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Tag Archives: politics

Ongeadresseerd reklamedrukwerk (a study in irony)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Municipal elections are coming up. I’m not paying much attention, but an amusing piece of self-assured advertising pushed itself under my nose this evening. There’s a smart initiative here, issuing stickers for on your mailbox that say “No unaddressed advertising, no house-to-house newsletters” (or no to one but yes to the other). They’re nationwide and [...]

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More on the Athens riots

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Prependum (for my parents): Yes, we’re still going. Don’t worry. We’ll be peaceful, we’ll be careful, we’ll be ok. Kimberley pointed me at a Rowan Thorpe rant about the Athens riots. It’s a good rant, and he’s angry about some of the right things. I’m not sure, though, that the issue of whether the rioters [...]

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Greece

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

It’s hard to make any cool-headed comment about this. How can a government let so much resentment build up? How can an agressive cop be allowed to carry a loaded gun into a district where ‘clashes’ happen regularly? How can anyone take a molotov cocktail to a peaceful march, ‘just in case’ it turns ugly? [...]

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UN declaration: we’re doing ok?

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Following up my confusion about the UN declaration on indigenous peoples (which New Zealand voted against), Robin sent me a Radio New Zealand piece (vanished, but still in Google cache) which says that the declaration isn’t good enough. It “implies different classes of citizenship”, and it could “put[...] into question matters that have been settled [...]

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UN declaration on indigenous peoples: NZ against, me confused

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

On September 13th the UN General Assembly adopted the “UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights of Indigenous Peoples” with 144 votes for, 11 abstentions, and votes against from Australia, the US, Canada, and New Zealand.1 I’m intrigued, confused, and slightly worried about the four votes against. First intrigued: because these are four countries that have reached [...]

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