Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Latest Top Scoops Headlines
Dunne's Weekly: Luxon Gets Out His Butcher's Knife - Briefly
Thursday, 25 April 2024, 8:08 am | Peter Dunne
The Prime Minister may have flashed his butcher’s knife and laid down Ministers Lee and Simmonds for his life this week, but the wider context strongly suggests that he, like other New Zealand Prime Ministers before him, still has some way to ... More >>
Warring Against Encryption: Australia Is Coming For Your Communications
Wednesday, 24 April 2024, 12:59 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Those at X, and its executive, Elon Musk, begged to differ, choosing to restrict general access to the graphic details of the video in Australia alone. Those outside Australia, and those with a virtual private network (VPN), would be able to access ... More >>
On bird flu, AUKUS entry fees and Cindy Lee
Wednesday, 24 April 2024, 11:36 am | Gordon Campbell
Bird flu – often deadly to humans - is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. And, Aukus members are all being pressured by the USA to devote at least 2% of their GDP to Defence ... More >>
1st Autistic Maori Woman To Run For Whangarei Mayoralty 2022 Calls For Positive Leadership & Diverse Representation
Wednesday, 24 April 2024, 6:12 am | Fiona Green
Former 2022 Whangarei Mayoral and Whangarei Urban Councillor Candidate Fiona Green (Ngapuhi) has spoken out about the recent decision to disestablish Maori wards in the region. Green believes that there is a need for more diverse representation in ... More >>
Censorship Wars: Elon Musk, Safety Commissioners And Violent Content
Tuesday, 23 April 2024, 11:39 am | Binoy Kampmark
Platforms such as Meta and X engage in their own forms of censorship and information curation, their agenda algorithmically driven towards noise, shock and indignation. All the time, they continue to indulge in surveillance capitalism. More >>
Cambodia & China, Diverting The Mekong River
Monday, 22 April 2024, 3:49 pm | Richard S. Ehrlich
Cambodia wants to divert Southeast Asia's Mekong River into a planned $1.7 billion, Chinese-financed shipping canal to reach a deep-sea port at Kep near Sihanoukville on southern Cambodia's Gulf of Thailand coast. More >>
On Fast Track Powers, Media Woes And The Tiktok Ban
Monday, 22 April 2024, 2:53 pm | Gordon Campbell
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming More >>
NATO’s Never-ending War: The 75-Year-Old Bully Is Faltering
Monday, 22 April 2024, 8:33 am | Ramzy Baroud
It is time for NATO to re-examine its 75-year-old legacy, and be courageous enough to change directions altogether - instead of opting for a state of non-peace, actually seeking real peace. More >>
Universities For AUKUS: The Social License Confidence Trick
Sunday, 21 April 2024, 2:34 pm | Binoy Kampmark
All in all, a clear wall of separation between the civic goals of learning and knowledge should be built to shield students and staff from the rapacious, murderous goals of the military industrial complex that continues to draw sustenance from deception, ... More >>
Joining AUKUS Not In NZ’s National Interest
Friday, 19 April 2024, 4:33 pm | Eugene Doyle
Helen Clark, oh how we miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister – the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory – gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS ... More >>
The Australian Defence Formula: Spend! Spend! Spend!
