M.I.A. Joe
America has a question.
International
Covid-19 – a political problem
Juice Media on the essential facts about the spread of Covid-19. It concentrates on the United States, where personally I’m picking the US, by the end of the year, as being the biggest medico-political screw up world wide after Iran. Early wishful thinking and a lack of transparency cost lives. Pathetic bullshitting simply doesn’t help.
How does the government handle a pandemic induced world recession?
With the world’s economy in turmoil and infection rates continuing to surge the responses of different countries to the crisis shows markedly different results. And the issue could be the determining issue of this year’s election.
Coronavirus and the State
A few weeks ago I slagged off the Chinese government for its response to the Corona virus and presumed that authoritarian states could never be as good as democratic states in responding to a pandemic. I want to revisit my opinion.
Corrupt US
That’s not a request by the way. This post is a kind of “confessions of a cynic who allowed optimism to creep up and have a hand in thought processes” post.
Buttigeig 2020?
Allowing for a Biden victory in the Democratic Party primary process, then come November, voters in the US will be voting on whether Buttiegieg or Trump will be the next President of the USA. That’s what I’m picking, and here’s why…
Can Bernie find a clutch and change gear?
The basic problem with Bernie Sanders campaign is that his sole political role since the start of his career has been as the archetypal outsider. He injects ideas into the political debate that didn’t get play time, but he didn’t concentrate on making those things happen. Now it is costing him.
Democratic Party Encounters Cliff. Jumps.
Just like Blairites in the UK and the ABC club here…the Democratic Party elites in the US seem to be the dumber type of parasite that willfully kills their hosts.
Super Tuesday
In the US of A today is Super Tuesday. California, Texas, North Carolina and 11 other states and one territory will be voting for their preferred candidate.
Afghanistan pushes the US out
I have really no idea who to cheer for about the Afghanistan peace
agreement. If the Taliban were the answer, it was a pretty fucking
stupid question.
Starmer, Biden and Benji
Two leadership races and a General election appear to be going to conservative candidates. What does that mean for parliamentary democracy?
Climate change – the right schemes and the left despairs
The Australian Liberal Government has signalled a movement away from solar and wind power to untested technologies including carbon capture, hydrogen and lithium. Meanwhile the woman who led the negotiations for the Paris Agreement is calling for civil disobedience to force institutions to respond to the climate crisis.
The Herald creates a panic and Trump says Coronavirus is a hoax
If a society ever wanted to set out how to handle a pandemic the Herald’s media response and Donald Trump’s handling of the situation provide perfect examples of what not to do.
A Welcome Change Coming.
There’s an increasing number of progressive and conservatives who are rediscovering their moral compass in these, the final days of unfettered liberalism.
Do not deport your people and your problems to New Zealand
Jacinda Ardern has trashed traditional notions of how New Zealand Australia relations are conducted when making the clear point that Australia should not be exporting Australian made problems who are barely kiwis to New Zealand.
The Corona Virus and the Car
We just saw the stock markets lose their composure, but the stocks taking really big hits are the carmakers who have baked their profitability future into this largest growing car market.
A Democrat Senate Majority
So many left-leaning people around the world are looking to the United States election in November this year. We need to pay attention to the thing that enables the Presidential winner to get things done: a Senate majority.
Shattering
When things fall apart, the disintegration can reach such a speed that it’s hard to keep an eye on everything that’s happening. Is liberalism on the cusp?
The Wave Crashing In…
The race to win the most support from Democratic and Independent voters in the Democratic Primaries is over bar the shouting, but…
To Kill Democracy…
If major Democratic Party donors and ‘big business’ lobbyists wanted to monkeywrench democracy in the US, then here’s how they could go about it.
Back in the U.S.S.A.
The onslaught launched against Trump from sections of corporate media and liberal institutions will look as nothing next to the unified onslaught that will be unleashed against a President Sanders.
The death of Holden
Thousands of households across New Zealand heard the announcement of the complete death of the Holden marque this week, as the death of one of the greatest binaries and one of the most closely teased and contested brands of all: Holden versus Ford.
China: Guns, Germs, and Steel
The coronavirus outbreak that exploded three weeks ago in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has prompted the most severe Chinese government actions in three decades.
This result could lead to the break up of the United Kingdom
Originally posted onNick Kelly’s blog
Nick is a Director of Piko Consulting and works as a Political Adviser in The House of Lords.
Listening to the results being reported while driving on that California freeway, I recall thinking ‘this result could lead to the break up of the United Kingdom’. On hearing that both Northern Ireland and Scotland had voted to stay part of the EU, in contrast to the rest of the country, it was hard to imagine that this would not become a significant issue.
Oh Look! (What. a. surprise.)
Mainstream media yet again aiding and abetting the character assassination of whistle blowers.
Will Bernie Sanders unseat Donald Trump?
It will take a full renewal of democracy in the United States. So how does Bernie beat Trump?
Bernie by 6K.
Iowa and beyond.
Trump survives
Donald Trump has predictably been acquitted by the US Senate on the impeachment charges laid against him by the House of Representatives.
Trump’s Middle East peace plan
This news shows how strange International Relations has become. Donald Trump, currently on trial in the Senate for withholding approved funds from the […]
How low will Bridges go?
Simon Bridges has wondered out loud if anti semitism stopped the Government from sending a senior representative to a Holocaust memorial in Israel.
The Fourth Estate struggling in the social media world
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
Ahead of the 2020 General Election in New Zealand, Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that her party is committed to run a factual election and has signed up to a social media tool to help prove it. The 2020 NZ election will be an interesting case study of whether in the social media age there can be honest political debate free of misinformation and manipulation of facts.
Steve Mnuchin, not Greta Thunberg, needs to go back to school
US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has attacked Greta Thunberg for not understanding the economics of climate change. But he has then been roundly criticised by a number of people, including his wife.
Chinese New Year
With China’s New Year arriving, and a terrible flu virus struggling to be contained within it at the same time, it’s time to reflect again on China’s future and impact for New Zealand.
The right is splintering on climate change
The right appears to be splintering on climate change, with former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull describing Donald Trump as the world’s leading climate change denier. And locally National MP Andrew Bayley has talked the profound effects of climate change on Antarctica’s ecosystems at the same time as Paula Bennett is attacking educational material designed to make children think about climate change.
Rally Against War on Iran and Iraq – Wellington noon Sat 25 Jan
Join people from across the globe for this international day of action to show our opposition to any new US war on the people of Iran or Iraq. Our message is simple: * No war on Iran * No war on Iraq * Troops out. More information on Facebook here.
Trump impeachment trial – gold for comedians.
The hypocrisy of the defenders of Trump defenders in the US Senate is providing grist for comedians and satirists. Here are a few examples looking at Trump supporters in the US Senate.