Linky Love - Volume 19

Sorry this is late. Real life gets in the way of geek life sometimes. Consider yourselves lucky you don't have to wait until I've finished The Deathly Hallows ;-)

Standard intro - Linky Love is basically a cobbling together of posts I've noticed around the traps that have set off little tiny sparkles inside my head, and which I would possibly write about or comment on if I didn't need to sleep, eat, work, that kind of stuff. I usually put Linky Love volumes up weekly. I hope you like it.

As always if you have a post of your own, or some else's, that you'd like to highlight, please feel free to add it in comments, or to discuss the above posts, or indeed most anything else.

Born on State Highway One - "Mankind has always dreamed of destroying the sun!" - Ryan writes about the politics of climate change denial, and the left-right division that seems to have sprung up.

eggs benedict and two flat whites - small country - big complex :-) - Sandy looks at the relaxed attitude many Kiwis seem to have to being behind the world in regard to ICT standards.

Feministe - LIBERALS want your CHILD to have SEX!! - A great post by Trailer Park Feminist debunking the conservative (American) arguments about young people, sex, and the "loose" attitudes of liberals.

In a strange land - Rugby and patriarchy - New blogger Deborah contributes a post on the dominance of rugby in NZ society and what she thinks that means for us.

Larvatus Prodeo - Egging Brendan - Gummo Trotsky covers the Australian controversy surrounding political vetoing of social science and humanities projects.

Long Ago and Not True Anyway - The Moral Equivalence of Fools - Terence explains, clearly and concisely, why communism and nazism are not equivalent.

Object Dart - Is anyone listening? - Che Tibby writes about the importance of communication in his (public sector) role, and explains what an, ahem, "knowledge-maven" is.

Pandagon - Since you're already down, you won't mind if I kick you, will you? - Sheelzebub reports on the plight of many Hurricane Katrina survivors, still living in FEMA trailers two years later. Surprise, surprise, it's not the rich folks.

The view from my window - Contemporary fiction - satsumasalad muses on what the publishing world seems to think appeals to female readers today.

WellUrban - Patchwork City - Tom has made a cool map using the 2006 census data for Wellington.

Previous volumes of Linky Love (1 - 18) can be found over here.

(Pic Via)

Linky Love - Volume 17

Sorry this is so late - I've hardly been at a computer all week.

Standard intro - Linky Love is basically a cobbling together of posts I've noticed around the traps that have set off little tiny sparkles inside my head, and which I would possibly write about or comment on if I didn't need to sleep, eat, work, that kind of stuff. I usually put Linky Love volumes up weekly, on Friday mornings, although sometimes I sneak them in on Thursday for various reasons. I hope you like it.

As always if you have a post of your own, or some else's, that you'd like to highlight please feel free to add it in comments, or to discuss the above posts, or indeed most anything else.

Capitalism Bad - Eating disorders are about more than hating your appearance - Maia responds to a post by Hugo Schwyzer comparing eating disorders and veganism, and looks at the role that control and self-denial plays.

Feministe - Teen Girl Sex Scandal!! OhmiGod!! - Flea examines the annoying moral panics that frequently seem to spring up around the possibility of young women having sex.

Feministing - Hero of the Day: Erin Davies and her "fag bug" - Jessica reports on a homophobic vandalism that has had rather the opposite effect from what the tagger would have intended.

Ghetsuhm - Moooooo - Ghet posts about the cow-chicken-grass test, which I didn't just like cos I studied anthro.

LeftAlign - Terrorists I am scared of - LA writes about some scary scary people and the regular folks who support their views.

The Legal Soapbox - All's fair in love and law - Legal Eagle shares why she loves being a lawyer, and why the structure of legal work makes it hard for her to maintain that affection.

The Legal Soapbox - Managing up and down - LE gets a second nod for an insightful piece on managing that she wrote ages ago (before she shifted to wordpress) but I only just got around to finishing it.

Pandagon - Quality of whose life, again? - Chris Clarke has a fantastic post on the "patriarchal blindspot" some seem to have when advocating for change such as the Slow Movement. zuzu, also of Feministe, has written about her family's experiences in response.

Red in Roskill - Lessons for Labour - Michael Wood extrapolates a few things for Helen Clark and friends to take heed of, from the recent UK elections.

