frogblog

The Nation has an interesting article on Hillary Clinton’s floundering nomination campaign, arguing that the mistake she made was not a tactical or strategic one. It wasn’t that she picked the wrong states to focus on, or threw everything into her knock-out punch or fundraised poorly. It was a policy mistake:
The biggest factor […]

Dene Mackensie has a go this morning at speculating on the election date in the Otago Daily Times [off line].  He suggests that there will be a 1 October introduction of tax cuts from the government.  This means it will want an election at least four weeks after that to ensure everybody has had a […]

Such is the title of a NIWA press release just out. (not online yet) They are reacting publicly to their inclusion in the Heartland Institute’s list of 500 scientists with doubts about climate change and global warming.
The Heartland Institute has named five New Zealanders in a list of 500 scientists whose published research is alleged […]

There were calls yesterday by the UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, for a proper global consensus on the status of people forced from their homes and countries because of climate change. Under the Geneva convention, refugees are defined as people escaping persecution by the state but there is no mention of climate […]

Yesterday’s action by the Ploughshares Christian activists brings civil disobedience to the public consciousness again. Civil disobedience and non violent resistance are important strands of the broader Green movement. Greens have often had a close affinity both for the causes and the methods of many civil disobedience movements from Bastion Point, the anti […]

Did anyone else see the photo below this morning and start humming this song?

Hat tip/photo credit: The Standard

New Zealand’s supermarket merger case goes back to court today with Australian supermarket giant, Woolworths, and New Zealand equivalent, Foodstuffs, both seeking the right to buy the Warehouse. All of the media coverage is in the business pages and looks at what might be best for Woolworths, Foodstuffs and Warehouse shareholders. I haven’t […]

Yesterday I met with Regis Mtutu of the Treatment Action Campaign. The T.A.C. is the coordination point for Zimbabwean refugees and their political organisation in South Africa although I think its primary focus is health promotion.
He told me that the resolution of the emergency summit of civil society organisations held in Dar es Salaam, […]

A few days ago Nandor reported on a shipment of arms that Zimbabwe was attempting to import from China but that had been blocked from unloading in South Africa because of a solidarity movement led by a South African dock workers’ union.  Well as the US and UK have also stepped in to apply pressure […]

Well, I’m still in Cape Town. Don’t know if NZ media is reporting much about it, but Zimbabwe is still the big news here. A shipment of arms from China, ordered three days after the election, docked in Durban for overland transportation to Zimbabwe late last week. The Government said they had no legal grounds […]