end the oil age for 40 years and nothing has changed. Why can’t we get serious about saving ourselves?

Obama delivers change

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, March 23rd, 2010 - 36 comments

It has taken nearly a year and cost President Obama a lot of his popularity, thanks to the spineless behaviour of many House Democrats, but the final barrier has been passed to the US getting universal health-care. Obama’s health reform bill passed the House yesterday by a narrow margin. It now needs to win a […]

A knife edge and an open letter

Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, December 19th, 2009 - 5 comments

As the final stages of diplomatic chaos play out in Copenhagen, and with at least the possibility of some truly significant goals emerging, the world is teetering on a knife edge this morning. I hope that Obama has had plenty of time to think about this letter – reposted from SignOn: Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director […]

Yes he can

Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, December 9th, 2009 - 15 comments

In America the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just ruled that greenhouse gases “threaten the public health and welfare of the American people”, and that they are pollutants that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act. Ho hum, so what? Quite the opposite. It isn’t clearly spelled out in much of the media coverage, […]

Obama – war president

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, December 3rd, 2009 - 41 comments

Well, any lingering hopes that Obama was something different can now be out of their misery. He’s just another American establishment politician after all. Drawing on the rhetoric of 9/11 Obama has committed to an escalation in Afghanistan: WASHINGTON – President Obama unveiled his plan Tuesday night to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, declaring […]

Key must bite the bullet over Copenhagen

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, November 27th, 2009 - 6 comments

Another instalment of “John Key’s” video diary from talented impersonator PlumedeKiwi; this time taking a comedic stab at the PM’s refusal to attend the UN climate talks in Copenhagen. Key has come under an increasing amount of pressure in recent weeks over the summit, widely dubbed one of the most important meetings in history. It’s […]

Anyone remember this guy?

Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, October 29th, 2009 - 6 comments

With all the noise around Obama you don’t hear much about this guy now. He was politically naive but knowingly and willingly acted as a front for much more machiavellian minds. He came to politics with lots of money and was promoted very quickly, but he wasn’t too good at inspiring confidence by way of […]

Truly ambitious for America

Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, July 28th, 2009 - 15 comments

America faces a hell of a lot of problems at the moment, but if there’s one man with the ability to inspire and lead them through, it’s Obama. “when I see the young men on the corners [of the ghettos] I say there but for the grace of God go I. They are no less […]

The power of images in politics

Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, July 14th, 2009 - 7 comments

The shots above are small versions from this site where you can find other great images from Obama’s first 167 days in office. The official Whitehouse Flickr photostream is pretty impressive too. [UPDATE] Not to be outdone, as of yesterday, National’s photostream features Kate Wilkinson with a giant lump of earwax block of cheese.

Greenpeace to Obama: Show some leadership

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, July 10th, 2009 - Comments Off on Greenpeace to Obama: Show some leadership

From Greenpeace USA: Greenpeace climbers hung a banner on Mount Rushmore challenging President Obama to show real leadership on global warming. The banner read “America honors leaders not politicians: Stop Global Warming.” The demonstration comes as President Obama meets other G8 leaders in L’Aquila, Italy to discuss the global warming crisis in the lead-up to […]

“I got the sucker”

Written By: - Date published: 5:24 pm, June 20th, 2009 - 18 comments

Obama kills a fly with his bare hands. Awesome.

Obama’s elf

Written By: - Date published: 5:01 pm, February 18th, 2009 - 11 comments

I’ve tried all day not to post this, now I’m giving in to get a good night’s sleep.

Trying to live on 500K/yr in NYC

Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, February 9th, 2009 - 9 comments

President Obama wants to set US$500,000 as the top pay for banking executives whose firms accept government bailout money. From Boing-Boing: The lead story in today’s New York Times Styles section is all about the tremendous difficulties that executives at bankrupt companies receiving public bailouts will face if their salaries are capped at only $500,000. For example, […]

What does President Obama mean for you?

Written By: - Date published: 2:19 pm, January 21st, 2009 - 46 comments

If you’re living in New Zealand, President Obama isn’t going to change your life. Remember, you voted for John Key. You’ll have to wait for that ray of hope to shine. But President Obama won’t go un-noticed here, because his presidency means at least four things for New Zealanders. First: President Obama means you can […]

I hope so too

Written By: - Date published: 7:13 pm, January 18th, 2009 - 22 comments

Here’s a cool interactive feature from the NYT – “I hope so too”:  The New York Times asked more than 200 people in 14 states (half red, half blue) to identify their greatest hopes for what Barack Obama might accomplish during his time as president. Their answers do not represent any kind of scientific sample—they […]

crashtheinauguration.com

Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, January 10th, 2009 - 3 comments

Via SwissMiss: CrashTheInauguration.com, an online Inauguration guide created by AirBedAndBreakfast.com, is connecting last minute travelers with accommodations in Washington DC. Individuals or groups can easily rent an airbed, couch, private bedroom, or entire place for as little as $45/night. Already visitors from throughout the United States, and even European countries, are booking Inauguration accommodations directly online […]

Obama in 1980

Written By: - Date published: 2:45 pm, December 19th, 2008 - 11 comments

From Time: In 1980, when Obama was a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles, he was approached by an aspiring photographer named Lisa Jack, who asked him if he would be willing to pose for some black and white photographs that she could use in her portfolio. She put the photos away until after […]

Obama launches weekly YouTube address

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 pm, November 17th, 2008 - 13 comments

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