Friday, 19 April 2024, 12:06 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Not only will Australians be paying a bill up to and above A$368 billion for nuclear powered submarines it does not need; it will also be throwing A$100 billion into the coffers of the military industrial complex over the next decade to combat a needlessly ... More >>
Exodus To Zionistan: Willfully Or Woefully
Friday, 19 April 2024, 11:12 am | Abukar Arman
If you grant a man unchecked power you will in due course discover his true character. And if you grant him absolute impunity, he will gladly showcase the most evil aspect of his values. Since its founding in 1948, Israel has been granted both unchecked ... More >>
Cruelty Of Language: Leaked NY Times Memo Reveals Moral Depravity Of US Media
Friday, 19 April 2024, 7:08 am | Ramzy Baroud
Though such language control is, according to the NYT, aimed at fairness for 'all sides', their application was almost entirely one-sided. More >>
New Hospital Building Trumps ‘Yes Minister’ Hospital Without Patients
Friday, 19 April 2024, 7:05 am | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses how New Zealand’s vertically centralised health system led to a new hospital surgical building without staff and its similarity with the ‘Yes Minister’ comedy and the hospital with no patients. More >>
Prices Are Still Rising - It's A Cost Of Living Crisis
Thursday, 18 April 2024, 4:57 pm | Mike Treen
New Zealand’s consumers price index increased 4 per cent in the 12 months to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ April 17. This was higher than the Reserve Bank prediction of 3.8%. The 4 per cent increase follows ... More >>
Navigating The Divide: Violence VS Terrorism In Recent Tragic Incidents
Thursday, 18 April 2024, 4:53 pm | Syed Atiq ul Hassan
In the wake of recent tragic events, the distinction between acts of violence and acts of terrorism demands careful consideration. Two harrowing incidents unfolded within a mere span of a week, thrusting the nation into a state of shock, and prompting ... More >>
When Namibia Stands Up To Germany: How Gaza Revolutionized The Global South
Thursday, 18 April 2024, 1:05 pm | Ramzy Baroud
The distance between Gaza and Namibia is measured in the thousands of kilometers. But the historical distance is much closer. This is precisely why Namibia was one of the first countries to take a strong stance against the Israeli genocide in Gaza. ... More >>
On The Public Sector Carnage, And Misogyny As Terrorism
Thursday, 18 April 2024, 9:57 am | Gordon Campbell
Public service cuts are being enacted without the coalition government having a clue (or visible concern) about what the impact will be. The prior promise to go through this stuff “ line by line” has gone out the window. More >>
Dunne's Weekly: Newshub And TVNZ Tip Of Media Iceberg
Thursday, 18 April 2024, 8:32 am | Peter Dunne
When the interests of those students today and those contemplating future careers in journalism and media production are taken into account, the need to make journalism nimbler and more relevant to today’s environment becomes overwhelming. More >>
Faulty Assurances: The Judicial Torture Of Assange Continues
Wednesday, 17 April 2024, 3:10 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Only this month, the near comatose US President, Joe Biden, made a casual, castaway remark that his administration was “considering” the request by Australia that the case against Julian Assange be concluded. The WikiLeaks founder has already ... More >>
Austerity – For And Against
Tuesday, 16 April 2024, 11:57 am | Harry Finch
New Zealand has elected a government of austerity, so let’s weigh up the pros and cons. More >>
On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
Monday, 15 April 2024, 11:45 am | Gordon Campbell
The meaning of the word “racism” is being deliberately blurred, for political reasons. Lets re-state the obvious: when people are chronically experiencing worse social outcomes and lower life expectancy due to the colour of their skin, that’s More >>
Reflecting On Maximilien Robespierre And Other Things
Sunday, 14 April 2024, 1:42 pm | Ian Powell
Politics in New Zealand would benefit from a healthy debate on the relationship between class and identity politics. I regard them as interconnected and supplementary rather than opposites. More >>
Flicker Of Hope: Biden’s Throwaway Lines On Assange
Friday, 12 April 2024, 11:46 am | Binoy Kampmark
Walking stiffly, largely distracted, and struggling to focus on the bare essentials, US President Joe Biden was keeping company with his Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, when asked the question. It concerned what he was doing regarding ... More >>
Here We Go Again
Friday, 12 April 2024, 11:32 am | Media Matters NZ
The News Makers are in the News again and this time because of mass layoffs laid on for the delectation of the staff involved, mainly news and current affairs people, which has, its fair to say, given them a thoroughly justified bellyache. It will ... More >>
Where Did Vladimir Putin’s Dream Of A ‘Russian World’ Come From?
