Media Displays Frenzied Yearning for a Trump Tax Return Silver Bullet

Posted 11:42am Sunday 19th March 2017

I witnessed something fascinating last Wednesday. Rachel Maddow, one of the most well-known liberal prime-time television hosts in the United States, tweeted “BREAKING: We’ve got Trump tax returns. Tonight, 9pm ET. MSNBC. (Seriously).” Her colleague, Lawrence O’Donnell, Read more...

Trump Faces Immediate Challenges, Has No Strategy as Rivals Race Towards ISIL Capital

Posted 12:08pm Sunday 12th March 2017

Fighters belonging to the most important players in the Syrian civil war converged on the small Syrian city of Manbij last week, illustrating the complexity of a conflict which will be six years old on March 15 and reminding us that the Trump administration is yet to outline a coherent Read more...

PM’s Proposed Raise in Retirement Age Receives Little Cross-Party Fanfare

Posted 12:04pm Sunday 12th March 2017

Prime Minister Bill English broke with his predecessor last week in a major policy shift, announcing a proposal to raise the age of eligibility for superannuation, New Zealand’s pension scheme, from 65 to 67 years old in the year 2037. English argues that this measure will cut costs for an Read more...

Jacinda Ardern a smart pick for Labour deputy

Posted 11:30am Sunday 5th March 2017

Labour’s caucus will elect a new deputy leader this week and they’d be stupid to not be on board with Jacinda Ardern. Annette King’s most recent tenure as deputy was always meant to be a temporary arrangement, but she did leave with one last battle cry last week, sternly telling Read more...

It’s France’s Turn At This Populist Nationalism Thing

Posted 11:18am Sunday 26th February 2017

We’re all probably feeling a bit electioned out. The American presidential election was exhausting for everyone, even for observers behind computer screens in faraway lands. Regardless, the onslaught continues; the American political system is already gearing up for the midterm elections next Read more...

Will Parliament Lose its Resident Bow Tie Aficionado?

Posted 11:16am Sunday 26th February 2017

The Green Party announced last week that it won’t be standing a candidate in the Ohariu electorate this year. The move improves the chances that Labour Party candidate, Greg O’Connor, ousts United Future’s Peter Dunne. Since the announcement, the Greens and Labour have repeatedly Read more...

The self-crucifixion of Colin of Howick, King of the Conservatives

Posted 10:35am Saturday 8th October 2016

Colin Craig, who formed the Conservative Party in 2011, was meant to be with us much longer. He’d declared during the 2014 election campaign that he’d one day ascend to the top level of the Beehive as a true conservative. But Craig is dead. The party he created kicked him out and no Read more...

World got more problems than beach has sand:

Posted 10:26am Saturday 24th September 2016

Every now and then an event comes along that’s so existentially pressing, so apocalyptically spectacular that it requires the finest minds in New York traffic-jamology. Manhattan hosted the jam of jams last week as leaders and dignitaries made their way to the 71st United Nations summit, the Read more...

N. Korea nuclear ambitions: This time’s different & no one knows what to do

Posted 10:55am Saturday 17th September 2016

On the September 9, North Korea conducted its biggest test of a nuclear weapon to date. The yield of the nuclear device is estimated at around 20 to 30 kilotons of TNT, more than ten times the size of the country’s first test in 2006, raising fears and prompting calls for fresh diplomacy with Read more...

Hong Kong’s revolution alive & well

Posted 10:51am Saturday 10th September 2016

For about 80 days in late 2014, hundreds of thousands of mostly young Hong Kongers took to the streets in an unprecedented act of protest against China’s rule over the semiautonomous territory and the increasing detrimental effects of late capitalism. The student-led occupation of streets Read more...