The inauguration of Trump: Jonathan Pie reacts
Jonathan Pie gets angry at Trump’s treatment of the media.
International
RIP TPP
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and leaving the agreement effectively dead in its tracks.
Everything Contained. Everyone Led.
So what’s important? Millions on the streets and what might become of that, or how many more or fewer people attended a given President’s big day? Just asking…
Starting out with an obvious lie
The Trump / Spicer claim that the inauguration crowds were “the largest audience ever to witness and inauguration, period” are such an obvious lie that it seems unhinged. But there could be method to the madness.
(Update: Apparently in Trump speak these are “alternative facts”.)
Protest Marches
The Sister Marches have been a huge success worldwide.
T Day
Donald Trump has now been sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. And we are in unchartered territory.
It Begins
Power Up!
Some moment in time will be that moment in time when reality’s faced; when both actions and words accord with it. That moment might as well be this moment as opposed to any other.
Dodgy foreign trusts – will English take action?
Matt Nippert continued his excellent work on foreign trusts yesterday in The Herald. Will Bill English clean up the mess that John Key was determined to ignore?
The CIA files on NZ
The release online of a trove of declassified CIA documents includes several pertaining to NZ. The Herald’s David Fisher has given us a fine summary.
100 Coal Fired Projects Scrapped.
…including some already in the construction phase.
Obama orders early release of Chelsea Manning
In breaking news: Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence.
Hard Brexit
Theresa May has finally set out some guidelines on the shape of Brexit. Out of the single market, rejecting the European court, full border control.
Women to protest Trump’s inauguration
Various events are planned in protest around Trump’s inauguration. One of them is a series of marches organised by and for women. There are (at time of writing) 386 marches organised world wide, including in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
Oxfam on world wealth inequality
Guardian: “The world’s eight richest billionaires control the same wealth between them as the poorest half of the globe’s population, according to a charity warning of an ever-increasing and dangerous concentration of wealth.”
English in England
The usual media suspects are digging pretty deep to try and find anything supportive to say about English’s UK visit. English himself sounds like he has been put in his place.
Refreshing honesty from English
English – “One of New Zealand’s benefits is because we’re a long way away and fairly small we don’t attract too much attention.” Nice contrast to the usual Nat hysterical style. I guess there’s no need for all that domestic spying apparatus then?
The Trump Dossier
Buzzfeed’s release of the Dossier suggesting that Russia has considerable leverage over Donald Trump has caused ructions the effects of which will be felt for months.
Obama’s last speech
Tired of jokes about Trump and golden showers? Want to read a real political speech? Well here is the text to Barak Obama’s last political speech as POTUS.
The great Taxpayers Union fraud and corruption discovery
The Taxpayer’s Union has shown a concerning inability to comprehend in its criticism of MFAT for supporting an aid initiative to address malnutrition in Africa.
The CIA Director confirmation hearings
Mike Pompey is Donald Trump’s chosen head for the CIA. He is someone who believes in the mass collection of all metadata and combining it with all publicly available information. Are we going to see the unprecedented destruction of rights of privacy?
Spy vs Spy
It is MAD. In the frenzy leading up to Trump’s inauguration, we have the extraordinary spectacle of the CIA interfering in the US election by accusing the Russians of interfering in the same election. The CIA used only to interfere in other people’s elections. On the serious side this intervention means the war party hasn’t given up yet, no matter what Trump may say.
Changes in the United States
The implications for the world of Donald Trump’s forthcoming ascendancy to the office of President of the United States.
Hacking Schmacking
In all seriousness. Apparently.
The Centrelink fiasco
In Australia the Turnbull Government is implementing a policy that will demand in 12 months at least 200,000 Australians repay benefits they were entitled to because of faulty data mapping.
The Briefing Papers: NZ’s time on the Security Council
The Briefing Papers assesses NZ’s time at the UN Security Council, which came to an end on 31 December. Here are extracts from pieces by commentators Grant Duncan and Paul Buchanan.
Voices of Aleppo.
Ordinary Syrian people on Aleppo.
Obama’s last days
Barak Obama is using the last few days of his presidency to do some quite radical stuff.
Netanyahu accuses New Zealand of committing a declaration of war
Israeli Prime Mininster Benjamin Netanyahu told Murray McCully that New Zealand supporting the rights of Palestinians in the homeland areas would be regarded as a declaration of war.
Pauline Hanson declares jihad on Vegemite
Pauline Hanson is upset that vegemite has achieved Halaal status.
Israel threatens sanctions against New Zealand
Israel has responded to New Zealand’s principled stand in seeking to uphold the rights of Palestinian citizens by threatening sanctions.
Facebook, fake news and Donald Trump’s election
Donald Trump’s success in the recent Presidential Election may have had a lot to do with very judicious use of targeted Facebook advertising and the proliferation of fake news stories.
Reason #3751 progressives should oppose Donald Trump presidency
President Donald Trump reckons that the US must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability to make the world come to its senses regarding nukes.
Keep it in the ground
In the last days of the Obama presidency the current President is taking steps to protect the Arctic from oil drilling.
Question…
On Aleppo.
A warning from post-truth Turkey
A Turkish journalist writes about the “post-truth” collapse of human rights in Turkey, and warns “western” readers that the same thing is happening to them.