Obama Archive

  • Kennedy Graham

    Faith, hope, and charity in the nuclear age – Kazakhstan, New Zealand and everyone else - by Kennedy Graham



    Back in ‘91 a younger President Nursultan Nazarbayev faced a dilemma.  Along with independence just attained from the USSR, he had inherited 112 ICBMs sporting 1,200 nuclear warheads. A gift from heaven as it were, or from hell, depending on the level of your transcendentalism. Twenty years later, Nazarbayev has emerged as a hero of [...] read more
    August 31, 2012 4:50 pm - 3 Comments
  • Keith Locke

    Parliament condemns killings in Syria - by Keith Locke



    Yesterday I moved a motion in Parliament on Syria, which was passed unanimously. It read: “That this House condemn the shooting of peaceful demonstrators in Hama and other Syrian cities and call upon the Syrian Government to enter into a serious national dialogue to chart a transition to democratic government.” New Zealand now joins the [...] read more
    August 4, 2011 4:54 pm - 4 Comments
  • Keith Locke

    Multi cultural Eid celebration in Mangere - by Keith Locke



    It was a pleasure to be able to celebrate the Eid yesterday with members of the Muslim community at a big event in Mangere. It was a very multi-cultural event. There are 27 nationalities represented in the Auckland Muslim community. read more
    September 13, 2010 11:12 am - 2 Comments
  • frog

    Jon Stewart on the BP oil spill - by frog



    A look at history puts Obama’s latest speech into context. Funny and sad at the same time. read more
    June 24, 2010 10:56 am - 8 Comments
  • frog

    Lloyd’s 2 Business: oil crunch coming fast - by frog



    One of the world’s biggest insurers is telling business that the two biggest risks they face are peak oil and climate change. It seems Lloyd’s has gone a bit green, or has started reading frogblog. read more
    June 17, 2010 6:49 am - 25 Comments
  • frog

    Finally, an answer - by frog



    Geniuses at Oil Sciences have come up with a novel idea about how to stop the millions of barrels of oil from billowing into to Gulf of Mexico. And, you guessed it, they’ve put it up for sale to the highest bidder on Trade Me. read more
    June 14, 2010 10:37 pm - 11 Comments
  • Keith Locke

    Déjà vu in Iran - by Keith Locke



    Many moons ago Barack Obama confronted a warmongering President, George W Bush, saying he would be willing to sit down and talk to the Iranian leaders. read more
    May 20, 2010 11:42 am - 7 Comments
  • frog

    Obama makes liveability central to transport funding - by frog



    President Obama’s administration has recently announced progressive new changes to the way future transport projects will be funded. Obama’s administration is now adding “liveability” to the measures used to evaluate new transport projects. “We want to base our decisions on how much transit helps the environment, how much it improves development opportunities, and how it [...] read more
    January 27, 2010 9:13 am - 9 Comments
  • Jeanette Fitzsimons

    Copenhagen Diary: It is a disgrace - by Jeanette Fitzsimons



    Tonight’s outcome in Copenhagen is a tragedy for humanity. It is  widely recognised as a failure papered over with some fine sounding words by Obama. The purpose of the meeting was to agree on a second commitment period for the Kyoto  protocol. That has not been achieved. We came here wanting an ambitious, fair and [...] read more
    December 19, 2009 1:03 pm - 76 Comments
  • frog

    A video message from Green MPs in Copenhagen - by frog



    As the COP15 climate summit draws to a close, Jeanette Fitzsimons and Kennedy Graham offer their views on what is, and isn’t, happening at this most important of international meetings. Jeanette discusses the lack of emissions reduction targets thusfar offered by rich nations, and the $100 billion pledge from the US that will begin in 2020 to [...] read more
    December 18, 2009 11:14 pm - 1 Comment
  • Keith Locke

