Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Obama's Mana

mark taslov

Sat, 21 Jan 2017 01:44:02 +1300

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7e3QKKOp50

mark taslov

Fri, 20 Jan 2017 22:12:31 +1300

I’ve always felt it’s a civic responsibility to remain skeptical of leaders while they’re in office, whatever their stripe, but it’s safe to say now that I am going to miss Barack and Michelle immeasurably – remarkable human beings – courageous nurturing spirits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XksGHvztjpM

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 22:29:27 +1200

Scoop Soper strikes out again!
Hah! Barry Soper reports on Melania Trump's speech – but missed the memo (or other reports) about the 'plagiarism' ...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11677409

linger

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 21:39:11 +1200

The way American political choices are going, it seems to me that if Michelle Obama were to stand as a presidential candidate, she would have a realistic chance.

Steve Todd

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 21:32:54 +1200

Cool.

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 21:30:03 +1200

...if I only had words!
Michelle Obama's mana is such that Melania Trump 'channelled' her when she wrote her speech for the Republican's Cleveland convention.
It's good to know that the presumptive First Lady candidate has such a strong recycling ethic...
http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-36832095

nzlemming

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 18:16:37 +1200

Anyway, my argument is not, of course, with you, it was with Craig. I was actually agreeing with you.

Fair enough ;-)

Steve Todd

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 17:20:35 +1200

Oh, I know it’s a fact, nzlemming, and I certainly believe it.

You seem to be arguing that because Florida was an FPP contest, third-party voters should either have stayed at home, or held their noses and voted for either Bush or Gore. Since when have third-party voters in FPP…

Russell Brown

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 16:34:23 +1200

Just had an extended Twitter discussion with a local Berniebro who is convinced that the reason local rabbit-cullers are having trouble sourcing ammunition from the US is that it's being stockpiled in advance of Hillary's war plan.

There have been US ammunition shortages on and off since 2008, but they're…

nzlemming

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 14:52:46 +1200

Rather than blame the Green Party / Ralph Nader for the 2000 outcome, he should be blaming the antiquated18th Century, broken, FPP electoral system that the US persists in using.

That's a problem as well, but you've got to vote within the system you have, not the one that you…

Steve Todd

Mon, 18 Jul 2016 20:53:21 +1200

It would seem Craig Young can only tolerate democracy as long as it gives *him* what he wants, and *doesn't* give him what he doesn't want.

Regardless of the electoral system being used, any party or candidate who wants to make it onto the ballot, is entitled to do so.…

Kumara Republic

Mon, 18 Jul 2016 12:22:43 +1200

Since Dallas there's been a copycat shooting of cops in Baton Rouge east of the Texan border. In both cases, is this the "taking up arms against a tyrannical government" that the NRA & GOA had in mind? Or are they browning their pants that their self-proclaimed copyright on the 2nd Amendment…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 18 Jul 2016 01:21:47 +1200

Was it a real coup attempt, or some sort of conspiracy?

Cairo cartoonist Doaa Eladl has a pretty good track record on calling it right. Here's her latest.

nzlemming

Mon, 18 Jul 2016 00:06:32 +1200

That was largely due to the utter stupidity of Ralph Nader, standing as a spoiler presidential candidate which split the left vote and insured that George W.Bush presided over his reign of error for the next eight years. The US Greens deserve to suffer for that, sorry.

Which is set…

Russell Brown

Sun, 17 Jul 2016 17:54:43 +1200

I think the recent primary has shown also that there were a lot of people becoming politically aware who were too young to remember what the Clintons were subjected to in the 90s

I just got a bit snippy with a local Bernie fan on Twitter for trying to play…

Steve Todd

Sun, 17 Jul 2016 17:53:50 +1200

Craig. US presidential elections are littered with third- (or fourth-) party candidates. It's a democracy (of sorts) after all.

It's not Ralph Nader's fault that he did quite well in the crucial battleground state of Florida in 2000. That's just the way the cookie crumbled, on that particular occasion. You…

Steve Todd

Sun, 17 Jul 2016 17:24:09 +1200

Yes.

