Gordon Campbell on Canada’s election, and the AUKUS defence pact
Yesterday, Canada held an election in which everyone lost, including the voters. After holding its most expensive ( $C600 million) election campaign ever, the result […]
Columns
Gordon Campbell on the Great Covid Mask Debate, plus a music playlist
Ay caramba. Only yesterday, Otago University epidemiologist Dr Nick Wilson was still feeling it necessary to suggest that the government should maybe make mask-wearing compulsory, […]
Gordon Campbell on the moral and scientific case against Covid booster shots
A year ago, a Covid vaccine was still on humanity’s wish list. Now, we’re basing our economic planning – and the safety of opening our […]
Gordon Campbell on the Covid exit plan, and 9/11 media memories
Is it OK to feel nostalgic for the period only a couple of months ago, when the government seemed to have a plan for exiting […]
Gordon Campbell on Taliban hardliners, and a lockdown playlist of drug songs
Well, so much for early hopes that the new Taliban “caretaker” government would be more inclusive, and moderate. Instead, we’ve got a Cabinet that is […]
Gordon Campbell on why terrorism law changes can’t be rushed
Given the horrifying actions of the New Lynn supermarket terrorist, it is easy to see why the public and the government seem to have agreed […]
Gordon Campbell on the messaging to the vaccine hesitants
While the recent surge in vaccinations has been welcome, we’re still in the low hanging fruit phase of the journey towards 80-90% rates of protection. […]
Gordon Campbell on how New Zealand can get itself a safe, purpose-built Covid isolation facility
Over the past few months, one of the few things that the “Covid elimination” strategists and the “we have to live with Covid” advocates have […]
Gordon Campbell on why Judith Collins should consider the Canada model
For months now, Judith Collins has been doubling down on National as the party of angry talkback radio. If you’ve got a beef about Jacinda […]
Gordon Campbell on how Delta has changed the endgame for the pandemic
Lockdown vs Delta. Day by day, New Zealand is learning whether a Level Four lockdown can confine and eventually defeat the Delta variant. Yes, the […]
Gordon Campbell on “the old weird” music of America, with a playlist
Here’s some weird old music for the weird realities of lockdown. Like other key phases in popular music – jazz, country, rock’n’roll, punk, hip hop […]
Gordon Campbell on our polarised attitudes to the Covid response
Thesis meets antithesis again, this time in the pages of the New Zealand Herald. A week ago, Liam Dann wrote a column pondering how in […]
Gordon Campbell on the media’s handling of (a) the Afghan crisis, and (b) the hacked DHB material
Reportedly, there has been “chaos “in downtown Kabul and “chaos“ out at the Kabul airport. “Chaos” has become one of the go-to terms of modern […]
Gordon Campbell on the fall of Kabul
Like a giant Ponzi scheme, the 20 year experiment in nation-building in Afghanistan has come crashing down, in pieces. Since the US and its allies […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s cave-in to the business lobbies
At a time when New South Wales is in crisis over the Delta variant, it seems bizarre that our government is willing to risk heading […]
Gordon Campbell on how New Zealand is punching below its weight in Afghanistan
First Vietnam, now Afghanistan. For the second time in living memory, the West has been defeated by the guerrilla forces of a small Third World […]
Gordon Campbell on whether we’re punching above our weight, and should we care?
According to Pierre De Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, the Olympic ideal was not about “winning, but fighting well. Life is not conquering, […]
Gordon Campbell on populism’s changing of the guard, plus a soul music playlist
The weekend’s Newshub/Reid Research poll results – Act up to 11.1%, National up 1% but still sitting at only 28.7%, Labour down to 43%, the […]
Gordon Campbell on the supermarket scam, and on Tunisia’s scrapping of democracy
Are we paying too much for our groceries? Hmm. Is the Pope a Catholic? Given that the two Australian supermarket chains that dominate our grocery […]
Gordon Campbell on the uncanny valley of Tokyo 2020
For all involved, this year’s Olympic Games have called for a willing suspension of anxiety. For now at least, the displays of skill and agility […]
Gordon Campbell on the geo-political posturing over China’s cyber hacks, plus the weekly playlist
The timing was one of the weirder aspects of this week’s cyber condemnation of China by the West. Why was this piece of political theatre […]
Gordon Campbell on shifting to electric vehicles, and who killed Haiti’s President?
While the nation paused last Friday to share the existential horror of farmers and tradies maybe having to pay a little more in future for […]
Gordon Campbell on the whining vocal minority of farmers, plus the weekly playlist
Granted, working on the land can be a lonely job and the weather can be a bitch… But speaking in general, what have farmers got […]
Gordon Campbell on when National’s leaders had a more enlightened approach to gangs
One can sympathise with Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt and the lose/lose situation he has just found himself in. If he had stayed safe and […]
Gordon Campbell on the legacy of rockabilly, plus a playlist
Rockabilly was a 1950s precursor of punk. It was uptempo, aggressive, and shared with punk the same DIY “hell, I’ll give that a whirl” sense […]
Gordon Campbell on why the J&J vaccine isn’t an ideal back-up option, and Haiti
The news that Medsafe has given approval to Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine means the government is finally putting a backup plan in place, after the […]
Gordon Campbell on New Zealand’s lack of adequate cyber security defences
Remember how, back in the olden days, we had security concerns about the Chinese firm Huawei? Allegedly, Huawei was to be shunned as a business […]
Gordon Campbell on the hate speech panic, and the weekly playlist
So far, much of the fuss about the government’s proposed legislation on hate speech has focused on the state – the state ! – being […]
Gordon Campbell on why we should abolish the military
Last Friday, Defence Minister Peeni Henare announced his intention to seek savings within the circa $20 billion allocated to Defence over the next decade or […]
Gordon Campbell on the barriers facing female country musicians, and the weekly playlist
Like no other performer in popular culture, Dolly Parton is loved and respected by people from opposite ends of the political spectrum, and every point […]