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United For Gaza: Time Now For Palestinians To Protect Their Collective Sumud
Thursday, 30 November 2023, 2:51 pm | Ramzy Baroud
Shortly after the start of a four-day ceasefire in the war on Gaza, the prime ministers of Spain and Belgium, Pedro Sanchez and Alexander De Croo, appeared in a joint press conference at Rafah Crossing. While Sanchez described “what is happening (as) a ... More >>
Sovereignty Surrendered: Subordinating Australia’s Defence Industry
Thursday, 30 November 2023, 1:10 pm | Binoy Kampmark
One could earn a tidy sum the number of times the word “sovereignty” has been uttered or mentioned in public statements and briefings by the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. But such sovereignty has shown itself to be counterfeit. The net ... More >>
The Minister For Smoking Must Resign
Thursday, 30 November 2023, 12:12 pm | Eugene Doyle
Dr Shane Reti, the Minister for Smoking, needs to do the honourable thing. That seems unlikely, given he will shortly co-sign a death warrant for thousands of vulnerable people, but it must be called for: resign. I can’t think of a more ignoble start ... More >>
On How Climate Change Threatens Cricket‘s Future
Thursday, 30 November 2023, 10:38 am | Gordon Campbell
Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism ... More >>
The Rise Of The Desk Clerk Academic
Wednesday, 29 November 2023, 1:18 pm | Binoy Kampmark
It is a particularly quotidian breed in the modern, management-driven university. The desk clerk who pretends to be an academic and researcher but is neither. The desk clerk who admires rosters, work plans and “key performance indicators”, ... More >>
Tone-deaf Health System Leadership: Business Consultants And A Symbolic Specialist Resignation
Tuesday, 28 November 2023, 5:55 pm | Ian Powell
The catalyst for the heading of this blog was a text I recently received from a former district health board (DHB) chair on the response of Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) to a paywalled article by journalist Isaac Davison in the NZ Herald (24 ... More >>
Letter From Israeli Hostage To Qassam
Tuesday, 28 November 2023, 1:31 pm | Julie Webb-Pullman
A message from one of the detainees to the fighters and leaders of the Al-Qassam Brigades who accompanied her during her detention period before her release in the exchange deal as part of the humanitarian truce. The letter reads: "To the generals ... More >>
COP28:8: Amplifying Pacific Voices For Climate Action
Tuesday, 28 November 2023, 11:23 am | UNDP
In the heart of the Pacific Ocean, a silent crisis unfolds. Amidst the Pacific’s pristine waters and lush greenery, countries are slowly disappearing, their very existence threatened by the continued impacts of climate change. This is not a distant ... More >>
When We Protest And Demonstrate Palestinians Feel They Are Not Alone
Tuesday, 28 November 2023, 10:19 am | Redress Information
Fernando Guevara writes” Words fail as we see the unimaginable horrors that we wish we had not seen. As we hear of the unthinkable, which we wish that nobody had ever had to experience. These necropolitics must not be permitted to continue. Necropolitics ... More >>
Download Weekly: MyRepublic Mobile reborn as Rocket Mobile
Tuesday, 28 November 2023, 10:09 am | Digitl
MyRepublic becomes Rocket Mobile, Customer services quality tests new lows, ComCom on customer service work. Rural broadband build nears end. More >>
Rot In The Civil Service: Farewelling Mike Pezzullo
Monday, 27 November 2023, 2:40 pm | Binoy Kampmark
There was no better example of Australia’s politicised public service than its Home Affairs Secretary, Mike Pezzullo. In most other countries, he would have been the ideal conspirator in a coup, a tittletattler in the ranks and bound to brief ... More >>
One Small, Red Triangle: Palestine, We Are Finally Looking
Monday, 27 November 2023, 1:56 pm | Ramzy Baroud
Did you know that there was an international conference held in France on November 9 under the title ‘International Humanitarian Conference for Gaza’s Civilian Population’? According to the French foreign ministry website , the conference ... More >>
