The early voting polls have opened in Australia, so the election there is nigh. Reading on the election there has been interesting. The weirdness of marginal seats. The burgeoning dissatisfaction and probable deciding impact of Aussie women on this election result.
It is no mere hypothetical to inquire whether States, as soon as the reversal of Roe v Wade is confirmed, start to aggressively go after kinds of contraception.
The commercial parts of Russia’s state will do very well with plenty of customers remaining for its oil and gas. It’s $3-$4 a litre 91 everyone. Everything else in Russia is ruined.
America’s status as a potentially failed republic is growing stronger with the highest court of the land having a draft judgment leaked in an apparent attempt to shore up a conservative majority position on overturning abortion rights.
The invasion that began just over two months ago will have a profound impact on global politics for many years. The conflict is unlikely to end quickly and will take a toll on everyone involved.
Why is India such a world player right now?
A more sombre and quieter Anzac Day today with planned ceremonies being pared back in this post Covid world.
Over in the UK Boris Johnson has been fined for attending a party he told Parliament he did not attend and which was a gathering that did not breach Covid lockdown restrictions. Surely he should resign.
Jacinda Ardern is “gravely concerned.” Peeni Henare was ‘”caught off-guard.”. Barnaby Joyce feels “intimidated.” Solomon Islands PM Sogavare found it “insulting to be branded as unfit to manage our sovereign affairs.” I think he is right.
New Zealand does not have to settle for being small, quiet, and weak.
Morning Report today interviewed ex MI6 chemical weapons false flag specialist Hamish de Bretton-Gordon saying because Russia has lost in Ukraine it will likely resort using to chemical weapons. FiveEyes hawks want NATO to intervene, so we get World War 3, Hurrah!
Pressure for a Ukraine war settlement starting with a ceasefire will continue to mount. If this does drag out, there’s more chance of […]
There is only so much New Zealand and its government can do to soften the blows of the instability that are besetting the world. And the problem is without dramatic change New Zealand will remain one of the most car-addicted, petrol reliant societies on earth for several decades to come.
New Zealand’s sanctions on Russia have not stopped the war in Ukraine. They may have made our parliamentarians feel better, and Tony Blinken was quick to congratulate us on falling into line with the US “high-impact sanctions.” The language is combative, but the evidence shows sanctions do not work. They can have significant blow-back effects, particularly if not combined with effective diplomacy.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelinsky has made a direct appeal broadcast to the United States Congress. That will sort out the Putin supporters from the rest. And with climate change beckoning it is time to pick a side.
In six months time the world could be in a very precarious position.
However much infighting there was on the Spanish Republican side between leftists, Communists, anarchists and others, you could be confident that the Nazis were on the other side. In the Ukraine it is not so simple.
New Zealand’s time as high end ingredients producer to the world has arrived. But it has big costs.
The Russian armed forces obviously didn’t expect much resistance. I get the distinct impression that they had believed their own ridiculous propaganda (always a characteristic of dumb-arse dictatorships) and expected the Ukrainians to fall weeping in gratitude at their liberation. That clearly didn’t happen. What next…
We will probably never get over the feeling that somehow, if enough people just banded together, it would all get better again, like we did when the United Nations charter was struck.
Vladimir Putin, obviously hurting because some of his personal ill gotten wealth has been frozen has upped the ante by raising the spectre of the use of Nuclear Weapons.
Currently in this world there are two significant protests occurring, both similar but at the same time completely different.
Russia hasn’t lost an intervention in quite some time.
Russia has invaded a neighbouring state with no more justification than an vague appeals to the same arguments that underpinned 19th century gunboat diplomacy. It was unacceptable in 1938, and is just even more unacceptable now. We should hep deal with this now without trying to appease an aggressor before we wind up with a future conflict that kills, maims, and displaces people in job lots of millions.
Why should we in New Zealand give a damn about Ukraine? My answer is: China.
Boris Johnson, should not on balance still be Prime Minister and in the long term, the Conservatives risk being severely punished for not removing him. But despite everything, he remains in post and still, we cannot write him off.
Today February 15th is the 80th anniversary of the fall of Singapore in 1942, described by many as Britain’s worst military disaster. It was a massive strategic fail, and its effect is still powerful today, most notably with Australia’s lockstep with the US. Current British strategists don’t seem to have learnt a thing.
It sounds like the Industrial and Trades sector of the economy has had a significiant wage rise over the last year. While we wait for the wages stats data, this is an interesting indicator. The national median hourly pay in the sector is now $27 an hour, up $2 from 2020/21. But this isn’t just here, the world labour market is shifting just as the supply chains are.
The meeting between Putin and Xi Jinping is likely to set the geopolitical direction for the 21st century. If ‘divide and rule’ was the mantra for the US’s hegemonic rule in the 20th century, ‘unite and share’ looks like setting the tone for the 21st. Co-operation rather than competition is the mantra, and “friendship between the two states has no limits.” A truly remarkable turnaround.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a phased reopening of the country’s border. Update: video of the speech is added.
With an Omicron surge appearing to be inevitable the importance of proper mask wearing has never been more important.
The entity making the most money out of threatening the Ukraine is the Russian Federation government itself. Follow the money.
Robert Ayson’s advocacy of a sanctions regime for New Zealand in case of a Russian invasion of Ukraine is a bad idea based on poor intelligence.The “Russian invasion” narrative was always a beat-up, and there is no support from major players in Europe for sanctions such as removal from the SWIFT payment system. Russia’s claim for border security is reasonable and essential for peace.
Joe Biden is struggling to get his agenda passed by the American Legislature. Because of two Senators, one with significant coal interests and the other Senator more willing to protect the rights of a minority of Senators to hold up legislation than the rights of a minority of Americans to vote.
So far the country has fought back and eliminated the original Covid infection, won a couple of skirmishes and then and fought and quelled the Delta incursion. But it looks like Omicron is coming …
In 2010 the poor but proud Island Nation raised $705,000 to donate to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Fund. If New Zealanders were to reciprocate their generosity we would donate over $30 million. It is time for us to return the favour.
