Archive for March, 2016
Wednesday, March 30th, 2016
In the wake of the Cullen/Reddy review of the security services – and the suggested extension of their powers - it seems healthy to highlight any examples of the SIS crying wolf. We’ve already had them do that in the case of the ‘jihadi brides’ where SIS director Rebecca Kitteridge ...
Posted in Articles | 7 Comments »
Thursday, March 24th, 2016
Anyone with misgivings about Hillary Clinton’s presidential ambitions had them confirmed in spades by Clinton’s appalling speech this week on the Israel/Palestine conflict. In one stroke, Clinton vowed to defy any UN attempts at a resolution, to cozy up to Benjamin Netanyahu and to roll back even the minor pressure ...
Posted in Articles | 12 Comments »
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016
So, where are we now on the Teapot Tape saga? According to Prime Minister John Key, Key was wearing his “ leader of the National Party” hat when he made his potentially defamatory remarks in November 2011 about freelance cameraman Bradley Ambrose.
Posted in Articles | 2 Comments »
Thursday, March 17th, 2016
Nothing has epitomised the presidency of Barack Obama quite like his Supreme Court nominees. Time and again, Republican presidents will blithely nominate right wing ideological extremists (Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas) who only sometimes misfire and turn out to be liberals in disguise (David Souter). Yet Obama has consistently ...
Posted in Articles | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, March 16th, 2016
One of the defining features of this government’s political style is how often Prime Minister John Key chooses to sound like a mere observer of political events. The public may think that they elected him to lead, and to be the captain on the field but – time and again ...
Posted in Articles | 6 Comments »
Monday, March 14th, 2016
If the New Zealand economy was a tennis player, it would be Maria Sharapova – a player reportedly reliant on artificial stimulants, and corporate endorsements. In similar vein, our economy is seemingly dependent on artificial boosts to activity from (a) construction, driven by the Christchurch earthquake and the Auckland housing ...
Posted in Articles | 2 Comments »
Thursday, March 10th, 2016
To no-one’s real surprise, the Cullen/Reddy review of the security services has recommended an extension of the powers of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), mainly to legally enable the agency to use its technological expertise to spy on New Zealanders.
So… a review that was triggered by the GCSB breaking ...
Posted in Articles | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, March 8th, 2016
Fonterra’s explanation for its behavior towards the small firms it engages – it has reportedly asked its suppliers to reduce their charges in order ‘to boost efficiency’ – is the sort of behavior you'd expect from Tony Soprano. As in : we sent around Silvio and a couple ...
Posted in Articles | 3 Comments »
Friday, March 4th, 2016
In December, the elections in Spain ended in a four way stalemate. Neither of the two old major parties – the ruling right wing Partida Popular (PP) or the moderate left PSOE – has since been able to put together a government, not even with the help of their potential ...
Posted in Articles | 2 Comments »
Thursday, March 3rd, 2016
Sad to say, but the Key government has never showed much stomach for saying ‘No’ to corporate lobbyists from the pharmaceutical industry or the film industry. Even before taking office in 2008, Key and his colleagues had promised to over-ride Pharmac’s objections to the funding of a 52 week programme ...
Posted in Articles | 6 Comments »
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