United Nations Archive

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  NZ and its strange love of voting down anti-nuke resolutions

  
  
  
  New Zealand Nat-Lab Governments have prided themselves in recent years over their pristine nuclear-free policy. In the mid-1980s, we helped lead in the Pacific initiative to create the South Pacific Nuclear-free Zone. Then, unsatisfied with the weakness of the regional zone in allowing nuclear-armed warships to enter the harbours of treaty states, we legislated in Parliament against their entry into our own. read more
  September 30, 2009 12:42 pm - 24 Comments
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  Non-Aggression Bill still a force to be reckoned with

  
  
  
  My International Non-Aggression Bill met its Maker last Members’ Day (23 Sept.) in the House. While that was disappointing, it was not all doom and gloom. read more
  September 29, 2009 5:27 pm - 18 Comments
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  The Yes Men Strike Again

  
  
  
  The Yes Men, Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonann, have done it again! Ahead of a UN summit on climate change, they distributed nearly one million spoof copies of the New York Post. Having come out brazenly as climate change deniers, New Yorkers were surprised to see the right wing rag emphatically change its tune. The full on line [...] read more
  September 22, 2009 9:54 am - 5 Comments
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  “No Limits” to civilian suffering in US bombing

  
  
  
  Images courtesy of Radio Live ***** The three Kiwi soldiers in Afghanistan might have seen it as a bit of harmless fun. To help a drink promotion they slapped a Demon sticker reading “No Limits, No Laws” on a 2000 lb bomb attached to the undercarriage of a [presumably] American plane at [presumably] Bagram airbase. The NZ [...] read more
  September 4, 2009 6:22 pm - 112 Comments
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  Green MPs Support 350 Challenge

  
  
  
  Green MPs support Bill McKibben’s campaign to reduce carbon in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, down from the current 389 ppm which is going up every year.  Scientists believe this would keep the global temperature rise to less than 2C. Meanwhile, the NACT government struggles with denial.  National’s “target” is a 50% reduction by [...] read more
  June 9, 2009 7:00 am - 42 Comments
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  The Price of Silence

  
  
  
  Further to my post yesterday about the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, there is this lovely music video from Amnesty International: It is a cogent reminder that when we remain silent in the face of arcane legislation like the current Immigration Bill or last year’s Terrorism Amendment Act, we allow those [...] read more
  December 11, 2008 12:15 pm - 6 Comments
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  World Food Day

  
  
  
  Yesterday was World Food Day. World Food Day began in 1979 established by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The aim of the day is to heighten public awareness of the world food problem and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. In 1980, the United Nations General Assembly [...] read more
  October 17, 2008 6:28 am - No Comments
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  Defending small islands

  
  
  
  Defence and security seems to be my meme for the day. Tane has noted that: in a resource-constrained post-peak, climate changing world, there won’t be enough to go around. We won’t be able to help the whole world, therefore removing all incentive for them to attack us. And that seems to be the problem that small islands [...] read more
  September 4, 2008 11:16 am - 9 Comments
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  South Ossetia

  
  
  
  You have to wonder who Georgia’s Mikheil Saakashvili had in his ear to think that attacking the separatists in South Ossetia was going to work.  Maybe he mistakenly thought the support he got from the US in recent years was cavalry rather than show ponies?  Maybe he though that nearly belonging to NATO was close [...] read more
  August 11, 2008 8:48 am - 4 Comments
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  Climate refugees

  
  
  
  The number of refugees in the world rose by 3 million people last year after a having been in a short period of decline.  And, according to the United Nations, one of the biggest causes is climate change.  Antonio Guterres, the UN high commissioner for refugees tells the Guardian: “Climate change is today one of the [...] read more
  June 19, 2008 8:33 am - 5 Comments