Salon - Tinky Winky says bye-bye to Jerry Falwell - The former teletubby breaks his silence on the death of the tele-evangelist who outted him.

WebWeaver's World - Smack no more! - ww shares her thoughts on the successful final vote on s59's repeal, and also has Sue Bradford's full Third Reading speech.

Previous volumes of Linky Love (1 - 16) can be found over here.

And finally, this week's Heart Pic is provided by Tze Ming Mok, of Yellow Peril fame, and was snapped at an art gallery in Shanghai recently. Thanks tm :-)

Linky Love - Volume 15

This is early 'cos I'm not sure I'll get a chance to put it up at all tomorrow.

Standard intro - if you have a post of your own, or some else's, that you'd like to highlight please feel free to add it in comments, or to discuss the above posts, or indeed most anything else.

Alas (a blog) - Sexism Against (and For) Men on TV Sitcoms - Ampersand on why even when men's telly roles seem to put them down, they are still the leading person in the show.

Anonymous Lefty - Excuse me while I twirl my moustache - Jeremy contends leftie peaceniks aren't actually gleeful when bad news comes in from Iraq.

Aucklander at Large - Doomed to Fail - Jeremy G-H shares his predictions for the possible political alliance between Phillip Field and Destiny Church.

Disturbed Beyond Belief - My views on abortion - If you only read one post in this Linky Love, this is the one to click through. It's by a man, if the idea of another woman ranting about abortion puts you off.

Feministe - The terrorism that dare not speak its name - zuzu riffs on the theme of abortion clinic bombings not counting as terrorism these days (if ever).

Jesus' General - My Saviour is a Very Butch Saviour - This one is special delivery for Paul and Apathy Jack, and as Pam from Pandagon warns, be careful not to be sipping coffee whilst reading this one, because spitting it all over the screen may make it hard to read the rest.

Larvatus Prodeo - What's it like to have one leg? - Kim explains beautifully.

LeftAlign - American left-wing blogs are myopic - In which the eponymous author searches for left blogs that aren't all Democrats-this and Republicans-that.

The Legal Soapbox - Conservation = Conservatism? - Legal Eagle ponders the "scientific illiteracy" of some in the Green movement, in a lengthy post well worth a good perusal.

Long Ago And Not True Anyway - ANZAC Day - Terence shares his thoughts and emotions about one of Aotearoa's most meaningful public holidays.

No Right Turn - Ancient History: the Coalition for Open Government - Idiot/Savant enlightens us all about the background of this renewed lobby group.

Pandagon - Your White Guy Passport to Expertland - ilyka writes passionately about the expert stance many seem to take, even when faced with experiences they haven't had, and can never have.

Red in Roskill - Kill the Bills - Michael Wood looks at the two members' bills about lifting trading restrictions at Easter, which are likely to see some voting action in the next week.

And don't forget, previous volumes of Linky Love (1 - 14) can be found in their own shiny category.

(Pic Via)

Clean dirtiness

As our world warms up, and the debate about how to address it gets even hotter, our power companies have come up with diverting strategies to exploit the impression of a clean, green New Zealand to benefit their own public images. Pukeko and pohutukawa are recruited in 30 second sells which shy away from showing us smoking stacks or coal mines.

Greenpeace have come up with a humdinger of a spoof of Genesis' most recent advert, pointing out the hypocrisy of these commercials. Many of these companies use methods that are unsustainable - the way they generate power is a threat to the very clean streams, unscarred countryside and luscious native bush they film to sell their electrons to us. The Clean Energy Guide lays bare the true dirty nature of much of our electricity generation, and points out the simple changes we can make to start the clean up while still putting juice in our laptops and lightbulbs when we need it.

A while back Make Tea Not War decided to make the switch to Meridian, which is NZ's only carbon neutral power supplier. I was a bit reticient about hopping companies myself, as I've had a few nightmares with utilities in the past. Right at the moment I (pathetically) need to know that there will definitely be a hot water bottle to hug at the end of the day. But Tea reports good things from her change, so I'm going to take the plunge this month too.

Yep, I'll only be making a small difference, but it will be an improvement nonetheless.

Linky Love - Volume 13

Standard intro - if you have a post of your own, or some else's, that you'd like to highlight please feel free to add it in comments, or to discuss the above posts, or indeed most anything else.

