Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Gordon Campbell - Latest News [Page 25]
On The Flaws In The Ukraine Sanctions Response
Tuesday, 8 March 2022, 11:26 am | Gordon Campbell
The Achilles heel in the West’s punitive sanctions against Russia has always been pretty obvious. Russia may be highly dependent on its oil and natural gas exports - but alas, Europe is just as addicted to cheap Russian energy. Germany for instance, ... More >>
On Luxon’s Tired Tax Plan
Monday, 7 March 2022, 12:08 pm | Gordon Campbell
Like a broken record, National Party leader Christopher Luxon is offering a 40 year old formula of tax cuts that (inevitably) will be paid for over time, by cuts to public services. His tax cutting plans would hugely and disproportionately benefit ... More >>
On The Impotence Of Onlookers
Friday, 4 March 2022, 2:35 pm | Gordon Campbell
Against its will, the world has become conditioned to driving by acts of genocide and peering at them through the window with alarm – before driving on home to dinner and a relatively untroubled night’s sleep. The heinous wars in Yemen and Syria, ... More >>
On The Protests, Putin’s Pyrrhic Victory, Plus A Playlist
Wednesday, 2 March 2022, 12:05 pm | Gordon Campbell
The protest encampment at Parliament long ago ceased to have any rational purpose beyond perpetuating its own existence. Social media has already condemned the way the protesters have put their children in harm’s way, and used them as human shields ... More >>
On The Tentative Response To Putin, Plus Putin’s Mentor
Monday, 28 February 2022, 11:57 am | Gordon Campbell
Plainly, Russia’s war on Ukraine isn’t something Vladimir Putin dreamed up overnight, or did on impulse. With hindsight, Putin has been working for years to prepare Russia to withstand the economic sanctions that have been the only way the West has been ... More >>
On Ukraine, And Blokes In Peril
Friday, 25 February 2022, 10:06 am | Gordon Campbell
A great darkness is falling over Ukraine, and it will last for decades. In launching a full scale invasion, Russian president Vladimir Putin is doing what bullies routinely do. He’s beating up on a smaller, weaker adversary while claiming he was provoked. ... More >>
On Ukraine, And Blokes In Peril
Friday, 25 February 2022, 10:04 am | Gordon Campbell
A great darkness is falling over Ukraine, and it will last for decades. In launching a full scale invasion, Russian president Vladimir Putin is doing what bullies routinely do. He’s beating up on a smaller, weaker adversary while claiming he was provoked. ... More >>
On What Ukraine And The West Bank Share In Common
Wednesday, 23 February 2022, 11:16 am | Gordon Campbell
Russia’s tactics in Ukraine are not new. In August 2008, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia after the breakaway region of South Ossetia declared itself independent and invited in Russian troops. To this day, only Russia, Venezuela, Syria and Nauru ... More >>
On The Ottawa Precedent For Police Action
Monday, 21 February 2022, 10:24 am | Gordon Campbell
First contain, then clear. This morning’s belated “traffic management operation” by the Police is clearly a containment exercise meant to create boundaries beyond which the protest will not be allowed to expand. Once established, that perimeter ... More >>
On Freedom, And Government Mandates
Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 3:56 pm | Gordon Campbell
The Omicron surge to 1160 cases a day will inevitably motivate the public to reduce all occasions of risk wherever possible, whether those venues have been formally identified by the contact tracers or not. Cafes, restaurants and other hospitality ... More >>
On The Olympics Of Ultra-Nationalism
Tuesday, 15 February 2022, 11:21 am | Gordon Campbell
Before this year’s winter Olympics Games even began, Human Rights Watch had already condemned China’s intention to use its hosting role as an opportunity to “sportswash” the country’s abysmal human rights record . To that end, China had also warned ... More >>
On Why Compromise Isn’t An Option
Monday, 14 February 2022, 12:19 pm | Gordon Campbell
Gosh, as one academic advocated on RNZ this morning, why don’t some politicians just go out and meet the protesters, listen to them, and suggest a date for ending vaccine mandates. Like say, June 6, he proposed. Why, if that happened, he was pretty ... More >>
On The Police Tactics At Parliament
Friday, 11 February 2022, 10:16 am | Gordon Campbell
Canada is better known for being the home of relentlessly nice people. Yet its trucking protests have become an unlikely model for social disruption, as Covid-related protest movements around the globe have chosen to follow its lead and embrace social disruption ... More >>
On The Crisis – What Crisis? – Over Ukraine
Thursday, 10 February 2022, 10:10 am | Gordon Campbell
Is Russian leader Vladimir Putin going to invade Ukraine, or is he just bluffing (for now), much as China was a few months ago? A lot of people (including Australia’s Defence Minister) were pretty sure that China was about to invade Taiwan. Except ... More >>
On Last Night’s Political Poll, And Lata Mangeshkar
Tuesday, 8 February 2022, 10:22 am | Gordon Campbell
Great poll results last night for the centre left. The Newshub/Reid Research poll had Labour up by 1.6 points to 44.3%. Taken together with the Greens rise to 9.6% (up 2.4 points) that puts the centre left bloc on just under 54%. That’s streets ... More >>
On Luxon’s Second-hand Clothes
Wednesday, 2 February 2022, 10:34 am | Gordon Campbell
According to National’s leader Christopher Luxon and the fawning media coverage of the caucus gathering in Queenstown, its “game on!” Not a great metaphor, folks. Politics is only a game for people wealthy enough to afford to lose a round or two. ... More >>
On The Crisis In Renting
Monday, 31 January 2022, 10:36 am | Gordon Campbell
House prices and rental costs are two related areas where New Zealand truly does punch well above its weight. This country happens to have the worst price to rent ratios, the worst price to income ratios, the worst real growth figures, and the ... More >>
On Our Local Responses To The Global Problems Of Inflation
Friday, 28 January 2022, 10:31 am | Gordon Campbell
In the United Kingdom, inflation is running at its highest rate in 30 years. In the US, inflation hit 7% during 2021. You wouldn’t want to be in Estonia, where inflation has just hit 12%. Across the Eurozone – the measurement methods vary ... More >>
On Rapid Antigen Testing
Wednesday, 26 January 2022, 10:55 am | Gordon Campbell
National Party leader Christopher Luxon is being allowed to get away with murder. Luxon is not being challenged over his repeated assertions that the rest of the world has enjoyed ready access to rapid antigen tests (aka RATS) for a year, so why aren’t ... More >>
On The Ethics Of Omicron Treatment, Plus A Playlist
Tuesday, 25 January 2022, 9:44 am | Gordon Campbell
As the Omicron infection wave prepares to break across New Zealand, the “red” condition is likely to be more of a form of gestural politics, than as a useful shield. Good ideas like masks and social distancing and limits on social gatherings are not ... More >>
