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Arresting And Killing Greenies: Targeting Climate Change Protests
Wednesday, 8 January 2025, 3:52 pm | Binoy Kampmark
In wealthier states, the climate change protester may be safer, but hardly immune from state violence. Arrests of protestors in both Australia and the UK are above the international average: 20% and 17% respectively. More >>
Welcome Puberty Blockers Report But Beware Derailing Transphobia
Tuesday, 7 January 2025, 5:16 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the Health Ministry’s position statement on puberty blocker prescribing in the context of an NZ Medical Journal article, guidelines based on the Hippocratic Oath and the risk of transphobic derailment. More >>
Take Your Money And Shove It: The Second Long Telegram, US Aid, And Russia’s Economic Trauma
Tuesday, 7 January 2025, 3:36 pm | Binoy Kampmark
While historical forces, local conditions and cultural idiosyncrasies will always guide the development of any state and community, there is something to be said that post-Cold War Russia might have taken something of a different path had Merry’s ... More >>
On Justin Trudeau’s Demise, In A Global Context
Tuesday, 7 January 2025, 11:48 am | Gordon Campbell
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s ... More >>
Join The Army; Travel To Exotic, Distant Lands; And Radicalise
Monday, 6 January 2025, 3:47 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Those with such records were also abundantly linked to far-right domestic extremist groups and movements (73.5%), while 15%, or 24 offenders, “were inspired by or connected to foreign Islamist extremist groups” such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic ... More >>
Letters from Gaza – ‘Alhamdulillah. We Are Not Okay’
Monday, 6 January 2025, 10:16 am | Ramzy Baroud
It may seem strange that none of those who communicated with me throughout the war have ever questioned their faith, and have often, if not always, begun their messages by checking on me, and my children. More >>
Imperialism, Chagos Islanders And The Fight To Return
Sunday, 5 January 2025, 1:58 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the long determined fight of evicted Chagos Islanders to return home in the context of imperialism. More >>
Frail Egos And Sandpit Colonialism: Australia, The United States And Invading Iraq
Saturday, 4 January 2025, 2:38 pm | Binoy Kampmark
What makes Australia’s own involvement even worse, was that the reason to go to war lay less in an international security threat than a weak ego and reputational yearning: to be cringingly worthy to Washington. More >>
Ignoring A Leopard’s Spots: The UK, Syria And Courting Dictators
Friday, 3 January 2025, 1:38 pm | Binoy Kampmark
In an echo of history, the current UK government has found a new man of transactional worth in Damascus. The great usurper, Jolani, has taken Bashar’s place. His Al Qaeda and Islamic State past is being strategically sanitised, the revolutionary ... More >>
Neuroscience’s Misleading Half-Truths
Friday, 3 January 2025, 10:37 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Diversity arises from wholeness, not from particularity. The notion that life can be reduced to its “basic building blocks” is a fundamental philosophical mistake of many scientists, who project the basic premise of thought—separation—onto ... More >>
Fighting Israel’s War In Jenin: Can The Palestinian Authority Be Saved?
Thursday, 2 January 2025, 6:20 pm | Ramzy Baroud
In the face of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and unprecedentedly violent crackdowns on Palestinians in the West Bank, the betrayal of the PA has been laid bare for all to see. The latest operation in Jenin is a clear manifestation of how Israel uses ... More >>
Far From Ignorant: The European Union, Arms Exports And Israel
Thursday, 2 January 2025, 1:14 pm | Binoy Kampmark
While the European Union dithers and stalls on responding to this subject, despite the ICJ’s interim rulings that there was a risk of irreparable harm to the Palestinian right to be protected from genocide, bureaucrats have been busy. More >>
Jimmy Carter, Israel And The Apartheid Question
Tuesday, 31 December 2024, 1:40 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Beyond his stint in office, the tongue worked more easily, and opinions expressed with greater ease. Over time, for instance, he frowned with matronly disapproval at Israel over its treatment of Palestinians. More >>
Pulverized By Asia's Tsunami
Monday, 30 December 2024, 2:58 pm | Richard S. Ehrlich
