Oil and morality
The death of Jamal Khashoggi raises the important question can we still question the morality of Saudi Arabia?
International
The Mariana Trench Fix.
The Mariana Trench is pretty huge. And deep. And if the idea is to fill a hole in the ground with ‘stuff’, then it’s a fair sized hole to be filling, right?
Saudi Arabia Admits Killing Khashoggi
Saudi Arabia sensationally fesses up to killing missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But it was all his own fault, apparently.
Censorship again.
I’m not a great fan of George Monbiot. And Alex Jones is rubbish. But …
Khashoggi
A counter to the “heroic dissident” narrative.
Saudi Arabia and the United States
Saudi Arabia is preparing to admit that the U.S. resident and investigative reporter did indeed die in their embassy in Turkey.
A Bigger Better Budget!
An odd detail or change was buried within the IPCC report that came out last week.
Reprehensible People.
“Kavanaugh” – the name lends itself to being enunciated with a certain pluminess, don’t you think?
Concert Woes.
Compensation for not getting to see someone in concert? $12 000. Compensation for being imprisoned in a big bloody compound and shot at by snipers if you go anywhere near the perimeter fence? Nothing. But…
Another reminder that climate change is happening
Hurricane Michael is exactly the sort of weather event that climate change scientists predicted would occur because of climate change.
National’s firearms forums – what could go wrong?
National has launched a series of public meetings to discuss a major issue. Not child poverty or climate change or how badly wrong Steven Joyce’s $11.5 billion hole claim was, but guns.
Shake It Up, Taylor Swift, Shake It Up
There is a long a proud history of musicians adding their weight to the Democratic cause in the United States, but Taylor Swift’s recent action is about as on-message as you can get.
Second Kremlin Killer Unmasked, Putin Untroubled
We know the real names of the Russian spies who bungled the Salisbury novichok poisoning. Will it make a difference to the Kremlin’s plans?
Petrol, Zero Carbon, and 15,000 Submissions
Get ready, according to the AA, for petrol at $3 a liter for Christmas.
At least Labour wants to save the planet
The Government is consulting on changes to the Crown Minerals (Petroleum) Amendment Bill to prevent further offshore drilling permits being issued. Locally the right are saying it will make things worse. And in the US of A the Trump administration has conceded that out of control climate change is inevitable.
It’s America Again
It would fit the karma of a leftie universe if the United States was now suffering from its political choices. But it’s the reverse: the United States economy is roaring and President Trump is starting to be rewarded for delivering what he promised.
Meanwhile in America …
America has had an interesting week with Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court all but confirmed, Donald Trump’s finances being the subject of an intensive review by the New York Times and Trump being filmed boarding Air Force One with a piece of toilet paper stuck to his shoe.
Zionism: Protestant Tosh.
I’m willing to bet you probably didn’t know that.
Ardern is the anti Trump
While the local right have spent the last week nit picking at Jacinda Ardern something significant has happened internationally. Jacinda Ardern has emerged as the western leader who is the antithesis of Donald Trump.
Kiwi values
New Zealand First at its conference on the weekend passed a remit to calling for immigrants and refugees to “respect New Zealand values” which are founded on Christianity.
Failed Estate – the ABC of Trust
In Australia this week the Liberal Government has become embroiled in a scandal relating to political pressure being brought to sack the head of the ABC and one of its most senior reporters. Failed estate has the details.
Indonesia
Some reporting from the space between an emergency landing and a response happening.
The Kavanaugh confirmation hearing
The Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing last week showed two extremes, one person describing a painful event in her past life and another person angrily denying that anything happened and claiming it was all about him.
What the Prime Minister Actually Said – Kindness yes kindness
“I am a child of the 80’s. A period in New Zealand’s history where we didn’t just observe international events, we challenged them. Whether it was apartheid in South Africa, or nuclear testing in the Pacific, I grew up learning about my country and who we were, by the way that we reacted to international events.”
Jacinda Ardern on the Late Show
Video of Jacinda Ardern on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show.
What the Prime Minister actually said
What Jacinda Ardern said to the United Nations about Nelson Mandela on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Trump laughed at for waving his toad at UN
What can one say about Trump’s daft bragging at the UN, that raised a chorus of laughter at what he was saying. Clearly his toad is out of control.
The War on Drugz
Jacinda Ardern has announced that New Zealand will not sign up to Donald Trump’s global call to action on drugs. Will Simon Bridges do the responsible thing and agree with her that the announcement is a misplaced attempt to continue the currently failing approach to drugs?
Just because you’re crass and politically stupid, Mr Bridges!
The most dumbarse thing I have seen Simon Bridges quoted on was in an article about climate change issues saying that Jacinda Ardern should promote for more international tourism. After vast increases in visitors, we’re close to our current tourism capacity and we want to burn more carbon to get more tourists? WTF?
Will there be a Brexit?
In short, I think not.
Quite a day or two then!
A quick smorgasbord of reported news from Syria, to China and Sweden, to antisemitism and (hidden behind the links) an interview with (hopefully) the first woman who will serve as President of the USA.
Updated
They got bailed out and we got sold out
Ros Wynne Jones in the Daily Mirror excoriates the excesses of the Banking system and wonders why the rest of us tolerate bankers’ behaviour.
Paranoia, Bullshit and Ordinary Lives.
It seems that for some, trashing out the lives of ordinary people is fine, because “Russia bad”. It’s not fine…
North Carolina and Hurricane Florence
North Carolina Republicans’ refusal to accept that climate change exists means that Hurricane Florence’s effects are going to be greater than they should be.
Fonterra’s loss
Fonterra has just reported an after tax loss of $196 million for the 2018 year. It’s never had an annual loss in its history.
“That day” in September.
Towers bore me.