The (gradual?) decline of American empire
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson was Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. And he says that the American empire is in decline.
International
TPPA agreement reached
The TPPA has been agreed to. Dairy access improvement is minimal, there will be a cost hit on Pharmac and every industry but Tobacco will be able to access the investor state dispute resolution procedure.
TPPA deal close?
The TPPA is said to be close to being concluded with resistance to change in Pharmaceutical rules being provided by Australia, not New Zealand. And John Key says that the deal isn’t a very good deal for Dairy.
Bashar al-Assad and other Bastards.
What proper journalistic coverage of Syria looks like.
Speech to UN height of hypocrisy
Key’s little lecture to the UN would have been delivered with a lot more moral authority if it wasn’t built on the heights of hypocrisy.
WMBAD: Global goals
The White Man Behind A Desk is back, looking at the big picture, why we hate politicians, and why you need to tweet John Key.
An R-101 Post
Someone once made an art-work of a brick with some ‘guy ropes’ attached to represent the ill fated R-101 airship…
Three minutes to midnight. John Key incoherent.
Same ole, same ole. Except, this time, US neoconservative imperalism might have a problem. Russia.
Stephenson beats his critics
Respected journalist Jon Stephenson has extracted an apology and payment from the NZ Defence Force for their attack on his work in 2011. He is owed an apology from John Key too…
Diesel Bomb
Last Friday I wrote a post on Volkwagen gaming NOx emissions. This is a follow up.
Dunne: Our foreign policy lacks any commitment to human rights
Peter Dunne doesn’t hold back in his assessment of the craven foreign policy – that is the creation of his government.
It Came From the North
How Corbyn gets taken out.
What other countries are doing about climate change
There is hope that the cumulative effect of all the international pledges for the Paris climate change conference may buy the world some time to prevent runaway global warming. Some countries are pledging to becoming carbon neutral. New Zealand’s pledge is pathetically weak in comparison.
Groser don’t go
Greenpeace, 350 Aotearoa and the Coal Action Network have jointly urged John Key not to send Tim Groser to Paris for the climate change talks because the Government’s policies and proposed response will embarrass New Zealand and damage its international reputation.
Campbell: The TPP dairy deal is done
Gordon Campbell (one of the last known practitioners of the dying art of journalism) claims that the TPP dairy deal is already done. He makes a convincing case.
NZ doing more harm than good on climate change
“Key told not to attend Paris and to pull NZ delegation”.
“It would be better for humanity if John Key were to stay home, and instruct Minister Groser and the delegation to do likewise.”
Pope Francis speaks
Pope Francis has given two important speeches recently.
Folding on the TPP
As last ditch efforts to pass the TPP continue, Key is softening us up to sign a bad deal. Coincidentally, two articles yesterday highlight the risks to NZ.
Cameron’s political pork
David Cameron is having a bad day. A very bad day.
Bugger the Truth – Getting elected means fooling the poeple
So, its is not that the voters are idiots, as some suggest the Left are claiming, it is that the Right deliberately lie and mislead to get a vote, on false pretenses. It is the Right who constantly treats voters as gullible idiots, And a media, strangled by shrinking budgets and reduced personnel with less and less time to research rather than regurgitate. Couple that with an increase in non-journalists hogging the space set aside for reporting and elucidating news events… what chance the voter?
Sale of Lochinver Station declined
The government has overruled the Overseas Investment Office and turned down a bid to buy Lochinver Station. It’s the first time a bid for a significant landholding has been rejected since 2012.
Corbyn rides a commie bike!
The subtle and not so subtle demonisation of Jeremy Corbyn by England’s establishment media is going to be something to behold.
Hot hotter hottest
Plenty of distractions in the political circus at the moment, but meanwhile…
The Attack
And they’re off!
All the left wants is a clean contest of ideas
Josie Pagani yesterday chose as a left wing commentator to condemn Jeremy Corbyn’s politics as being based on narcissism where hard decisions never need to be made, and the unpopularity of a policy was evidence not of its failure but of its virtue. She should have analysed his history before making these claims. And in the interests of balance the media really needs to choose left wing commentators who will proudly stand up and support progressive ideals rather than repeat right wing attack lines.
Breaking: Abbott leadership challenge
Seems to be a leadership challenge against Abbott in Australia, a conference at 6pm our time…
Update: Abbott is gone, Turnbull won 54-44.
Making Like Private Frazer
Political awakenings.
UK – Cameron loses his shit, new members flood to Labour
Does the left win by tacking to the centre or by being principled?
Jeremy Corbyn’s election provides a further opportunity to discuss if elections should be won by tacking to the centre or adopting a principled approach to politics.
Stuff piece on Red Peak
Anti TPP ad (Australian)
An Australian TV ad on the downsides of the TPP – “We just received word that Channel 9 banned our new TV ad from airing during the evening news”
Jeremy Corbyn wins!
Jeremy Corbyn wins the UK Labour leadership contest with nearly 60% of the vote on the first ballot.
Key and Abbott are prepared to sacrifice the Pacific
Climate change induced sea level increases poses a huge threat to most Pacific Islands. They are seeking support for a goal of limiting temperature increases to no more than 1.5 degrees. Australia and New Zealand are insisting on sticking to a goal of no more than 2 degrees even though this will likely mean that many Islands will disappear.
Refugee crisis a taste of things to come
The current refugee crisis is but a taste of the climate refugee crisis to come. But it according to Key it’s fine, because it won’t be a problem in the next year or two.
Wellington rallies for refugees
A great turnout at last night’s rally at Parliament to call for the government to double the quota for refugees.
Flag process a missed opportunity
Any new flag for NZ should have been a unifying symbol. Instead Key has turned the referendum into a divisive process. Faced with four crap flag choices we’ll probably vote for no change and the whole stupid $26m process will have been a complete waste of time and money. Ludicrous.