USA Archive

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  Who is Ayn Rand? - by frog

  
  
  
  I’m sure there are a lot of ways to answer that question. We’ve had some heated debate on religion vs science around here recently, so it is with some trepidation that I offer this controversy within the Republican Party in the US on Ayn Rand’s views on religion. The GOP currently has two very strong [...] read more
  May 30, 2011 6:05 am - 64 Comments
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  Michael Moore – ‘America Is NOT Broke’ - by frog

  
  
  
  “Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you’ll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It’s just that it’s not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.” read more
  March 9, 2011 9:45 am - 30 Comments
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  Any Glenn Beck fans in the house? - by frog

  
  
  
  According to Glenn Beck, universities are re-education camps and more dangerous than terrorist groups. Really. read more
  September 4, 2010 8:40 am - 15 Comments
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  Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – link collection - by frog

  
  
  
  A major environmental and economic catastrophe has been unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico for about a week. No one knows how much oil is being leaked or for how long it will leak. It’s Sunday evening so I’m just going to brain-dump the links I’ve been reading this evening and come back to it [...] read more
  May 2, 2010 10:03 pm - 39 Comments
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  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
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  Denial is no longer an acceptable response - by frog

  
  
  
  Greenpeace ironically notes that New Zealanders should be seriously alarmed at the prospect of the National-led government damaging the country’s relationship with the United States. “New Zealand is at serious risk of becoming an international Pariah over climate, and jeopardising its international standing and trade relations. The last thing we want is to become the [...] read more
  November 19, 2008 12:10 pm - 51 Comments
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  A new lens for US trade relations - by frog

  
  
  
  Pundits are about the call the election for Barack Obama by the looks of it.  For the planet this is probably a good thing, with Obama having a  better platform on climate change, environmental standards and peace. The big story for little Aotearoa, is what this means for trade.  And Obama has been equivocal.  But [...] read more
  November 5, 2008 4:06 pm - 14 Comments
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  Queueing to vote - by frog

  
  
  
  It was astonishing to listen this morning to Morning Report’s Geoff Robinson interviewing US voters queuing for hours to be able to cast votes.  Every time I have ever voted I’ve just walked right in and had my name ticked off.  No queues.  Seeing Americans investing that much time in voting is a powerful reminder [...] read more
  November 5, 2008 12:40 pm - 10 Comments
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  The bailout - by frog

  
  
  
  Given the just failed US$700 billion financial bailout was about preventing widespread poverty and economic turmoil I’ve been wondering whether the money couldn’t be better spent in other ways.  Now that the bailout is dead maybe USA can afford to be inventive. For that kind of money you are talking about a fairly comprehensive free [...] read more
  September 30, 2008 10:43 am - 39 Comments
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  Wall Street socialism - by frog

  
  
  
  SolveClimate.com is asking why the American government will step to in to nationalise failing companies like AIG, but it won’t buy profitable companies before they go belly up?  And it’s got a suggestion.  Why not buy ExxonMobil? (After all it worked for Hugo Chavez!) In the current crisis in the financial markets, even free market [...] read more
  September 24, 2008 10:24 am - 80 Comments
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  Giving preferential trading rights to the USA - by frog

  
  
  
  I see a looming preferential trade deal with the United States is enough for Matthew Hooten to declare Phil Goff New Zealander of the year.  High praise indeed.  Although US trade deals don’t seem to have worked out quite so well for the much bigger economy of Australia (bigger than New Zealand that is, not [...] read more
  September 23, 2008 12:39 pm - 14 Comments
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  Oil politics backfire on the US - by frog

  
  
  
  Open Democracy’s Paul Rogers notes that as China looks to secure oil for it’s increasing consumption it is becoming a strategic power in the Middle East in exactly the way the US would not have intended or wanted. Three transnational oil companies – Shell, BP and Exxon Mobil – were all expected to complete deals [...] read more
  September 6, 2008 9:50 am - 6 Comments
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  Protecting food safety - by frog

  
  
  
  Mother Jones has an icky story about imported Chinese food in the USA involving contamination, salmonella, bateria and pesticides. At one [poultry] plant, inspectors had found paint from the ceiling “on the table used for edible product,” while workers at another facility wiped down meat-handling areas with dirty cloths. Parts of a third factory, designated [...] read more
  August 28, 2008 3:57 pm - 5 Comments
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  Not voting makes you fat? - by frog

  
  
  
  Of course, if you were to follow Citizen Kate’s directions at the end of her video for getting on the roll to vote you would accidentally end up registering to vote in the USA, so you are probably better going here to enrol. (If you do end up accidentally enrolled for the US elections, you [...] read more
  August 14, 2008 2:11 pm - 3 Comments
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  Clinton’s mistake - by frog

  
  
  
  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 that [...] read more
  May 12, 2008 9:45 pm - 9 Comments
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  The end of Petrodollars - by frog

  
  
  
  I wrote a huge post yesterday trying to tie up a whole lot of interconnected issues, so I’ll try not to go on so long again today. Luckily Celsias has already done it for me with a very full article that covers the links between the traditional trade of oil in US dollars (also known [...] read more
  April 11, 2008 4:23 pm - 21 Comments
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  Gore’s climate change remix - by frog

  
  
  
  Celsias reports that this time last year Al Gore gave a speech to the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill. Here’s the musical remix. It’s a bit shorter than An Inconvenient Truth, so if you like your Al Gore in small inspiring doses without all the science this might be for you: Meanwhile Dot Earth watches [...] read more
  March 25, 2008 10:51 am - No Comments
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  Bush leads fight against climate change, Clark following fast - by frog

  
  
  
  President Bush proclaimed yesterday that the U.S. is “in the lead” in the fight against climate change. Now, look, I understand stereotypes are hard to defeat. People get an image planted in their head, and sometimes it causes them not to listen to the facts. But America is in the lead when it comes to [...] read more
  March 6, 2008 10:09 pm - 29 Comments
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  Trading basic rights for trade - by frog

  
  
  
  I’m not one to give the sports section more than a casual glance. I prefer to get the score and move on rather than get bogged down in the gossip columns. Today, however, was an exception. Richard Boock wrote an excellent piece in today’s Sunday Star Times on how NZ has just won the “gagging” [...] read more
  February 17, 2008 5:30 pm - 11 Comments
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  Canada, Japan and US must commit to binding targets - by frog

  
  
  
  There’s an expression that goes something like ‘this is where the rubber hits the road’.  Well, that’s probably the opposite of the outcome we want from Bali. But the time has definitely come to find whether our global representatives can commit to doing something before they leave the Indonesian island. The UN is clearly worried [...] read more
  December 13, 2007 3:27 pm - 3 Comments