Alas, a blog - Roundup of posts about Gonzales v Carhart - Amp gives us all a link farm all about the recent Supreme Court decision in the US to undermine a woman's right to choose.

Aucklander at Large - Racial predisposition - a@l uncovers some weird theories about the Virginia Tech shooting on the Herald Readers' Views site. Winston Peters would be proud.

Capitalism Bad; Tree Pretty - But we've got a world cup to win! - Maia writes about Sivivatu's discharge without conviction for domestic violence, and why that had more to do with his Silver Fern than anything else.

the gossip - Smashing stuff with the people's hammer - uncovering the radical union activist that is Spongebob Squarepants.

I Blame the Patriarchy - Some notes on revolution - Twisty puts the case that our society is a patriarchy and why it sucks so much.

Joe Hendren - Peaceful WTO protesters win $1 million compensation - Joe has the story that no doubt won't get anywhere near the coverage the original misrepresentations of the so-called "Battle of Seattle".

The Kiwi Herald - TV presenters to multitask - john puts a humourous spin on the lay-offs at TVNZ.

Larvatus Prodeo - Labor's "pragmatic" national industrial relations platform - Guy looks at Australian Labor's possible answer to John Howard's much loathed Workchoices. It looks like Kevin Rudd may have caught NZ (and British) Labour's Third Way disease...

Pandagon - The main downside is it's one more thing to dust - Amanda Marcotte gives her view on the Rapist #1 action figure furore, which is not what I had expected I must admit.

Parrot on Policy - Saving for Retirement: Sorry, too busy paying off debt - Policy Parrot writes about some of the barriers to retirement saving and some ideas to counter them. Good to see student debt on the list of barriers!

Policy Matters - Putting 'public' back into public policy - Grant Duncan discusses the different parties' approaches to these matters and asks for feedback on how we now conceptualise "publicness" in public policy.

Shakesville - Iraq's homosexual communities cries out for help - wkw reports on what sounds like a violent campaign against gays and lesbians, exacerbated by the US Occupation.

WellUrban - Whose lane is it anyway? Tom has an interesting post about public transport developments in Windyton.*

Your Dirty Answers - (no title) - Audra Williams with the pyjamas you never knew you needed. Paul from The Fundy Post, this is for you!

And don't forget, previous volumes of Linky Love (1 - 12) can be found in their own shiny category.

Linky Love - Volume 11

Tomorrow's Good Friday, so again Linky Love is early this week.

Standard intro - if you have a post of your own, or some else's, that you'd like to highlight please feel free to add it in comments, or to discuss the above posts, or indeed most anything else.

Caraka - Strike at the root, not the branches - caraka highlights an article on the Saudi involvement in terrorism and asks a few searching questions too.

Feministe - Abstinence-only craziness - Jill has a great post highlighting a range of abstinence programmes, all of which are united by the common theme of characterising women who have pre-marital sex as used up. So good to know that an intact hymen is the most important thing about a woman.

Feministing - WaPo: Wage gap is "A bargain at 77 cents to a dollar" - Jessica reports on the drivel in the Washington Post that women should be happy to be paid less then men.

from the morgue - On Purity - morgue writes about the hard-core Christian "purity" drives and how they may be coming to New Zealand.

Hard News - The Solipsistic Left - Russell Brown covers and critiques the claims by Nick Cohen that we lefties are all dirty misogynistic, anti-Semitic, homophobic supporters of radical Islam. What, even the feminist Jewish lesbians?

Joe Hendren - Don't let climate change quibbles weaken movement - Joe Hendren responds to the frequent (and really rather dull) attacks on those campaigning to stop climate changing behaviours because they use air travel, and cars, and other wacky modern inventions that our society relies on and which sadly contribute to warming the planet. I'm sure Al Gore would have got his message out far wider if he had relied on bicycle power as some would prefer.

Larvatus Prodeo - Work/Death Balance - Kim argues that the Australian Government is promoting work more and more as a duty which must be done for longer and longer, and that this creates an environment with unconscionable levels of work-related stress.

No Right Turn - A closer look: election funding - Idiot/Savant turns his attention to the Campaign for Open Government's proposals to review the funding of electioneering.

What We Said - A Very Rough Guide to Feminism - Make Tea Not War gives us her take on feminism - a good read for those who reckon they hate feminists!