Tourists were thronging Thailand's gorgeous southwest coast where Phuket island and the granite-studded, sandy beaches of Khao Lak became the hardest hit zones amid estuaries, mangroves, and sea cliffs. More >>
Greenland Redux: Trump And America’s Continuing Obsession
Monday, 30 December 2024, 12:45 pm | Binoy Kampmark
History shows that empires acquire territories in various ways. Dynasties link arms through marriage, as the Habsburgs were famous for doing. Territories are pinched by means of arms or stolen through sham contracts and undertakings. They might also ... More >>
A Palestinian Year In Review: Genocide, Resistance And Unanswered Questions
Sunday, 29 December 2024, 1:07 pm | Ramzy Baroud
2025 could, indeed, represent that watershed moment. This remains to be seen. However, as far as Palestinians are concerned, even with the failure of the international community to stop the genocide & reign in Israel, their steadfastness, sumoud, will ... More >>
Sinking Mike Pompeo: Tucker Carlson, Assange And Trump
Saturday, 28 December 2024, 2:25 pm | Binoy Kampmark
With the return of Trump to the White House, whose campaign was aided by various figures sympathetic to Assange’s publishing efforts, the eyes shifted, once again, to Pompeo. Would the now leaner figure make a return, probably as Defense Secretary? ... More >>
Suing Antony Blinken: The US State Department, Israel And The Leahy Law
Friday, 27 December 2024, 2:56 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Blinken’s record when applying the Leahy Law to Israeli units is disturbingly scrappy. In May, for instance, he explained to Congress that the punishments meted out to soldiers and officers in four cases prior to the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, More >>
Jesting On The Environment: Australian Mining Gets A Present
Thursday, 26 December 2024, 1:18 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The institute pointed out that the three mines, in the current state of operation, “were already so large that they could almost cover greater Sydney, or most Australian cities.” More >>
The Antithesis Of What Jesus Taught And Lived
Wednesday, 25 December 2024, 10:42 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Rather than face their own failings, mourn their loss and question why things went wrong, they declared that he died for our sins and started a religion that has ended in hate, power and greed, the antithesis of what Jesus taught and lived. More >>
The West Bank's Men Of The CIA - Why Is The PA Killing Palestinians In Jenin?
Wednesday, 25 December 2024, 8:52 am | Ramzy Baroud
It could be argued that the PA was structured since its establishment in 1994 as a body whose existence catered to benefit the Israeli occupation. Evidence that substantiates this claim includes the arrests, torture and killing of dissenting Palestinians soon ... More >>
Concentrated Markets And Iceless Fokkers
Monday, 23 December 2024, 1:14 pm | Binoy Kampmark
It’s a scheme that has become the central strategy of governments, administrative and corporate entities the world over. More >>
Catching Pegasus: Mercenary Spyware And The Liability Of The NSO Group
Sunday, 22 December 2024, 5:34 pm | Binoy Kampmark
In this woefully unregulated industry, Israel’s poster child of spyware will most likely cough up and continue to make money from the pathologies of government insecurity. They will just have to be mindful of the US market from hereon in. More >>
The World Owes Palestine This Much - Please Stop Censoring Palestinian Voices
Saturday, 21 December 2024, 5:23 am | Ramzy Baroud
In the specific case of social media censorship in Gaza, lives are literally being lost as a result of politically motivated decisions. The censorship takes a dark, deadly turn as it could make the difference between people dying under the rubble ... More >>
Why Vanuatu Should Brace For Even More Aftershocks After This Week’s Deadly Quakes: A Seismologist Explains
Friday, 20 December 2024, 5:35 pm | The Conversation
Since Vanuatu’s first earthquake was at a magnitude over 7, we would expect to see more aftershocks to come, at declining strengths and frequency – in a pattern that can last weeks to months. More >>
Meditation Without A Method
Friday, 20 December 2024, 11:40 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
There is no method to meditation. Methods and systems are fabrications of thought, and thought cannot be used to quiet psychological thought without dulling the brain. One simply begins with the intent to listen, and delight in the senses. More >>
Israel To Annex The West Bank – Why Now? And What Are The Likely Scenarios?
