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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 >>
On Why An AUKUS Led By Trump Is A Scary Prospect
Tuesday, 3 December 2024, 12:02 pm | Gordon Campbell
On the weeknd, Labour figured out that it doesn’t want New Zealand to join Pillar 2 of an AUKUS pact after all. Hmm. This is despite the fact that its then-Defence Minister Andrew Little seemed dead keen on AUKUS when Labour was last in a position ... More >>
Bidenomics And Luxonomics
Tuesday, 3 December 2024, 10:37 am | Keith Rankin
Bidenomics was functionally the same as 'hitlernomics'. In the meantime, Luxonomics is paralysing Aotearoa New Zealand. More >>
Israel And The West’s War On Itself: The True Meaning Of ICC Arrest Warrants
Sunday, 1 December 2024, 3:21 pm | Ramzy Baroud
It would not be an exaggeration to claim that the ICC’s indictment of Netanyahu, as a representative of the political establishment in Israel, and Gallant, as the leader of the military class, is also an indictment of the United States. More >>
Gallic Stubbornness: France, Netanyahu And The ICC Arrest Warrants
Saturday, 30 November 2024, 6:09 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The French approach waters down the effect of the warrants by effectively rejecting ICC jurisdiction over Israel’s officials & commanders, despite the court’s own finding that it had jurisdiction by virtue of Israel’s operations on Palestinian ... More >>
‘Genocide’ vs ‘Bigger Genocide’ in Gaza: Time to Decolonize Our Minds
Saturday, 30 November 2024, 2:11 pm | Ramzy Baroud
The world is vastly changing, and it is time for us to change as well. Frantz Fanon had already discovered the cure: We must clinically detect and remove the rot, not only from our land but from our minds as well. More >>
A Meditation On Noise And Silence
Friday, 29 November 2024, 1:11 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Being at one with cosmic silence is the highest capacity of the human being. To the extent that we only hear the noise of man however, outwardly and inwardly, we are incapable of silent being. More >>
On The Royal Commission’s Fine-tuning Of Vaccine Mandates And Lockdowns
Friday, 29 November 2024, 9:17 am | Gordon Campbell
Let's hope politicians of all stripes can agree to limit their urge to politicise the Inquiry findings about the Covid response. Since ensuring we get properly equipped next time around –will involve political decisions, some degree of political point ... More >>
The ABC’s Colonel Blimp: Why Kim Williams Misunderstands Joe Rogan
Friday, 29 November 2024, 8:33 am | Binoy Kampmark
It did not take long for the Williams show of snark to make its way to Rogan Land and his defenders, notably Elon Musk, who spent time with Rogan in the lead-up to November’s US presidential election spruiking the credentials of Trump. More >>
No More 'Deals’ - What Palestinians Want And Will Fight To Achieve
Thursday, 28 November 2024, 4:23 pm | Ramzy Baroud
Earlier plans, or deals, rested on the premise of total marginalization of the Palestinian people and their cause. They included the Roger Plan of 1969 and Roger Plan II in the early 70s, which culminated in the Camp David Accords later that same decade. More >>
Dunne's Weekly: Mayor Whanau's Rare Win - To Her City's Detriment
Thursday, 28 November 2024, 9:51 am | Peter Dunne
For a Mayor for whom nearly everything has gone wrong in the last two years, this week’s Council decisions are a rare and welcome win, even if they are perpetuating the wrong direction the city has been heading in. More >>
Ironic Dependency: Russian Uranium And The US Energy Market
Wednesday, 27 November 2024, 2:23 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Russia provides some 27% of enrichment service purchases for US utilities. The Russian state-owned company Rosatom is alone responsible for arranging imports of low-enriched uranium into the US market at some 3 million SWU (Separative Work Units) annually. More >>
General Practice Visits, Emergency Department Presentations, And Social Determinants Of Health
Tuesday, 26 November 2024, 2:38 pm | Ian Powell
In this article, Ian Powell examines the relationship between declining general practice visits, emergency department presentations, and social determinants of health, as highlighted by the latest New Zealand health survey. More >>
Arrest Warrants From The Hague: The ICC, Netanyahu And Gallant
Tuesday, 26 November 2024, 2:15 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The arrest warrants, issued in accordance with the law of international armed conflict, remain the most telling aspect of the determinations. Despite being classified as “secret”, the Chamber deemed it important to release some degree of detail on ... More >>
On What’s Wrong With The Treaty Principles Bill
Tuesday, 26 November 2024, 11:45 am | Gordon Campbell
Seymour’s Bill is a concerted attempt to deny that the Crown has responsibilities and obligations. It does so by invoking a bogus equality before the law, and ignoring the causes of the blatant and enduring inequality of access to opportunity - issues ... More >>
Has WWIII Started?
Sunday, 24 November 2024, 7:13 pm | Eugene Doyle
We all need to evolve our psychology and think more like statesmen and stateswomen – and less like nutters. More >>
Fencing The Ocean: Australia’s Social Media Safety Bill
Saturday, 23 November 2024, 7:36 pm | Binoy Kampmark
These laws constitute yet another effort to concentrate power and responsibilities best held by the citizenry in the hands of a bureaucratic-political class governed by paranoia and procedure. More >>
Trump, AUKUS And Australia’s Dim Servitors
Friday, 22 November 2024, 6:51 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Australia’s government has abandoned all pretence of resistance, measure or judgment, outrageously willing to underwrite the US imperium in any of its needs in countering China, raiding the treasury of taxpayer funds to the tune of a figure that will, ... More >>
On The Publication Of The First NCQG Text "New Collective Quantified Goal On Climate Finance"
Friday, 22 November 2024, 1:15 pm | Alastair Thompson
COP29 is officially due to end on November 22nd but almost certainly will not do so, as there is not yet even a total number for climate finance on the table - which is one of the the things that Developing Nations are pushing for. More >>
Perception, Conception And Beauty
Friday, 22 November 2024, 12:24 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
As we get older the perception of beauty becomes more difficult because memories & experiences fill the mind, leaving less & less space for seeing with innocence, as a child sees. It requires diligence to retain a purity of perception, though the ... More >>
The Wrong Answer To A Question That Does Not Exist
Friday, 22 November 2024, 10:45 am | Peter Dunne
The Treaty is therefore our modus operandi for common nationhood. It is not about the dominance of one signatory over the other, but as Norman Kirk said, about how we all live together in these islands. In that regard, the TPB is simply the wrong ... More >>
A Nation In Denial: Why Israel’s Defeat Is Imminent
Thursday, 21 November 2024, 3:41 pm | Ramzy Baroud
They continue to reference and recycle old religious dogmas, while fervently praying for miracles. In doing so, they insist on reconstructing a new 'Fantasy Israel', which, of course, is set to collapse, as fantasies often do. More >>
New Zealand’s Shameful Modern Slavery Shutdown
Wednesday, 20 November 2024, 6:26 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the government’s shameful response to modern slavery in New Zealand. More >>