Women's Space/The Margins - Republican Bill Would Have Jailed Women For Not Reporting Miscarriages to the Police - Heart reports on a US bill, luckily withdrawn, which sounds like all kinds of crazy.

And don't forget, previous volumes of Linky Love can be found in their own shiny category.

Linky Love - Volume 9

It's Friday morning (already!), so it must be time for the next volume of Linky Love.

Standard intro - if you have a post of your own, or some else's, that you'd like to highlight please feel free to add it in comments, or to discuss the above posts, or indeed most anything else.

Celsias - Supermarket Secrets - Craig Mackintosh has the BBC documentaries which cover the supermarket supply chain practices that are questionable for not only the environment but also human health.

Columbia Journalism Review - The Opt-Out Myth - EJ Graff writes powerfully dis-proving the idea that smart, educated women are choosing not to pursue corporate careers. And here's further comment on this article, and the opt-out myth, from Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon. Plus, Make Tea Not War posts briefly on this article at What We Said, and gets some interesting comments out of the bargain.

DagCentral - John Howard: Patriot. Statesman. Dumbass - dagcentral takes on John Howard's ridiculousness about Obama, Al Qaeda and the 2008 US presidential race.

Feministe - Legal Abortion = Lives Saved - Jill (I so heart Jill!) looks at the drop in deaths from illegal abortions, and the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church.

Frogblog - Welfare for Australian Banks - Russel Norman looks critically at the Government proposal to cut company tax, through the example of what could happen for Australian banks operating in NZ.

Joe Hendren - Iraq can be a St Paddy's Day issue - Joe examines the parallels between English imperialism in Ireland and US imperialism in Iraq.

Just Left - Four years of blood on their hands - Jordan Carter gives his thoughts about the fourth anniversary of the Iraq War.

The Legal Soapbox - Follow the leader - Legal Eagle examines our lack of tolerance for dissent, and what we will do to avoid being in the ostracised minority.

Mainly Politics - Measuring public sector performance - Chris Hipkins writes about Phil "ex-National staffer" Rennie's "independent" report on where all the money has gone under recent Labour-led Governments.

No Right Turn - Misplaced priorities - Idiot/Savant has the skinny on where our research funds have been directed in regards to energy. And it's not where Al Gore would like.

Pandagon - The cost of the system - Sheelzebub eloquently expands on the theme that sweating (as happens in sweatshops) is an intrinsic part of our economic system.

And don't forget, previous volumes of Linky Love can be found in their own shiny category.

Linky Love - Volume 8

Standard intro - if you have a post of your own, or some else's, that you'd like to highlight please feel free to add it in comments, or to discuss the above posts, or indeed most anything else.

High number of posts about sexism and the like in this volume, because of International Women's Day on March 8th. In the USA this was of course our March 9th, and it was dubbed Blog Against Sexism Day.

Alas (a blog) - Fear - Maia (who has also posted this at Capitalism Bad; Tree Pretty) tells the story of what happened to her after the Wellington IWD protest, sadly an everyday tale of the fear women face walking alone at night.

Auckland's Burning - What drugs are the socialists on? (And why don't they share?) - John's message about climate change to the socialists? No having of cake and eating it too.

blogging it real - A que cono esta Bush? - Bobert asks why the hell has George W headed down to Latin America when only bad things can happen? (Apologies for mangling the title of Bobert's post, I don't know how to insert the correct grammatical letters).

Feministe - Hi, I'm Jill, and scummy law school sleazebags have gone after me too - This one will have you outraged within seconds. Or at least it should.

Hear Me Roar - In-depth Look at Rape - Tobes particularly examines a startlingly long list of movies that perpetuate the myth of the high frequency of women making false rape accusations.
Ilyka Damen - "We Don't Go For That Sexism 'Round These Parts" - gennimcmahon outlines her first memory of experiencing sexism and asks readers to contribute theirs. A fascinating comment thread.

Ilyka Damen - Early Registration - Ilyka examines the birth of her feminism, and the realisation she had in her late teens courtesy of a Cover Girl eyeshadow trio, in the staff restroom at MacDonalds.

Joe Hendren - Rickards case raises real issues with jury trials in New Zealand - Joe gives us his thoughts on the police rape trials, and the surrounding legal issues.

