Are the enemies of Obama’s main enemy now his friends
Our PM has given Obama a green light to start bombing ISIS. In John Key’s simplistic schema (repeated on Q and A and the Nation) ISIS is a terrorist organisation and its ok to drone kill anyone whose a terrorist. So much for real political solutions.
Read More →Police misuse tasers to induce compliance
The Independent Police Conduct Authority’s criticism of Police for tasering a non-aggressive man in his own home reinforce the fears we had when tasers were introduced.
Read More →Coat-tailing has ensured political diversity under MMP
There’s too much grumping about the “coat-tailing” provision of MMP, whereby a smaller (lower-voting) party can bring in extra MPs (in proportion to their party vote) if they win an electorate seat.
Read More →SIS steps outside the law
The less accountable a public agency is, the more likely it is to become a law unto itself. This is true for the Security Intelligence Service. Only the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security is empowered to check what the SIS actually does, and to date it has been a pretty toothless watchdog.
Read More →Another mythical scare story about boat people coming to NZ
I sighed when I read the Sunday Star-Times front page headline: “People-smugglers bid to sail first boat to NZ”. Here we go again, I thought. Another scare story playing to racists and those among us who are prejudiced against asylum seekers.
Read More →McCully comes to the rescue of Sri Lankan regime
You would think there is a strong enough argument for an independent international inquiry. But not for our Foreign Minister Murray McCully. While visiting Auckland this month, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister GL Peiris made a point of thanking Mr McCully for refusing to co-sponsor the UN Human Rights Council resolution.
Read More →Key should apologise to Brazilian and Mexican presidents for helping NSA spy on them
A lot of official Japanese communications must be picked up by Waihopai’s dishes, given the communications satellites Waihopai targets are geostationary over the Pacific equator near Japan. When passed on to the NSA this Japanese information would be used to serve US interests, not New Zealand’s.
Read More →Rehabilitating prisoners versus arbitrary detention
There is growing pressure to erode our right not to be punished or detained for crimes we haven’t yet committed.
Read More →Electric rail comes to Auckland
It’s been a long time coming. Electrifying Auckland suburban rail has been talked about ever since Christchurch (1929-1970) and Wellington (1939 to the present) electrified their suburban rail.
Read More →Drone killings erode social constraint on using violence
The drone killing of an (unnamed) New Zealander in Yemen should prompt us to look at the ethics of this practice.
Read More →Labour failing to learn the political positioning lessons from the 1996 and 2002 elections
In 1996 and 2002 the people’s perception of how well the two main left-of-centre parties could work together was a big factor in their subsequent electoral fortunes.
Read More →Countering the Nazi smears against Kim Dotcom
We have to defend Kim Dotcom against efforts to associate him with Nazism simply because he possesses a copy of Mein Kampf.
Read More →Technological advances increase Waihopai’s threat to our privacy
Technological advances may mean the Waihopai spy station is becoming an ever greater threat to people’s privacy.
Read More →Engaging with the NZ flag debate
John Key has stolen a march on the Left by pushing for new New Zealand flag, and planning a referendum process to choose the best design.
Read More →Russia not alone in grabbing territory for military reasons
President Obama would have more authority to challenge President Putin over the Ukraine if the US was not involved in similar landgrabs for military and strategic purposes.
Read More →Is the GCSB breaking the cyberbullying law?
The government is attempting to address cyberbullying in the Harmful Digital Communications Bill, but this action is compromised by the Government Communications Security Bureau’s complicity in the most nasty forms of cyberbullying.
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