Peace protests against Russia perhaps?

"It is obvious that if part of the strategic nuclear potential of the US is located in Europe and will be threatening us, we will have to respond. This system of missile defence on one side and the absence of this system on the other . . . increases the possibility of unleashing a nuclear conflict" so said Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with The Times.

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Part of the strategic nuclear potential of the US has been located in Europe for decades, but then so has the Russian one, and still is. The missile defence system is aimed mainly at rogue states (Iran in particular) but Russia is, after all, not always that friendly and far from being a friend of liberal constitutional democracy and rule of law. Putin is dreaming if he thinks the US might attack, but then Putin is propping up a Stalinist dictatorship in Belarus and continues to play his strong man card against more open regimes in Ukraine and Georgia.

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I'm looking forward to the so-called peace movement organising protest marches with Russian flags to burn, outside Russian embassies at Putin's sabre rattling. However, it almost never in its history of protesting nuclear weapons would ever confront Russia or the USSR - which spoke volumes about its true agenda, largely hidden to many of its supporters (and well known to Moscow, which in the Cold War delighted to watch protests at Western nuclear facilities, given that any totalitarian regime can avoid such inconveniences).

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The US missile defence system if put in place in Poland and the Czech Republic, should not surprise Russia. After all, the Soviet Union invaded and occupied those countries with its puppet regimes from not long after World War 2 until 1989, when Gorbachev declared they were on their own - and like the meek little cowardly bullies those regimes were, they fell. Poles and Czechs may rightly feel somewhat fearful of the bear to the east, which has done little for it - the liberation from Nazism was like going from the fire to the frying pan.

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Putin concluded "We have brought all our heavy weapons beyond the Urals and reduced our military forces by 300,000. But what do we have in return? we see that Eastern Europe is being filled with new equipment, two positions in Bulgaria and Romania, as well as radar in the Czech Republic, and missile systems in Poland. What is happening? Unilateral disarmament of Russia is happening".

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and Mr. Putin, if you think there is any appetite by the Western world to attack you, you're dreaming. Bulgaria and Romania lost two generations to a previous version of Russian imperialism, why should you be surprised that it is suspicious of Russia?

Some answers to Jeanette's questions

"Firstly, at what level did they plan to cap greenhouse gas emissions and who will the get permits?"

None, as a country with a growing population and economy, it would be unwise for the state to set as a goal capping greenhouse gas emissions, which may cost the standing of living of the population. Most countries in the world are not intending to restrict economic growth because of this one environmental concern, neither should New Zealand - but the government should adopt economic policies that get out of the way of environmentally friendly developments and end the socialist way that some key infrastructure (especially roads) are managed, funded and charged for. This will benefit the economy and the environment.

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"Secondly, how much bigger are they prepared to allow the dairy industry to grow given its damaging effects on water quality, water allocation and climate change?"

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Given that the New Zealand dairy industry has a lower climate change impact than the dairy industries of many other countries, as much as it can grow without state intervention. Issues of water supply will be dealt with by the privatisation of waterways through farms and the institution of property rights over water. This will incentivise the cleaning up of rivers and streams. If you don't want the dairy industry to grow, then stop drinking milk and eating cheese, yoghurt et al.

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The statement that "Climate Change is the biggest looming threat to our economy and our civilisation" is sheer nonsense. The biggest looming threat is a failure to achieve agreement at Doha on trade liberalisation and a new wave of environmentally driven protectionism on trade and travel, that effectively destroys many export markets and the tourist industry.

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“The third question for John Key asks what he intends to do about the people he has labelled as the ‘underclass’. Will you make a public commitment now that benefits levels will not be cut and the conditions for receiving them will not be made more stringent under any government you lead? Will workers still enjoy the options of seeking collective agreements? Will the minimum wage be frozen at the level you inherit or will it continue to rise? Will we see bulk funding or vouchers introduced in education?”

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How about cut taxes, make the first $10,000 everyone earns tax free in the first budget. Cut GST from 12.5% to 10%. In other words, let people have all of their money while they struggle on low incomes.

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What do you intend to do about the underclass, Jeanette, with your own time and money? Answer that question before you force others to spend theirs.

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Benefits should be kept at current nominal levels and eligibility be tightened as the economy grows. Time limits on benefits would be helpful. What have benefits done for many of the underclass other than give a whole cross section a lack of motivation to do anything other than persist in their situation? Why is it caring to force New Zealanders who work hard for themselves and their families to pay for those who do not?

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Of course workers will have the options of seeking collective agreements and individual ones, we are not into banning things like you are.

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The minimum wage should be abolished as an incentive to encouraging more jobs, especially seasonal unskilled work like picking fruit. We don't believe in banning jobs.