Kiwiblog - How to delay a bill - David Farrar explains the various delaying tactics those in Opposition can use, in the context of the debate on the repeal of s59 of the Crimes Act.

Kiwi Herald - Kiwi Mums and Dads Get In Last Few Slaps - John reports on the trend in Moenui, ahead of Sue Bradford's bill to repeal s59 becoming law.

Liberation - 2008 NZ election likely to be fought on the environment - Bryce Edwards postulates that our 2008 Bunfight will go a similar way to politics in the UK at the moment, namely end up focused on a fight about how to beat climate change.

Maramatanga - Field's path to re-election - Maramatanga looks at Taito Philip Field, Labour, and Mangere, and the possibilities for a new Pacific Island or family values to evolve from the mess.

No Right Turn - The section 59 debate - Idiot/Savant covers the Parliamentary debate(s) over the committee stage of the repeal of s59, doing his bit for enlightening us all on the creation of law.

Pandagon - I Like My Sexism Like I Like My Hardwood Floors: Deeply Ingrained - Auguste writes about his evolution away from sexism and towards enlightenment.

Ranting off the ROK - Ranting in Laos: Planes, Plains and Phonsavan - stef has left Korea and is travelling home via as many other Asian countries as she can shoe-horn in. In this post she writes about Laos, with pics!

Secret Passage - Corned Beef, dognuts and representing the Western Springs - Robyn reports colourfully on her visit to the Pasifika Festival.

Smell the Magic Kitty - Lindey Lohan upskirt, Britney crotch shots - Yes, I know, you can't believe you just read that on this blog. Bear with me; click through, and then mouse over the hot links...

Tales from the Reading Room - Atwood & Tolstoy - litlove covers The Handmaid's Tale and Anna Karenina, with some very interesting feminist observations.

Previous volumes of Linky Love can be found in their own shiny category.

Steaming onwards!

The Onehunga Rail line is to be re-opened

Wohooo!

That is all.

Linky Love - Volume 6

Standard intro - if you have a post of your own, or some else's, that you'd like to highlight please feel free to add it in comments, or to discuss the above posts, or indeed most anything else.

Alas (a blog) - The Long Beach Beating Case and Race - Ampersand writes about a number of assault cases in the USA where race has been an issue and looks at the impact skin colour may have had on the outcomes (and the conservative reaction).

Anarchia - Anarchism in Te Whanganui a Tara/Wellington - Asher blogs about anarchy groups in our fair capital.

Auckland's Burning - Activists assaulted while CEO lies - John covers a protest against climate change at Don Elder's speech as CEO of Solid Energy. Includes snaps!

Blogging it Real - Things that hack you off - dc_red asks what would you dispose of if you were Supreme Commander of the Universe, even providing a handy starter list if you are stuck for inspiration.

Capitalism Bad; Tree Pretty - It's not anti-feminist to go on a diet, it is anti-feminist to write a diet book - Maia looks at two recent Guardian pieces and writes about dieting as a survival mechanism.

Contradiction - Fashion tips for liberals - George explains why he supports Chester Burrows on banning gang patches.

Feministe - More proof of the Housework Gap - zuzu looks at new research on the housework-gender labour division, and examines her own motivations for cleaning.

Frogblog - Public transport, how do you spell that? - Russel covers and comments on a recent debate in the House about public transport, involving Jeanette Fitzsimmons (first questioner), Michael Cullen (the questioned), Shane Jones (asks a patsy) and Peter Brown (puts in another plug for the roading lobby).

The Fundy Post - Hollaback Man - Paul reports on Matthew Hooton's spirited defence of the Exclusive Brethren on RNZ National recently. Paul reckons Laila Harre made "mincemeat" of him. What a shame.

Island Life - Browned to perfection - David Slack constructs a new New Zealand, loosely based on Tariana Turia's pronouncement that we could be a little browner (and she doesn't mean more tanned).

Long Ago And Not True Anyway - Panel Beaten (Oh for a higher calibre of right wing nut) - Terence muses on the woefulness of Michael Basset's recent performance on RNZ National's afternoon panel.

No Right Turn - Climate change: no policy - Idiot/Savant responds to a Herald on Sunday comment about the lack of policy (which he agrees with) and examines the reasons for this. He also has a related post on the emission statistics the HoS has used and scratches his head over where they got them from.

