Revealed preference
Former National leader Don Brash addressed the ACT party conference at the weekend, which was half “catching Australia” boilerplate and half a warming-over of the infamous “nationhood” speech given at...
View ArticleWhite Queen
Andrew Geddis has a good post up on Pundit about Hilary Calvert and her apparent ignorance of the Humpty Dumpty scene from Through the Looking-Glass. The extent of Calvert’s idiocy being so egregious,...
View ArticleMaster-race baiting
[Updated 10 July 2011 to account for Don Brash's statements in response to John Ansell, and Ansell's resignation from ACT.] Many have remarked on the appropriateness of the website of the ACT Party...
View ArticleAn Open Letter to the ACT Party Regarding Candidate Selection
Dear ACT Party Leaders, As you may know, I was brought up in Wanganui, and keep an eye on events there. So it was with great interest that I received the below letter, published in the Wanganui...
View ArticleRioting Poms.
A short while ago we were treated to the spectacle of a Royal Westminster wedding, a royal tour of Canada and the US, then another lesser royal wedding. The UK and colonial media went crazy with 24/7...
View ArticleA Turn to Mean.
As I watched various labour conflicts over the past few months, then took in accounts of greed-mongering of various types (the wheel-clamping rort being the latest), I set to wondering if things have...
View ArticleIs Child Abduction Media Coverage Color-Based?
Does there not seem something odd about the coverage of the little white girl found with a Roma (gypsy) family in Greece? From what I have seen the coverage has focused on her supposed abduction and...
View ArticleThis is not the discussion you are looking for
“They are so many, and our country is so small. Where will we find space to bury them all?” – Finnish soldier during the Winter War, 1939 “We have won just about enough ground to bury our dead.” – Red...
View ArticleGo The Donald!
I am lucky to be able to vote in the US as well as NZ, and very much relish the opportunity in both countries. In the US I am registered as a voter in Florida, which is a closed primary state. “Closed”...
View ArticleThe destruction of brand Trump.
As readers may be aware I am delighted by the Trump candidacy because it is destroying the Republican Party and will pave the way for an epic defeat in the November general elections. Not only will the...
View ArticleMedia Link: Brussels’ heart of darkness.
I wrote a short opinion piece in the Herald outlining some of my thoughts about the Brussels terrorist attacks. Unless the root causes of the problem are addressed, there will be no end to them. Even...
View ArticleDarkness at heart.
Lets consider a hypothetical scenario. A group of women appear to be well on their way to intoxication at a polite venue on an island known to cater to the affluent. They are not caucasian. A...
View ArticleLetters from America: Opioids and Venezuelans.
I am on an extended stay in the US that will see me in several states and regions before my return to NZ in December. I decided that this is a good opportunity to write an occasional “Letters from...
View ArticleLetters from America, take three: a scab got picked.
Donald Trump picked a scab during his campaign for the presidency and now the pus is draining out. It will be a while before the wound is cleansed. The pus is racism, xenophobia and bigotry. When I...
View ArticleMedia Link: Weinstein, Trump’s mental health and Mueller lurking.
Mitch Harris and I continued our weekly radio conversations from the US, this week discussing Harvey Weinstein, reports that Trump is mentally “unraveling” and how the Mueller investigation into...
View ArticleLetters from America, take eight: on the fear of “good negro government.”
One notable aspect of contemporary US politics is the re-emergence of so-called culture wars. Orchestrated by Steve Bannon, assorted alt-Right platforms and Murdoch media outlets in response to what...
View ArticleThe false equivalence between racists and whistleblowers.
So a National MP and assorted right-wingers believe that Chelsea Manning should not be allowed to speak in NZ because she is a [insert unpleasant adjectives and nouns here]. Many of those who...
View ArticleFirst a massacre, then the push back.
During the first hours and days after the terrorist attack in Christchurch, I tried to be optimistic about what could come out of the event. I saw it as a window of opportunity and teaching moment, a...
View ArticleXenophobia is not always racist.
I have been reading and listening to the aftermath of Trump’s comments about the four female first term Democratic representatives, all of whom are “people of color.” I found the US coverage...
View ArticleThe MAGA pyramid.
This is a short reflection on the what of Trump’s support in the US two months out from the national elections. For weeks now I have been saying to friends here and in the US that whatever the result,...
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