Thursday, 19 December 2024, 6:15 pm | Ramzy Baroud
What is taking place in Syria serves as a model of what to expect in the West Bank in coming months. All of this in mind, the annexation of the West Bank in the coming weeks or months is a real possibility. More >>
The Strawman Of Antisemitism: Banning Protests Against Israel Down Under
Thursday, 19 December 2024, 2:28 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Ever the opportunist, Netanyahu saw a chance to see unsubstantiated links between the bombing in Melbourne, Australian foreign policy and antisemitism. The conclusion was childishly simple: “Anti-Israel sentiment is antisemitism.” More >>
On Why We Can’t Survive Two More Years Of This
Thursday, 19 December 2024, 12:10 pm | Gordon Campbell
Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to her, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending schemes cooked up by the dastardly and long-departed ... More >>
Judaism, Antisemitism, And Israel
Wednesday, 18 December 2024, 7:09 pm | Keith Rankin
Israel today has arisen as a consequence of two millenniums of antisemitism in its various Christian forms. Israel is a nation-state which must abide by the same rules as any other nation state. Criticism of Israel is not antisemitism. More >>
Haka, Hikoi And The Empowerment Of The Kohanga Generation
Wednesday, 18 December 2024, 6:26 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the recent massive unprecedented hikoi in New Zealand in its wider context including the relationship between struggle, consciousness and empowerment. More >>
Feeding Chaos: Israel Cripples Syria’s Defence
Wednesday, 18 December 2024, 2:54 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Israeli troops have militarised the demilitarised zone inside Syria created in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, including Mount Hermon, a site overlooking Damascus. More >>
Last Acts: Time For Biden To Pardon Assange
Tuesday, 17 December 2024, 3:10 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The Assange campaign has now shifted its focus to obtaining a pardon for the publisher, with a goal of persuading up to 30,000 people to write to US President Joe Biden to do just that. More >>
On The Coalition’s Empty Gestures, And Abortion Refusal As The New Slavery
Tuesday, 17 December 2024, 11:28 am | Gordon Campbell
A whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need - spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. More >>
Foiling Rupert Murdoch: Project Harmony Misfires
Monday, 16 December 2024, 8:39 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Media vultures in search of carrion see this ruling as remarkable – probably more so than it is. More >>
Commissioner’s Approach To Healthcare Provision: ‘Slash And Burn’
Sunday, 15 December 2024, 5:06 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses Health New Zealand’s ‘slash and burn’ approach under its new Commissioner Lester Levy with particular reference to IT infrastructure. More >>
The Case For Brand Aotearoa
Sunday, 15 December 2024, 3:24 pm | Jack Yan
Jack Yan says we’re still falling short of having a nation brand that supports all exporters. More >>
Unity Above Else: The Only Road to the Liberation of Palestine
Sunday, 15 December 2024, 6:09 am | Ramzy Baroud
The road for Palestine liberation can only go through Palestine itself and, more specifically, the clarity of purpose of the Palestinian people who, more than any other nation in modern times, have paid and continue to pay the highest price for ... More >>
Finding The Unmentionable: Amnesty International, Israel And Genocide
Saturday, 14 December 2024, 2:46 pm | Binoy Kampmark
No amount of pedantry and disagreement can arrest the sense that Israel’s lethal conduct, whatever threshold it may reach in international law, is directed at destroying not merely Palestinian life but any worthwhile sense of a viable sovereignty. More >>
News Bargaining Incentive: The Latest Move In The Government’s ‘Four-dimensional Chess’ Battle With Meta
Friday, 13 December 2024, 1:46 pm | The Conversation
The government has been playing ‘four-dimensional chess’ to work out how to drag big tech back to the bargaining table with news publishers. So, will this new scheme work? More >>
Gordon Campbell On The Latest Round Of Ferry Follies
Friday, 13 December 2024, 1:02 pm | Gordon Campbell
Winston Peters as Minister of Rail has exposed the deep rifts around the coalition Cabinet table. All year, Peters’ preference has been for ferries with a “roll on, roll off” capability instead of the government's preferred option without this ... More >>
Chinese Upgrading A Hammerhead-Shaped Port With A Pakistan-China Joint Exercise
Thursday, 12 December 2024, 2:45 pm | Richard S. Ehrlich
"The exercise will focus on joint counter-terrorism clean-up and strike operations," Chinese-government controlled Xinhua News Agency reported. More >>
Exploring Our Place In The Universe
Thursday, 12 December 2024, 9:25 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Meditation is the spontaneous stillness of thought in all-inclusive, choiceless and undirected attention. Only when the brain is completely quiet can it contact the infinite silence and creative emptiness of Mind. More >>
Dunne's Weekly: Some Observations On A Turbulent Political Year
Thursday, 12 December 2024, 8:48 am | Peter Dunne
Parliament's best performer – as opposed to politician of the year – has been Speaker Gerry Brownlee who has performed his role with the patience, wisdom and dignity that critics might not previously expected of him. More >>
David Farrar’s Incomplete Health Workforce Analysis