On The New Government’s Policies Of Yesteryear
Monday, 27 November 2023, 10:06 am | Gordon Campbell
This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded ... More >>
Far-right Government Formed In New Zealand
Monday, 27 November 2023, 9:55 am | Socialist Equality Group
By Tom Peters, After 40 days of secret negotiations following New Zealand’s October 14 election, the conservative National Party leader Christopher Luxon yesterday signed a coalition deal to form a government with two widely despised far-right parties, ... More >>
Gordon Campbell On The New Government’s Great Leap Backwards
Friday, 24 November 2023, 5:35 pm | Gordon Campbell
After all the cries of “are we there yet” New Zealand does now indeed have a new government. More >>
Pallywood Tactics: Al-Shifa Hospital And Israel’s Propaganda Effort
Friday, 24 November 2023, 12:32 pm | Binoy Kampmark
It resembles a chronology of desperation, shifting narratives, and schoolboy howlers. From the outset, the mass lethality of Israeli strikes against Gaza and the collective punishment of its populace needed some justification, however tenuous. If it could ... More >>
Eco-Camouflage And The Fossil Fuel Lobby: The War Against Wind Farms
Friday, 24 November 2023, 1:41 am | Binoy Kampmark
The fossil fuel lobby has had a busy year on the eco-camouflage front. Earlier this year, interest started to rumble and rage against the stranding of humpback whales on the east coast of the United States. Suddenly, opponents of wind turbine technology ... More >>
The Old And New Nakba: Forced Expulsion Of Palestinians Must Be Rejected
Thursday, 23 November 2023, 2:46 pm | Ramzy Baroud
It is simply inaccurate to claim that the ongoing Israeli attempt to displace all, or many Palestinian refugees from Gaza to Sinai is a new idea, compelled by recent circumstances. Displacing Palestinians, or as it is known in Israeli political lexicon, ... More >>
New Zealand Medical Lab Workers Strike Again Over Low Wages
Thursday, 23 November 2023, 11:39 am | Socialist Equality Group
By Tom Peters More than 1,000 medical laboratory workers in New Zealand held 24-hour strikes on November 17 and 20, with workers in different parts of the country striking on different days. The workers, including scientists, technicians, and phlebotomists, ... More >>
Why Labour Lost The 2023 Election So Badly
Thursday, 23 November 2023, 1:57 am | Ian Powell
On 1 August 2017 Jacinda Ardern was elected leader of the opposition Labour Party in extraordinary circumstances. Opinion polls were showing Labour heading towards a massive fourth consecutive electoral defeat in September. National meanwhile was ... More >>
The rule of law is fundamental to a free society – so why don’t NZ courts always uphold it?
Wednesday, 22 November 2023, 11:17 am | The Conversation
Court decisions based on a judge’s discretion rather than the letter of the law are increasingly common. But this risks undermining some basic liberties. More >>
Health and education are closely linked – NZ needs to integrate them more in primary schools
Wednesday, 22 November 2023, 11:13 am | The Conversation
New Zealand’s health and education sectors are largely siloed and separate. But all the evidence points to collaboration within schools leading to better health and educational outcomes for children. More >>
Is New Zealand A State Sponsor Of Terrorism?
Wednesday, 22 November 2023, 10:38 am | Eugene Doyle
Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence to advance political aims, particularly if that violence targets civilians. The terrorist entity can be a non-state actor, such as Al-Qaeda which toppled the Twin Towers in New York in 2001, or the far-left ... More >>
Israel’s War On Gaza: War Of Ethnic Cleansing
Wednesday, 22 November 2023, 10:36 am | Jamal Kanj
In the battle of his political life, Benjamin Netanyahu has nothing to lose. He could, however, gain vainglory and self-exaltation by murdering as many Palestinians as possible to satisfy the unquenchable vengeful Israeli culture. A crime catapult ... More >>
Does Modern Science Already Allow Us To Manage The Weather?