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There should be vouchers in education as a first step. You'll be surprised, Jeanette, how the underclass often do want their kids to do well, to be well educated, but find the schools which treat all kids the same aren't that good. They want to choose the education their children have - "their" children, not yours, not the state's. You're doe eyed naivety that all schools should offer equal education is about as brainless as expecting all rental homes to be of a similar standard or all restaurants. Vouchers are one step forward, and by the way, private and integrated schools should be set free to set their own curricula. Parents, by and large, can make the best decisions for their kids on this, despite what you think.

Finally, food miles under attack

Front page of the Sunday Telegraph and a large feature inside it raises the point that has been made all along on this blog and elsewhere, that food miles are an inaccurate measure of the environment impact of food production and distribution - but one that the inefficient European farming sector (propped up as it is by tens of billions of pounds of taxpayers' funds) milks. I shouldn't put all European farms on the same level, it is fairly clear those in the east are more efficient, since they get a fraction of the subsidies of French farms.

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The point is made that:

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British lamb takes, on average, 2849kg of C02 for every tonne raised

New Zealand lamb takes, on average, 688kg of C02 for every tonne raised including shipping it to the UK

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British apples are "greener" in autumn and winter, but not in spring and summer when importing them from New Zealand is better than keeping stock in storage.

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A similar story applies to lettuces, tomatoes and strawberries, as the growing season for such veges and fruit is short in Britain, requiring heated greenhouses. It is better to import them from Spain.

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Even importing beans by air from Kenya or Uganda is more environmentally friendly than growing locally.

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However, onions can be grown in the UK for 14kg less C02 per tonne than importing from NZ.

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Still, it's a start in breaking down this nonsense about food miles. Some of the details are listed here. The Guardian reports the same point, with no figures or mention of NZ.

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The solution is cold turkey on the CAP step by step:

1. Eliminate all export subsidies by the EU (stop distorting foreign markets by your protected grub);

2. Eliminate all non-tariff barriers to agricultural imports in the EU (quotas and specific bans);

3. Put a ceiling of 100% on all agricultural tariffs ratcheting down to 75%, 50% and 25% each year, do the same to subsidies capping them in nominal terms and reducing them annually to zero.

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Meanwhile Sarkozy threatens to veto WTO talks over agriculture - see he isn't Thatcher after all.

Clark and Tizard on power

It's outrageous Clark has waded in on this, judging the contractor so quickly, instantly believing one version of events - but then she is Prime Minister and should be expected to have opinions on everything her subjects do.

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However I did laugh with this comment:

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"Labour MP Judith Tizard said when she was on the Auckland Electric Power Board from 1977-1983, it had a no-disconnections policy in cases when people genuinely could not afford to pay the bill."

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So you might ask why Auckland had a blackout due to underinvestment in its network some years ago?

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Desperately blaming the Nats for this - because of commercialisation of electricity, something that started under Labour, in fact Clark was in Cabinet at the time. Never mind it has nothing to do with that, never mind that it was a state owned enterprise that took over a locally owned company.

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Name one thing Judith Tizard has done for Auckland, and cutting ribbons on road projects that had nothing to do with her doesn't count.

Anti-globalisation protesters are communists

The usual travelling roadshow of naive young dreamers and old-fashioned hate filled socialists are causing trouble in Rostock, Germany, protesting the G8 summit. It should be noted Rostock is in the former GDR, which had the Stalinist regime of Erich Honecker until 1989. The flying of the hammer and sickle flags there, when millions were watched and thousands imprisoned, tortured and murdered for questioning the GDR regime is disgusting.

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The rather inane BBC is talking about far left groups as if they are benign compared to far right groups. The communists protesting at the G8 are no better than neo-nazis, both back the oppressive use of state violence to tell people what to do and what not to do.

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There are reasons to protest at the G8. You could protest:

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1. Russia's continued slide towards authoritarianism.

2. The impoverishment of primary producers throughout the world due to heavy protectionism for agriculture by Japan, the EU and the USA, and the negative environmental impacts of that protectionism.

3. The unwillingness of the G8 to get the Doha round to make much progress in liberalising world trade (a major step towards lifting standards of living).

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The protestors are intellectually vapid. Poverty in African is largely due to governments in Africa being corrupt kleptocracies in many cases, more than happy to use aid to pay for their families to go on shopping trips in Knightsbridge, London. These countries do little to protect property rights (necessary for people to protect what they produce and own, and without that poverty exists) or have independent judiciaries and police. It also isn't helped by the lack of free trade in primary products, as the EU and USA subsidise exports of agriculture undermining the export competitiveness of many other countries, and block or highly tax imports from those countries.

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The protestors current pinup boy Hugo Chavez is now into shutting down broadcasters that disagree with him - the lack of interest in this by many on the left speaks volumes.