Suppose the three wise men were making their journey today?

On this subject, the Christmas markets are in full bloom over here. Read the rest of this article »

So Augusto Pinochet has finally, finally kicked the bucket. Good riddance. But it is a shame that he will never be brought to justice, properly.

Pinochet was the dictator who took over Chile by military coup on 11 September 1973 – the original “September 11”. During his 17 year dictatorship, the general oversaw massive repression: thousands of dissenters were tortured and killed; thousands simply disappeared, never to be seen again. (And then there’s the small question of around 27 million US dollars that went awol).

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It’s stories like this one, about the National Party’s Associate Health Spokesman being hosted by British American Tobacco that make me worry. Clearly, it disturbs me that the person responsible for health matters in the major opposition party is being pampered by huge international drug companies.

But it worries me more that, had it not been for the fact that Jonathon Coleman was punched, it’s likely that we never would have known that he was treated to a corporate box at the U2 concert. What else do we not know about?

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What is Michael Cullen playing at by overruling a judge’s order for the arrest of Moshe Ya’alon?

It has been over a year since I studied politics, but I vaguely remember something about the separation of the judiciary and the executive as being kind of fundamental to the whole idea of a democratic system. That is, politicians cannot just step in whenever they feel the urge and overturn a court’s decision. Read the rest of this article »