Friday, 12 April 2024, 10:42 am | Thomas J. Barfield
Russian President Vladimir Putin justified the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by asserting the existence of a singular “Russian world” that needs protection and reunification. He set aside the secular socialist ideological rationales that the Soviet Union used ... More >>
Killing Humanitarian Workers As A Strategy: Israel’s Endgame In Gaza
Thursday, 11 April 2024, 1:42 pm | Ramzy Baroud
The latest killing of the internationals in Gaza was done to serve the same goal: ensuring that no aid distribution mechanism is allowed. More >>
On Winston Peters’ Pathetic Speech At The UN
Thursday, 11 April 2024, 9:17 am | Gordon Campbell
Tens of thousands of Gazans have been slaughtered, two million are on the brink of starvation and what does our Foreign Minister choose to talk about at the UN? The 75 year old issue of whether the five permanent members should continue to have veto ... More >>
How To Immobilise A Health System’s Primary Statutory Adviser And Monitor
Thursday, 11 April 2024, 9:15 am | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the immobilising implications of the Government’s severe public service staff cuts for the critical health system functions of the Ministry of Health. More >>
It Is Time To De-demonise Hamas
Wednesday, 10 April 2024, 1:59 pm | Eugene Doyle
Who would not condemn the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 when hundreds of Israeli civilians, as well as hundreds of military and security personnel were killed? Why then is Hamas so popular amongst Palestinians and in the wider Muslim world? March ... More >>
Death By Algorithm: Israel’s Ai War In Gaza
Wednesday, 10 April 2024, 1:52 pm | Binoy Kampmark
We are no longer talking about a form of advanced, scientific war waged proportionately and with precision, but a technologically advanced form of mass murder. More >>
NZ’s government is relying on executive power to govern – that’s not how MMP was meant to work
Wednesday, 10 April 2024, 10:42 am | The Conversation
The coalition is increasingly using parliamentary urgency, cutting the public service and fast-tracking legislation – all of which risks upsetting the equilibrium between government and the governed. More >>
Germany, Gaza And The World Court: Broadening The Scope Of Genocide
Tuesday, 9 April 2024, 12:34 pm | Binoy Kampmark
In 2023, 30% of Israel’s military equipment purchases totalling US$326 million came from Berlin. The Scholz government has also been a firm public supporter of Israel’s offensive. More >>
Gordon Campbell On Israel’s Murderous Use Of AI In Gaza
Monday, 8 April 2024, 4:15 pm | Gordon Campbell
Gordon Campbell on Israel’s murderous use of AI in Gaza T his may seem like a dumb question– but how come Israel has managed to kill at least 33,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including over 13,000 children? Of course, saturation aerial bombing ... More >>
Aukusing For War: The Real Target Is China
Sunday, 7 April 2024, 4:36 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Official statements about the AUKUS security pact between Washington, London and Canberra, rarely mention the target in so many words, except on the gossiping fringes. More >>
Killing Aid Workers: Australia’s Muddled Policy On Israel
Friday, 5 April 2024, 2:58 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Beyond an investigation, mounted and therefore controlled by the Israeli forces themselves, nothing much else can be hoped for. The Albanese approach has been one of copybook warnings and concerns to an ally it clearly fears affronting. More >>
The Brain Is Greater Than Thought
Friday, 5 April 2024, 12:46 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Man’s enslavement to time, by modernity’s clock or prehistoric people’s sun, denies the full awakening of insight in the brain. Thought is time, and time is thought. More >>
Irremediable Defeat: On Israel’s Other Unwinnable War
Friday, 5 April 2024, 11:50 am | Ramzy Baroud
An end to the Gaza war, even if branded as a ‘victory’ by Netanyahu, will only further the polarization and deepen Israel's worst internal political struggle since its founding on the ruins of historic Palestine. More >>
Rat-ling The Cage: The Ethical Dilemmas Of Our Food Systems
Friday, 5 April 2024, 10:53 am | Lynley Tulloch
I believe we should consider the suffering of all animals, including rats. Rats have feelings too. A book entitled ‘Mama’s Last Hug’ by Frans de Waal makes this case. Rats faces express joy when they are tickled. More >>
Killing Humanitarians: Israel’s War On Aid Workers In Gaza
Wednesday, 3 April 2024, 6:41 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Responsibility for the killings is unlikely to translate into accountability, let alone any public outing of the individuals involved. This is not to say that such exercises are impossible, even with Israel not being a member of the International ... More >>
Gordon Campbell On The Death Of Library Browsing
Wednesday, 3 April 2024, 11:12 am | Gordon Campbell
At present, the content and function of libraries – and the funding for them - are in flux. Increasingly, libraries are being under-funded and seen as unnecessary in the digital age. More >>
Time For Health Minister To Step Up On Workforce Crisis
Wednesday, 3 April 2024, 8:17 am | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses why and how new health minister Shane Reti needs to step up over resolving the health system’s workforce crisis. More >>
The Young Woman Who Fired Joe Biden
Tuesday, 2 April 2024, 4:36 pm | Eugene Doyle