What I like about President Obama is that he is a loving and faithful husband to Michelle, and a loving father to his daughters.

Russell Brown

Sat, 16 Jul 2016 10:27:16 +1200

And here we go ...

Facebook Live video lit up all around Turkey:

https://www.facebook.com/livemap/

Craig Young

Sat, 16 Jul 2016 09:32:28 +1200

Trevor Nicholls

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 20:02:43 +1200

I appreciated the way the Obamas clearly decided about halfway through to spare his embarrassment by moving around a bit themselves, albeit in a low-key kind of way. I think that was a gracious thing to do.

andin

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 17:56:22 +1200

“relatively” left as compared with the republicans. In all other universes

And so were a lot of fascists, thats not saying much.
And we can only infect one small planet in one universe with our politics. Lets keep it that way shall we.

Tony Kennedy

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 17:17:25 +1200

We hear he might be coming to Queenstown once he retires.
No way, he would not be able to afford to buy a house and I can't see the family living in a prefab.

Joe Wylie

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 15:53:57 +1200

Bernie Sanders was clearly a member of the old (60’s) left, an actual socialist if not a full-on communist...
Oh ffs. How would you establish that he was a communist? Chuck him into some Vermont village pond and see if he floats?

Joe Boden

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 15:36:26 +1200

could it be that lefties aren’t all that pro clinton because she like Obama (democrats) are not really of the left?

Possibly. It’s hard to know what the political left in the US actually is, to be honest, because it’s not terribly well organized and lacks much of a national…

John Morrison

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 15:08:31 +1200

All I know I will miss Obama as he is a bastion of humanity and sanity in an increasingly inhumane and insane world.
We hear he might be coming to Queenstown once he retires.

bob daktari

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 14:37:51 +1200

could it be that lefties aren't all that pro clinton because she like Obama (democrats) are not really of the left?

Sacha

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 14:32:06 +1200

prior support of free trade deals (she is now opposed to the TPP)

perhaps because it is not a 'free' trade deal

Joe Boden

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 13:33:05 +1200

True, but it's interesting the way it's jumped the tracks so that a lot of lefties believe it – even to the extent that some of them are calling Sanders a traitor for negotiating a notably progressive platform as a quid pro quo for his backing of Clinton. I would…

Russell Brown

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 12:03:31 +1200

not sure whether it’s the Alzheimers or the coke)

Whatever it is, Michelle is clearly wondering wtf is going on.

Russell Brown

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 12:02:03 +1200

The anti-Clinton hysteria is a fully and intentionally manufactured product of the republican witch hunts against the Clintons which have been doing on for 25 or more years.

True, but it's interesting the way it's jumped the tracks so that a lot of lefties believe it – even to the…

Hugh Wilson

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 11:54:15 +1200

Just on the Gil Scott Heron reference … back in the 90’s the likes of Coldcut and Steinski caught my ears, with Coldcut sampling Jello Biafra’s quote ‘don’t hate the media, become the media!’ and conveying that sentiment through their live shows and many recordings … At the time there…

Paul Campbell

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 11:53:16 +1200

(not sure whether it's the Alzheimers or the coke)

Paul Campbell

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 11:52:30 +1200

Let's not forget George Bush at that same event ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBf4DCpL1Q4

Joe Boden

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 11:44:36 +1200

The anti-Clinton hysteria is a fully and intentionally manufactured product of the republican witch hunts against the Clintons which have been doing on for 25 or more years. And for anyone who wants to make claims that Hillary is corrupt, please provide proof. If the republicans in Congress had any…

Gabor Toth

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 11:42:43 +1200

He has also just become the first sitting president to publish a scientific paper in a peer-reviewed journal (Journal of the American Medical Association).

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2533698

Carol Stewart

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 11:24:52 +1200

The whole thought of Obama’s presidency coming to an end is filling me with that emotion that David Haywood described so beautifully – høstens vemod.

Public Address

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 11:24:52 +1200

Discussion from blog post.