Wednesday, 22 November 2023, 9:56 am | Globetrotter
By John P. Ruehl As winter settles over New Delhi, cold air sinks, trapping pollution in the city. Smoke from seasonal fires stemming from farming practices in India’s north further reduces the city’s air quality, which typically ranks the worst in ... More >>
Class Divides? The Impact Of Streaming On Educational Achievement And Equality
Tuesday, 21 November 2023, 11:34 am | New Zealand Initiative
There have been calls to ban streaming in New Zealand schools. Streaming is the practice of separating students into different classes based on their prior learning. In a new report from The New Zealand Initiative, authors Dr Michael Johnston and ... More >>
Americans Are Bankrolling Israel’s Unfolding Genocide In Gaza
Tuesday, 21 November 2023, 11:02 am | Independent Media Institute
By Sonali Kolhatkar Americans are funding a genocide and no one asked our permission. We are being dragged, unwillingly , into a war that is decimating a people. We are being forced to become involuntary accomplices to mass slaughter. Palestinians, on ... More >>
On Coalitions, And Hostage Deals
Tuesday, 21 November 2023, 10:38 am | Gordon Campbell
Reportedly, National has finalised the details of its separate policy programmes with (a) the Act Party and (b) with New Zealand First. Terrific. Yet surprisingly, it has only been in the last 36 hours that Winston Peters and David Seymour have ... More >>
Rigging Avian Ballots: New Zealand’s Bird Of The Century Competition
Tuesday, 21 November 2023, 2:21 am | Binoy Kampmark
They can be a serious lot in New Zealand. They got upset at – forgive this author such reference – the use of a rule in cricket back in February 1981 which led to expressions of misty anger from the Prime Minister of the day, Robert Muldoon. While ... More >>
From Glen Johnson In Ukraine: Update on the counter offensive.
Saturday, 18 November 2023, 5:22 pm | Glen Johnson
BUCHAREST, Romania -- At the end of September, Nataliya (24), a paramedic from Kharkiv, packed a suitcase with only a few of her belongings: essential documents, a scattering of summer and winter clothes, books by Haruki Murakami and the Ukrainian poet Taras More >>
On Secret Coalition Talks, Plus A Music Playlist
Friday, 17 November 2023, 11:41 am | Gordon Campbell
Routinely, the centre-right complains that Big Government treats people like children. Huh. Have to say, National, Act and New Zealand First are doing a pretty good job of infantilising the New Zealand public. We keep being told “good progress“ is ... More >>
A review of NZ telecommunications regulatory challenges
Friday, 17 November 2023, 11:37 am | Digitl
Today's Download Weekly newsletter focuses on an extensive interview with Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson and his team at the Commerce Commission. More >>
New Zealand's Coming Triple Demographic Crisis
Thursday, 16 November 2023, 4:05 pm | Keith Rankin
The three components to the crisis are churn, aging, and the increasing predominance of births into disadvantaged households. Churn Yesterday the main release from Statistics New Zealand was Record net migration loss of New Zealand citizens . " There ... More >>
The Strip Is Already Occupied: The Two Gazas That Israel Cannot Break
Thursday, 16 November 2023, 2:59 pm | Ramzy Baroud
The ongoing discussions on the Israeli military objectives in Gaza are largely focused on whether Israel is planning a long or a short-term military reoccupation of the Strip. Israelis themselves are fueling this conversation, with 41 percent of Israelis ... More >>
The Politics Of Indefinite Detention In Australia
Thursday, 16 November 2023, 2:18 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The High Court of Australia is not known for its zealotry in protecting human rights, and certainly not when considering the persuasive pull of international law and conventions. The Australian Parliament is usually given a generous hand in making policies that ... More >>
Provocations By The U.S. State Department Can Chill Press Freedom In Latin America
Thursday, 16 November 2023, 10:17 am | Globetrotter
By Vijay Prashad The headline is provocative: “The Kremlin’s Efforts to Covertly Spread Disinformation in Latin America.” This was a statement on the U.S. State Department website, posted on November 7, 2023. The United States government accused ... More >>