    Bring SAS troops home from Afghanistan! - by Keith Locke



    It’s good that New Zealand won’t be sending any more troops to Afghanistan. However, that’s not because John Key has just seen the light. With its existing troop commitments – in Afghanistan, the Solomons and East Timor – the NZ Defence Force simply doesn’t have any troops to spare. I’m asking John Key to look [...] read more
    December 3, 2009 9:58 am - 17 Comments
  • frog

    NZ Govt risks apostrophe war in archipelago - by frog



    Someone wise once said that the word is more powerful than the sword, and today’s Government statement could be seen as a desperate and venal attempt by the New Zealand Government to provoke Indonesia. read more
    October 18, 2009 5:39 pm - 12 Comments
  • frog

    Bill Moyers on Obama and the US Healthcare Debate - by frog



    Many Kiwis won’t be familiar with Moyers, who has had a long career in US journalism. In the 1960′s he worked for JFK, founding the Peace Corp, and later as Johnson’s press secretary. Moyers then played a key role in establishing the Public Broadcasting System which has been his home almost ever since. Bill is [...] read more
    September 12, 2009 7:07 am - No Comments
  • frog

    Bill Maher vs the “Obama Birthers” - by frog



    This frog has always appreciated Bill Maher, the host of HBO’s Real Time, for his political analysis and biting wit. Here he takes on the “birthers”, whose campaign to expose Obama as not an American citizen has taken on nearly cult status. No PC zone is Bill’s show. Enjoy. read more
    August 2, 2009 7:32 am - 10 Comments
  • frog

    Green Party pulls plug for planet’s sake - by frog



    In a bold move to combat global warming and the Government’s indifference to New Zealand’s Kyoto commitments, the Green Party is leading from the front and will immediately stop using most electrical appliances in its Parliamentary offices as of today. “The current Government’s laissez-faire attitude to carbon emissions means that more needs to be done. [...] read more
    April 1, 2009 4:11 pm - 16 Comments
  • frog

    Obama: the days of building sprawl forever are over - by frog



    President Obama summed up the Green party position on transport pretty well during a press conference in Florida yesterday. (at minute 55) I would like for us to invest in mass transit because potentially that’s energy efficient. And I think people are a lot more open now to thinking regionally… The days where we’re just [...] read more
    February 12, 2009 10:24 am - 72 Comments
  • frog

    Gitmo is going, going, almost gone - by frog



    It was with great pleasure this morning that I awoke to the news that President Obama has formally ordered the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year. Within hours of his swearing in, his chief of staff had executed his order suspending all military trials at Gitmo for 120 days while he worked [...] read more
    January 23, 2009 9:34 am - 48 Comments
  • frog

    President Obama - by frog



    At last the transition is complete. It was with more relief than pleasure that I watched Bush´s helicopter leave Washington with the Obama and Biden families waving him goodbye. I couldn´t help waving goodbye myself. I think this quote from Obama´s inaugural speech summarises my distaste for the Bush presidency: Our Founding Fathers, faced with [...] read more
    January 21, 2009 7:54 am - 39 Comments
  • frog

    60th Anniversary of Universal Declaration - by frog



    On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The rights seem so simple and so obvious that we in New Zealand quite easily take them for granted. The document is not legally binding in the way a treaty is, but it does formally [...] read more
    December 10, 2008 10:58 am - 34 Comments
  • frog

    Leadership - by frog



    Obama telling it like it is and as we have always said it is: My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process. That will start with a federal cap-and-trade system. We’ll establish strong annual targets that [...] read more
    November 25, 2008 4:30 pm - 39 Comments
  • frog

    Super Duper Tuesday - by frog



    The big political event tomorrow in New Zealand will be Waitangi Day, but I get the feeling that political science junkies have all got one eye overseas on the United States Super (Duper) Tuesday Primaries – and especially the Obama-Clinton race. To many New Zealand eyes it’s fascinating that political parties would let this messy, [...] read more
    February 5, 2008 12:01 pm - 38 Comments