Far too late in his presidency Obama is taking important action on climate change. But it isn’t enough, not nearly enough, as new research shows that we need to achieve “negative emissions” (i.e. carbon capture).
John Key has tried to suggest that we have nothing to worry about planned changes to Pharmac caused by TPP. But a recent further release by Wikileaks on the effects of the Trans Pacific Partnership on State Owned Enterprises makes you wonder if the implications of TPP on Pharmac are as limited as he says.
For entertainment purposes we could do no better than having Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for the US presidential election.
It will probably turn out to be Clinton vs Bush of course. But wouldn’t Sanders vs Trump be more fun? And wouldn’t Sanders be a fascinating POTUS?
Following on from New Zealand, Ireland and many other states the United States Supreme Court has recently ruled that banning same sex marriages is a breach of the 14th amendment’s right to life and liberty. It makes you wonder when Australia is going to institute change.
A respectful open letter to Andrew Little with suggestions for how to win the next election!
In the land of the free and the brave the NRA is trying to say that the way to stop incidents such as the Charleston Church massacre is to have more guns. And the right are trying to dispute the reality that the incident was caused by racism.
Donald Trump has attracted adverse comment for using Neil Young’s song “keep on rocking in the free world” during his campaign launch. There are a number of other examples, both local and in the US, where right wing candidates have misappropriated progressive musicians’ music for campaign purposes.
Unbelievable.
As widely reported today, the TPPA has taken a probably fatal hit in the US Senate. Good riddance.
Well who among us hasn’t forgotten a massive illegal domestic spying programme?
In the US a federal appeals court has just ruled the NSA’s bulk collection of phone records is illegal.
Not that I wish any ill on Californians, but in the grand scheme of things it is probably good for our global chances of action to limit climate change that such a clear example of the damaging effects are playing out in the USA’s back yard.
A Wikileaks dump of documents relating to Sony shows a close working relationship with the US government. Implications also for Kim Dotcom.
As expected, Hillary Clinton has announced her candidacy in next year’s presidential election.
The brilliant John Oliver on the Patriot Act and surveillance. Includes a face to face interview with Edward Snowden, and extensive discussion of dick pics.
A group of unidentified artists have erected a bronze patina bust of Eric Snowden on a stone column in Brooklyn. The authorities are investigating.
Here’s some slow Monday reading to ponder, on political trends in America.
The California drought gives us a case study in how the effects of climate change are going to play out.
I’d love to share these two posts with you and pick your brains on what you think!
The Sunday Star Times has reported on the set up and reach of the Waihopai Spy Base. Key’s statement that the GCSB does not have the physical capability to conduct mass surveillance appears to be not true.
For any accounts from the TPP protest marches today.
The attack on banking services for Mega is a high profile example of the politicisation of banking. We’re on a very slippery slope here…
Too little, too late, but a victory the environment (and for sanity) none the less.
New Zealand will be sending troops to Iraq, and you read it first on The Standard. Or in other words, why are we still pretending that the decision hasn’t been made?
So much to sell, so little time… When this Government is finished selling, we will have sold our right to make laws for ourselves too. Be under no doubt, if the effect of bringing in a law for the health and well being of Kiwis will cost a corporate millions of dollars, part of their lobbying after the TPP, will be threatening to sue the taxpayers of NZ and watch such a Bill slip into obscurity. And those corporates wielding that power? Most will never pay a cent of tax into the coffers of NZ taxpayers.
There’s a fascinating article in the latest New Statesman titled “An Empire that speaks English: the right’s dream of a new world order.” Suddenly UK Foreign Minister Philip Hammond’s recent visit here makes sense. So does John Key’s references to sending troops to Iraq on behalf of the “club” or the “family” – he’s at the heart of the Empire.
Donald Trump and Sarah Palin are reported to be considering runs for the Republican nomination for the United States Presidency.
American commentator William Rivers Pitt on Obama’s state of the union.
The Guardian has some amazing extracts from a diary that Guantánamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi kept and gave to his lawyers. It’s the first book by a serving Guantanamo inmate.
It is a shocking story to wake up to. A murderous act in a beautiful city. Condolences to those close to the people who were killed, and to the people of Paris and France. It is not a justification for the anti-democratic, invasive extensions to the surveillance state.
The price of crude oil has nearly halved in the past six months and is causing massive repercussions throughout the world with both the Russian economy and the American Shale Oil industry under threat. The geopolitical implications are complex.
I was born in June 1959. In October the following year, the United States put an embargo against Cuba, and it has remained in place ever since. Today it appears as if President Obama in the USA is intending to lift the substantive parts of the embargo. About time.