Lobbyists Helping And Influencing The New National Government
Wednesday, 15 November 2023, 4:19 pm | Bryce Edwards
New Zealand’s corporate lobbyists are currently carrying out major manoeuvres in order to ensure they are in the best possible position to influence the new Christopher Luxon-led government. Despite some of these moves being blatantly outrageous, there ... More >>
Sunak’s Dad’s Army Option: David Cameron Returns
Wednesday, 15 November 2023, 12:52 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Openly ignored by his incendiary, now ex-Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was left with few options. Retaining her would continue a process of blighting his already precarious prime ministership, suggesting weakness and a ... More >>
On APEC, Mali And Sleater-Kinney
Wednesday, 15 November 2023, 10:58 am | Gordon Campbell
Sideshows are inevitable when the main event – the coalition talks – is taking place behind closed doors and the usual sources for political news (i.e. the politicians themselves) are staying mum. Everyone has had to make do instead with a beat-up of ... More >>
The Militarised University: Where Secrecy Goes To Thrive
Tuesday, 14 November 2023, 5:47 pm | Binoy Kampmark
For anyone wishing to bury secrets, especially of the unsavoury sort, there is one forum that stands out. Call it a higher education institution. Call it a university. Even better, capitalise it: the University. This is certainly the case in Australia, ... More >>
The Militarised University: Where Secrecy Goes To Thrive
Tuesday, 14 November 2023, 2:17 pm | Binoy Kampmark
For anyone wishing to bury secrets, especially of the unsavoury sort, there is one forum that stands out. Call it a higher education institution. Call it a university. Even better, capitalise it: the University. This is certainly the case in Australia, ... More >>
Report From Mededins Sans Frontieres In Al Shifa, Gaza
Tuesday, 14 November 2023, 10:13 am | Medicines Sans Frontiers
#Gaza #AlShifa, we were able to speak to a member of MSF staff still inside #AlShifa hospital in Gaza city. "We don’t have electricity. There’s no water in the hospital. There’s no food. People will die in a few hours without functioning ventilators. ... More >>
On Why Prescription Fees Are No Way To Fund Cancer Drugs
Monday, 13 November 2023, 3:24 pm | Gordon Campbell
Who is this Christopher Luxon fellow, really ? Over the past two years, we have had so many invitations to find the pearl in the oyster. Alas, Luxon has been more like one of those bad first dates that keep on asking for a chance to start again, ... More >>
Unintended Ironies: Condemning The Armistice Day Marches
Monday, 13 November 2023, 2:39 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Armistice Day is one of those disturbing occasions of the year when humanity’s folly is laid bare. It should be an occasion to remind said humanity about the stupid waste occasioned by war and its war-crazed planners who generally elude the dock; ... More >>
Download Weekly - Rural expansion in Chorus Capex plan
Friday, 10 November 2023, 6:52 pm | Digitl
Chorus capex plans rural expansion, resilience investment. Moving faster on copper withdrawal. Data traffic peaks. More >>
On Why Abortion Rights Offer The Best Chance Of Beating Donald Trump
Friday, 10 November 2023, 11:28 am | Gordon Campbell
Remarkably... Although the US opinion polls continue to track the declining popularity of Joe Biden, the Democrats still scored important victories this week in a variety of state and municipal elections and in a crucial referendum held in Ohio, on abortion ... More >>
How The War On Gaza Has Stalled The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)
Friday, 10 November 2023, 10:43 am | Globetrotter
By Vijay Prashad On September 9, 2023, during the G20 meeting in New Delhi, the governments of seven countries and the European Union signed a memorandum of understanding to create an India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Only three ... More >>
There Will Be Repercussions: The West Is Collectively Responsible For Israel’s Genocide In Gaza
Thursday, 9 November 2023, 3:08 pm | Ramzy Baroud
