Gordon Campbell - Latest News [Page 1]
On The Epic Fails Of Kris Faafoi
Thursday, 14 October 2021, 11:23 am | Gordon Campbell
Ever since Winston Peters first breathed life into this government in 2018, its own branding has been all about social justice and how we all need to be “kind” to each other. Somehow, Kris Faafoi must have missed the memo. His performance in ... More >>
On Covid Mandates, And The Covid Pill
Tuesday, 12 October 2021, 10:30 am | Gordon Campbell
The cliché about “living with Covid” will not mean life as we’ve known it, Jim. Vaccination is fast becoming a condition of employment, and also a requirement to participate in aspects of social life, such as travel, attending bars, cafes, ... More >>
On Korea’s March To Global Cultural Domination, Plus A K-pop Playlist
Thursday, 7 October 2021, 12:18 pm | Gordon Campbell
So far, South Korea’s culture industries seem to be pandemic proof. They’re also winning huge global audiences, and not merely large domestic ones. In recent years, South Korea’s TV series (Squid Game, Descendants of The Sun) and movies ... More >>
On The Civil War (and Looming Famine) In Ethiopia
Wednesday, 6 October 2021, 9:15 am | Gordon Campbell
When the United Nations wheels out its toughest language – Yemen in 2017 was /is“the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe” and (this week) the crisis in Ethiopia “ is a stain on our conscience” this is code. Yes, the United Nations is saying ... More >>
On Lifting The Lockdowns, And The Covid Pill
Tuesday, 5 October 2021, 11:33 am | Gordon Campbell
One can sympathise with firms struggling under the financial stress caused by Covid restrictions. Yet business (and other critics)appear to be demanding that the government produce a plan for re-opening that will still somehow (a) control the virus at a ... More >>
On National’s Covid Re-opening Plan
Thursday, 30 September 2021, 11:46 am | Gordon Campbell
After banging for what has seemed an eternity about how the government doesn’t have a plan for removing restrictions and re-opening the country, National’s own re-opening “plan” unveiled yesterday was always likely to be an anti-climax. More >>
On Living In Seymour World
Wednesday, 29 September 2021, 10:20 am | Gordon Campbell
So far, the horse race journalism surrounding the polling rise of the Act Party has not included much consideration of the policies an Act -influenced government would pursue. During this honeymoon phase – giddily, David Seymour is being asked ... More >>
On Covid Vaccine Inequality, Plus Cowboy Bebop
Monday, 27 September 2021, 11:25 am | Gordon Campbell
Plainly, the Big Pharma model – where vaccine development, distribution, and pricing is left in the hands of the private sector - is not fit for purpose when it comes to meeting the global challenge of Covid vaccine coverage. Last week, Amnesty International ... More >>
On Canada’s Election, And The AUKUS Defence Pact
Wednesday, 22 September 2021, 1:39 pm | Gordon Campbell
Yesterday, Canada held an election in which everyone lost, including the voters. After holding its most expensive ( $C600 million) election campaign ever, the result was Groundhog Day, with the five main parties getting almost exactly the same number ... More >>
On the Great Covid Mask Debate, plus a music playlist
Tuesday, 21 September 2021, 10:10 am | Gordon Campbell
Ay caramba. Only yesterday, Otago University epidemiologist Dr Nick Wilson was still feeling it necessary to suggest that the government should maybe make mask-wearing compulsory, in the likes of schools and workplaces. The chronic official reluctance ... More >>
On the moral and scientific case against Covid booster shots
Wednesday, 15 September 2021, 3:03 pm | Gordon Campbell
A year ago, a Covid vaccine was still on humanity’s wish list. Now, we’re basing our economic planning - and the safety of opening our borders – on the ability of the new Covid vaccines to reduce infection, hospitalisation and death. Given this ... More >>
On the moral and scientific case against Covid booster shots
Wednesday, 15 September 2021, 3:01 pm | Gordon Campbell
A year ago, a Covid vaccine was still on humanity’s wish list. Now, we’re basing our economic planning - and the safety of opening our borders – on the ability of the new Covid vaccines to reduce infection, hospitalisation and death. Given this ... More >>
On the Covid exit plan, and 9/11 media memories
Tuesday, 14 September 2021, 11:50 am | Gordon Campbell
Is it OK to feel nostalgic for the period only a couple of months ago, when the government seemed to have a plan for exiting from the elimination strategy? Ah, the good old days. That plan included inviting firms to nominate a few hundred of their ... More >>
On Taliban hardliners, and a lockdown playlist
Thursday, 9 September 2021, 11:16 am | Gordon Campbell
Well, so much for early hopes that the new Taliban “caretaker” government would be more inclusive, and moderate. Instead, we’ve got a Cabinet that is (a) all men and (b) all Taliban, with no attempt to reach across the country’s political divides. ... More >>
On why terrorism law changes can't be rushed
Monday, 6 September 2021, 12:18 pm | Gordon Campbell
Given the horrifying actions of the New Lynn supermarket terrorist, it is easy to see why the public and the government seem to have agreed on the need to change the relevant laws, all the better to protect the public. Presumably, this would involve ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on the messaging to the vaccine hesitants
Friday, 3 September 2021, 10:29 am | Gordon Campbell
While the recent surge in vaccinations has been welcome, we’re still in the low hanging fruit phase of the journey towards 80-90% rates of protection. Previous polling suggested that the hardcore anti-vaxxers and vaccine “hesitants” used to comprise ... More >>
On how New Zealand can get itself a safe, purpose-built Covid isolation facility
Wednesday, 1 September 2021, 11:17 am | Gordon Campbell
Over the past few months, one of the few things that the “Covid elimination” strategists and the “we have to live with Covid” advocates have agreed on is that New Zealand sorely needs a purpose-built managed isolation facility. Using hotels ... More >>
On Why Judith Collins Should Consider The Canada Model
Monday, 30 August 2021, 2:52 pm | Gordon Campbell
For months now, Judith Collins has been doubling down on National as the party of angry talkback radio. If you’ve got a beef about Jacinda Ardern telling you what to do, Collins is right on side. If you’re ticked off about all this Treaty malarkey ... More >>
On how Delta has changed the endgame for the pandemic
Thursday, 26 August 2021, 2:39 pm | Gordon Campbell
Lockdown vs Delta. Day by day, New Zealand is learning whether a Level Four lockdown can confine and eventually defeat the Delta variant. Yes, the number of cases keep on increasing – but the increase (so far, cross fingers) is linear, and not exponential. ... More >>
On “the old weird” music of America, with a playlist
Tuesday, 24 August 2021, 10:12 am | Gordon Campbell
Here’s some weird old music for the weird realities of lockdown. Like other key phases in popular music – jazz, country, rock’n’roll, punk, hip hop – the period between 1927 and 1932 marked a revolutionary leap forward. The writer Greil ... More >>