Wednesday, 11 December 2024, 6:34 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses why increasing numbers of resident (junior) doctors in New Zealand are leaving the country, primarily to Australia, in response to an incomplete simplistic claim by rightwing political commentator David Farrar. More >>
Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Ongoing Ferries Disaster
Wednesday, 11 December 2024, 3:45 pm | Gordon Campbell
We learned today that Nicola Willis and Winston Peters, the newly-anointed Minister of Rail have a plan to replace the iRex ferries that were otherwise due to arrive in 2026. The replacement ships (a) will now arrive at an unknown time but not before ... More >>
Ding Dong, Australia’s Misinformation-Disinformation Bill Is Dead
Wednesday, 11 December 2024, 3:06 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Facing certain defeat, the Albanese government revealed its position a few days later. “Based on public statements and engagements with senators, it is clear that there is no pathway to legislate this proposal through the Senate,” conceded Communications ... More >>
Chilling Warnings For Syria: When Foreign Interventions Go Bad
Tuesday, 10 December 2024, 1:28 pm | Binoy Kampmark
When foreign powers meddle, particularly in the Middle East, the result is very often a cure worse than the disease. More >>
Al Aqsa Provocation And The Media Game 'Israel Says'
Monday, 9 December 2024, 8:19 pm | Keith Rankin
When Benjamin Netanyahu said 'jump', the media moguls effectively said 'how high?' Since then, like Groundhog Day, media copywriters have been playing the game 'Israel says'. When institutions succumb to narratives of the 'Israel says' variety, they ... More >>
On The Fall Of Assad, And The New Dylan Movie
Monday, 9 December 2024, 11:30 am | Gordon Campbell
Hold the champagne. Ugly and brutal as it was, the Assad regime may have been the lesser evil for Syria, the Middle East region and the rest of the world. And, just after Christmas, the Bob Dylan dramatized film biography A Complete Unknown will ... More >>
The Sectarian Risk: Turkey’s Syrian Mission
Sunday, 8 December 2024, 7:39 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Turkey's intervention in Syria’s conflict was motivated by 2 main goals: the containment, if not elimination, of Kurdish militants in northern Syria, & creating conditions of stability or “safe zones” that would enable a return of Syrian refugees when ... More >>
Changing Face Of Capitalism: Private Equity Threat To New Zealand Economy
Sunday, 8 December 2024, 7:01 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the potential threat of private equity companies to the New Zealand economy in light of the SolarZero liquidation and the US experience. More >>
FIFA’s Cooked Findings: Saudi Arabia’s World Cup Bid
Saturday, 7 December 2024, 2:49 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Not all has been smooth on the matter of endorsing FIFA’s decision, at least at the level of various football organisations whose approval is also sought. But even there, Saudi sporting strategy has been in evidence to ensure a lack of dissent. More >>
The Demon In The Mirror. Trump Exposes Who We Are.
Friday, 6 December 2024, 2:34 pm | Eugene Doyle
When governments fail to clear the lowest bars of moral conduct, history demands that populations take action – that citizens don’t look away but step up and do everything it takes to force fundamental change, respect for human rights and ... More >>
Waking From The Nightmare
Friday, 6 December 2024, 12:55 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Awakening is difficult, requiring diligent awareness and questioning, which is why the vast majority of people still adapt to their culture, however sick it is. More >>
The Tectonic Shift: The Gaza Genocide And The Limits Of Israeli Hasbara
Thursday, 5 December 2024, 7:27 pm | Ramzy Baroud
Today, ordinary people have been made aware of the conversation on Palestine, No amount of Israeli propaganda, unjust laws, unfair categorizations of Palestinians or the hardly-clad models of the IDF, will ever succeed in reversing these realities. More >>
Public Hospital Specialists Increase: Delusional Spit In The Ocean With Sinister Undertone
Thursday, 5 December 2024, 6:13 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the recent announcement of an increase of 50 senior hospital doctor position in New Zealand’s pubic health system; both the strong scepticism and a sinister undertone. More >>
On How Slavishly This Government Is Serving Its Corporate Donors
Thursday, 5 December 2024, 12:04 pm | Gordon Campbell
The government has been tilting the balance of power in the workplace even further in favour of employers. This week saw the Workplace Relations Minister reduce the ability of workers to bring personal grievance proceedings against bad employers ... More >>
Luxon's Political Communication Challenge
Wednesday, 4 December 2024, 9:09 am | Peter Dunne
DUNNE’S WEEKLY As the government begins its second year in office there has been much comment about the leadership style and tone of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. By his own admission he is not a career politician. There have been occasions when ... More >>
The Syrian Civil War: New Phases, Old Lies
Tuesday, 3 December 2024, 4:08 pm | Binoy Kampmark
For one, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has a series of goals. It purports to be an indigenous movement keen on eliminating the Assad regime, establishing Islamic rule and expelling all Iranian militias from Syrian soil. More >>