On October 20, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, stood on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, between Egypt and besieged Gaza. Guterres was not the only international figure to travel to the Gaza border, hoping to mobilize ... More >>
On The Blockade Against Chloe Swarbrick’s Right To Speak Freely About Gaza
Wednesday, 8 November 2023, 9:10 am | Gordon Campbell
The tut-tutting about what Green MP Chloe Swarbrick said and how she said it, and whether she could have/should have expressed herself in other ways has been farcical. Yes, emotions are running high about the Israel/Gaza conflict. Arguably though, it ... More >>
No Pressure Dr Reti But Starting On The Right Foot Is Critical
Tuesday, 7 November 2023, 7:32 pm | Ian Powell
With the final election count now confirmed it is clear that Aotearoa New Zealand will soon be governed by a National-ACT-NZ First coalition. Further, not that there was any prior doubt, Dr Shane Reti (a general practitioner) will be the next minister ... More >>
The Holocaust Should Be A Lesson Not A Template
Tuesday, 7 November 2023, 12:15 pm | Eugene Doyle
“Jewish people exterminating men, women and children in a concentration camp is _______.” How do you finish a sentence like that? The words should fall like acid into your ear drums. It should be an impossible sentence. And yet, not so. We are ... More >>
Showboating For War: Johnson And Morrison In Israel
Tuesday, 7 November 2023, 11:01 am | Binoy Kampmark
Banished Prime Ministers are an irritation. They clog the airwaves of punditry with their views about how things were and how things should be. But even there, degrees of severity and competence should be observed. The more noble sorts would pursue ... More >>
EDITORIAL: MMP Comes Of Age - A Broader View
Monday, 6 November 2023, 3:23 pm | Alastair Thompson
EDITORIAL: MMP Comes Of Age. National Leader Luxon remains in the box seat to form the next NZ Govt following the counting of special votes. Meanwhile the Greens and Te Pati Maori are riding high, but with a vacuum still unfilled in leadership on More >>
On The Third Person In This Political Marriage
Monday, 6 November 2023, 11:08 am | Gordon Campbell
Depending on the recounts and the by-election, the centre-right will still have won only 59 seats in what will be a 122 or 123 seat Parliament. So it needs Winston Peters, big time. In return for him getting them across the line, it stands to reason ... More >>
Taking The Refugee Hysteria Off Ice
Sunday, 5 November 2023, 3:31 pm | Binoy Kampmark
There are many reasons why Australian foreign policy can be viewed from the wrong end of a municipal drainpipe. For one, it is largely dictated, in terms of security, by the competitive, acquisitive urgings of the United States. Fictional reassurances ... More >>
Rishi Sunak’s AI Pitch: The Bletchley Declaration
Saturday, 4 November 2023, 2:34 pm | Binoy Kampmark
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak looks as much a deep fake projection as a thin, superficial representation of reality. His robotic, risible awkwardness makes a previous occupant of his office, Theresa May, look soppily human in comparison. But at the ... More >>
Download Weekly: NCSC defended major telco cyber attack
Friday, 3 November 2023, 8:27 pm | Digitl
The National Cyber Security Centre says it disrupted an attack on a mobile operator. One New Zealand to buy Dense Air's 5G spectrum. More >>
Special Votes: National and ACT lose majority in largest ever Parliament
Friday, 3 November 2023, 2:15 pm | RNZ
Special votes have given Te Pāti Māori two more electorates, and the Greens an extra list seat, with National losing two. More >>
Predicting The Final Outcome Of The Election
Friday, 3 November 2023, 11:52 am | Keith Rankin
There may be some surprises when the final election count comes out today. One particular point to note refers back to the United States presidential election of 2020, when the late votes in most states – those votes not counted on election night – very ... More >>
On Breaking Up The Supermarket Duopoly
Thursday, 2 November 2023, 10:39 am | Gordon Campbell
Someone better tell Mark Mitchell, because the two big supermarket gangs – the New World Crips and the Countdown Bloods – seem to be operating with flagrant disregard for the revised version of section 36 of the Commerce Act 1986. Arguably, their market ... More >>
