Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
POOR OLD JEREMY CORBYN. He must know that the worse he does on 8 June the better most Labour MPs will like it. Indeed, an absolutely disastrous performance by Labour in the forthcoming UK general election is about the only outcome likely to convince the rank-and-file “Corbynistas” that their brave experiment has to end. They tried, and then tried again, to impose a left-wing leader on a right-wing caucus. Couldn’t be done.
More than a year on from Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston — which devastated Fiji early last year, leaving 44 people dead and 45,000 displaced — a Fijian planning researcher offers his scenario around climate change. His message is good for much of the Pacific.
Although it’s beginning to fade from the newscycle, I have a few opinions about the recent injurious removal of a passenger Dr. David Dao from a United flight. As reported on Fortune.com, United released first-quarter earnings, and apologized for the second time.
With one or two notable exceptions, the three main opposition parties have to date missed multiple golden opportunities to raise an issue that a very large number of ordinary kiwis are highly concerned about. You only have to raise your concerns about the state of mental health services at any community meeting anywhere in New Zealand to see the nods of agreement right around the room.
Is the Pope a Catholic?
Of course it’s broken; let’s look at a few reports from the last fortnight:
The new Sheriff is patrolling the global street, pulling out his guns at every turn. Unconcerned about overkill, a more secure world through superior American firepower seems unlikely.
The people engaging in window-washing are, for the most part, unemployed and to a certain extent possibly unemployable. They may be subsisting on a benefit [which, let’s remember, even the Minister of Social Development herself implicitly stated one couldn’t survive on without engaging in criminal behavior]; and one has to wonder – if prevented from attempting to earn a bit of extra cash window-washing, where else might they go in order to try and make ends meet.
WHAT THE HELL’S GOING ON?! As events in the Middle East spiral out of control, and the prospect of a shooting war between the United States and Russia moves from possible to probable, that’s the question more and more people are asking.
The blacklisting of Jack Hewson, a freelance journalist working for Al Jazeera, shows the Indonesian government’s paranoia towards foreign journalists.
The government’s attempts to revive the Trade Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) have, as predicted, failed. Instead, the government is now putting its faith in negotiating numerous Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). It’s more of the same, ignoring the lessons from the TPPA debacle.