So, what can we lesser mortals do when confronted, as we are, with the crime of crime – genocide – being committed with the active support of our governments? More >>
On The Death Of Library Browsing
Tuesday, 2 April 2024, 4:28 pm | Gordon Campbell
Increasingly, libraries are being under-funded and seen as unnecessary in the digital age. With good reason, many people are worried that the library space devoted to books is shrinking, the ability to browse is vanishing, and the social and communal ... More >>
The Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Conspiracy As Mother’s Milk
Tuesday, 2 April 2024, 3:25 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The Singaporean-flagged MV Dali container ship lost power on March 26 and collided with the bridge in the early morning, causing the dramatic destruction of the bridge and the deaths of six construction workers who fell into the Patapsco River. More >>
On Kuffiyehs And Watermelon - Revealing The Meaning Of Palestinian Symbols
Tuesday, 2 April 2024, 7:27 am | Romana Rubeo and Ramzy Baroud
And, while Palestinian symbols reflect the desire of Palestinians to return to the land of their ancestors, and to reclaim the rights and justice which they have been long denied, Israeli symbols seem to merely lay claims - ancient, religious, unverifiable. More >>
Kategate: From Conspiracy To Contrition Extraction
Tuesday, 2 April 2024, 7:19 am | Binoy Kampmark
Cancer is a stomping bugger of a disease. It seeks the worm-ridden end, a thief finding its way into your body unasked and willingly helping itself. This cellular mass army will, in a most tribal way, make off with your remains chance permitting. ... More >>
Katya Rivas' Passion Of Christ (2024)
Sunday, 31 March 2024, 2:50 pm | Katya Rivas
A serialisation of Katya Rivas’s “The Passion”. More >>
Function Versus Form: Public Service Cuts
Saturday, 30 March 2024, 7:00 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the public service staffing cuts being pushed by the new government in the context of the relationship between function and form along with process improvement. More >>
Starvation In Gaza: The World Court’s Latest Intervention
Saturday, 30 March 2024, 6:54 pm | Binoy Kampmark
In this, the Court points to the possible, and increasingly plausible nexus, between starvation, famine and deprivation of necessaries as state policies with the intent to injure and kill members of a protected group. More >>
Imperial Fruit: Bananas, Costs And Climate Change
Friday, 29 March 2024, 6:03 pm | Binoy Kampmark
There is good reason then to take a rather withering view of the banana trade. It has become the feature fruit of monstrous monopolies, a brutal currency of exchange. More >>
Complicit In Genocide: Where Israel Gets Its Weapons From
Thursday, 28 March 2024, 2:05 pm | Ramzy Baroud
Over 9,000 Palestinian women have been killed since the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. Mothers have been the largest share of Israeli killings, at an average of 37 mothers per day since October 7. The numbers above, from the Palestinian ... More >>
On The US Opposition To Mortgage Interest Deductibility For Landlords
Thursday, 28 March 2024, 9:58 am | Gordon Campbell
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don't think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government ... More >>
Distinctions Without Difference: The Security Council On Gaza Passes
Thursday, 28 March 2024, 7:12 am | Binoy Kampmark
The UN Security Council presents one of the great contradictions of power in the international system. More >>
Purgatorial Torments: Assange And The UK High Court
Wednesday, 27 March 2024, 2:53 pm | Binoy Kampmark
What is it about British justice that has a certain rankness to it, notably when it comes to dealing with political charges? The record is not good, and the ongoing sadistic carnival that is the prosecution (and persecution) of Julian Assange continues ... More >>
How AI Art Reshapes Perspectives
Wednesday, 27 March 2024, 9:57 am | Hugh Grant
Last year, generative artificial intelligence created waves in the art community. It created a lot of controversy, with human artists claiming that AI was infringing on their intellectual property rights. There’s still a lot of debate around this ... More >>
World War Two: Baddies And Goodies
Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 3:30 pm | Keith Rankin
My earlier article – Can 'Good' be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil framing of international conflicts makes it difficult for participants – especially those who are convinced they are ... More >>
On Labour’s Fear Of Commitment
Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 11:59 am | Gordon Campbell
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a ... More >>
The AUKUS Cash Cow: Robbing The Australian Taxpayer
Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 11:16 am | Binoy Kampmark
Two British ministers, the UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, paid a recent visit to Australia recently as part of the AUKMIN (Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations) talks. It showed, yet again, that Australia’s ... More >>
Can 'Good' Be The Greater Evil?
Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 10:27 am | Keith Rankin
Much of our conflict in the world has been (at least at the time it was happening) framed as Good versus Evil, and with Good therefore having a moral imperative to prevail 'at any cost'. Once upon a time – and in my lifetime – many of us regarded ... More >>
