On the Games, and progress in exporting democracy
Reportedly, Scotland and Wales are sending their teams to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, while Canada and New Zealand are still delaying team departures, until […]
Foreign Affairs
On John Key’s false rationale for being in Afghanistan, and Vincent Gallo’s sweet revenge
Late last week, a major bi-partisan American organization released its report on the policy options facing the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. This was […]
Gordon Campbell offers a solution to the US hostility to Islam
Bigotry has been having a bumper week, worldwide. Thankfully, the plans by the pastor of a tiny evangelical church in Florida to burn the Koran […]
On the mainstream media, and the expanding war in Yemen
Safe to say the mainstream media and the blogosphere do not hold particularly positive views of each other. Its like a family affair. In general, […]
On the Aussie election stalemate
As the Sydney Morning Herald columnist Peter Hartcher says, there’s a rough justice to the Australian election outcome, given that both major parties ran essentially […]
On the government’s hostility towards women
Image: Pay equity campaigners want “no stone unturned” Once again, the Key government has shown it doesn’t give a stuff about issues that primarily affect […]
On welfare bashing, and driving up a dead end in Afghanistan
The government’s welfare working group has dutifully delivered the findings the government wants to hear. To Paula Rebstock and her colleagues, being on welfare is […]
On our first combat death in Afghanistan
The first fatality in the New Zealand deployment in Afghanistan has occurred on the same day the Dutch ended their deployment in Uruzgan province, as […]
On the Gaza inquiry, and new twists in the Carter affair
It may seem ‘too late’ to announce the appointment of a UN inquiry panel into the Gaza flotilla raid. Whether it is also ‘too little’ […]
On the Chris Carter fiasco
Click for big version If Chris Carter’s recent trip to Tibet was in search of spiritual enlightenment, he will have come back with a ready […]
On Haiti, as the hurricanes arrive
Six months after the Haiti earthquake, only a trickle of the $10 billion in aid that had been pledged by dozens of countries and multilateral […]
On the Waihopai ‘Claim of Right’ Defence, and Arming the Police
Jump to ‘Reduce Violence : Arm the Police. Yeah, right.’ Usually when the public feels outraged by an acquittal in a high profile trial, the […]
On the ideology behind state spending cuts, and the Bethune aftermath
Clearly, the cuts to government spending are being driven by ideology and not by the state of the economy. Yesterday’s figures revealed a government deficit […]
On John Key getting us mixed up in Australia’s problems with asylum seekers
Click for big version Asylum seekers? We’ve been here before under a National-led government. In 1999, the then-Immigration Minister Tuariki Delamere used the spectre of […]
On Julia Gillard, and Simon Power
Julia Gillard’s ascent to the top job in Australia will face its first major policy test in the next fortnight, as she will have to […]
On our costly and futile efforts in Afghanistan
Routinely, we are told that the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province has been doing a great job – and maybe […]
Gordon Campbell on the foreshore and seabed deal, and Gaza blockade
By Gordon Campbell The Maori Party seems to have won few immediate and tangible benefits from its long awaited deal on the foreshore and seabed […]
On the need for New Zealand to condemn the Gaza blockade
The Israeli attack on the Turkish aid convoy to Gaza, and its subsequent slaughter of the civilians on board is being condemned around the world. […]
On the international aid flotilla now approaching Gaza
Some days ago, a flotilla of nine ships left a port in Turkey bound for the Gaza enclave, laden with medical and building supplies and […]
On Gordon Brown’s exit, and the SAS role in defending women’s oppression in Afghanistan
Now that Gordon Brown has resigned, the way is a little bit clearer for Nick Clegg to make a deal with Labour – but only […]
On privatizing water, and the SAS in Afghanistan
Local Government Minister Rodney Hide continues to pursue his vocation in life, of turning public assets into profit centres for the private sector. The amendment […]
On our unhealthy fixation with Gallipoli
Image: Selwyn Manning: ANZAC Day 2008 Dawns in NZ At the post-Cabinet press conference last Monday, Prime Minister John Key had to field a range […]
On New Zealand's Anti-Nuclear Posturing
Click for big version New Zealand’s national identity is very much based on our sense of virtuous purity – and the feeling that we can […]
On why free trade with the US is more Monty Python than Holy Grail
Perhaps we can all quietly sign a pact to forego comparing a free trade deal with the US to the quest for the Holy Grail. […]
On the government’s clueless response to unemployment and why Mike Moore shouldn’t go to Washington
Well, we’re now seeing some of the fruits of small government, and having government butt out of our lives. Unemployment rose to 7.3 % during […]
Gordon Campbell on the government's tolerance of white collar crime
This government takes a crush ’em and crate ’em approach to crime – unless that is, the offender happens to be wearing a tie. In […]
Gordon Campbell on the SAS in Kabul, and the media’s duty to report on their actions
The saga of media coverage of the SAS in Afghanistan took another turn on the weekend with National MP Eric Roy bizarrely blaming Helen Clark […]
On the ‘Three Strikes’ Policy and the SAS in Kabul
Click to enlarge In the Book of Leviticus, God takes a no nonsense, zero tolerance approach to offending. Curse your parents, or let your child […]
On the monarchy, and Keith Locke’s mechanism for replacing it
Click for big version Prince William And The Governor General Anand Satyanand. Photography by Woolf – www.woolf.co.nz Flexibility is an essential feature of the modern […]
On how The Lovely Bones affects the credibility of Peter Jackson’s Film Commission review, and on other bombs
Click for big version More Images from The Lovely Bones premiere in Wellington. Co-incidentally, just as Arts Minister Chris Finlayson readies himself to release Peter […]