No Right Turn - Trickle down fails again - And Idsy gets a second nod in this Linky Love volume for his examination of how trickle down economics have failed to deliver not only in NZ but also in the USA under George W.

Pandagon - Salaries and housework and the whine of entitlement oh my! - Further to the housework post at Feministe listed above, Amanda Marcotte looks at the impact of women earning more than their male partners on the division of labour in the home.

stanselen - Playcentre is Anarchism in our area - jo succintly reveals how her local playcentre works.

Walking with Ghosts - Another Modest Proposal - the STFU scale - Phoenician in a time of Romans outlines a brilliant scheme to stop complaints about various things by establishing a Statistics Towards a Fairer Universe scale.

Past Linky Loves are now in their own shiny category.

Linky Love - Volume 4

The now standard intro - if you have a post of your own, or some else's, that you'd like to highlight please feel free to add it in comments, or to discuss the above posts, or indeed most anything else.

Also, if you want to suggest some new blogs to widen my reading please leave a message after the beep.

...the gossip - Well you can't please everyone - The unofficial Finsec (Financial Sector Union) blog has a pithy post on the political positions unions take.

Contradiction - Bio-terror George posts on the SPCA surprise inspection of a battery farm ALF had previously raided and reported. Despite the ALF raid, the farmers appeared to have improved little, but the SPCA may still not prosecute.

Feministe - Who are the extremists? Jill points out the extreme politics, including advocating for the assasination of scientists and political leaders, espoused by leading lights on the right of the US blogosphere.

Fighting Talk - Lyndon Hood writes wittily about literary references and NZ politics.

From the morgue - What's the matter with W Cres? morgue shares his experiences of Wilkie Cres in Naenae, which seems to have more than its fair share of murderous crimes.

The Fundy Post - Ash Wednesday Paul writes about the privileges complaint recently upheld against naughty Matt Robson, who had the temerity to make a comment about United Future's links with Big Tobacco in his email newsletter.

Hard News - The Report Card Russell Brown delves into some of the stats and reportage on the Unicef report on child well-being, and also links to a photo that very nearly made me cry. The ensuing discussion in PASystem is also of interest.

Left reckoner - a game of numbers Rob Davies has a humourous and interesting post inspired by some of the 2006 census results (more interesting than I am making it sound!)

The Legal Soapbox - Yet more thoughts on Anti-Semitism - Legal Eagle points out that Jews and Arabs are both Semites, and muses on the impact of white supremacy on the prejudices against these groups.

Natalia Anatova - Beauty and the B-list - Natalia channels her Gerard Butler obsession into a post on celebrity. I think she's really trying to pose the question we all want answered - is Butler the new Christian Bale?

Paper, Scissors, Rock - Male Pattern Stupidity - Ms Klake posts about her observation that men may just get more stupid as they age. I couldn't possibly comment ;-)

Women of Color Blog - Tim Hardaway hates Gays and plotting Queer liberation through sports brownfemipower covers the controversy that has erupted in the US sports world after former NBA basketballer John Amaeci came out of the closet.

Former Linky Loves (vols 1 through 3) can be found in the Linky Love category.

BEEEEEEP

National's "new" policy agenda

A funny thing happened on the way to being in Government (or not). It seems that National have forgotten that their party has internal policy processes.

Since John Key's elevation to the leadership he's made a number of announcements and references indicating a significant policy shift. This creates some confusion for back-room boffins like myself, when Key makes speeches indicating a move away from Don Brash-era policies like a timeframe for immediately abolishing the Maori seats*, focusing on the issue of climate change (which Key and other leading figures considered questionable not that long ago), not to mention endorsing a nuclear-free New Zealand. Did National squeeze in some remit voting between Brash stepping down and Key opening his mouth?

Most recently, in his Jan. 30th "State of the Nation" speech, Key announced school breakfasts (yep, that's right, really BIG policy stuff) and this month there has been a policy announcement about putting Corrections back into Justice. Those with longer memories may recall that a) many low decile schools started breakfast programmes years ago, and b) National took Corrections out of Justice in the first place when it was last in power.

Now please don't think I don't want National to talk policy. I definitely do - not only so that voters can see what National would do in power, but also because I think it's an important part of democracy that the Opposition not only criticise but also put forward alternatives.

But in the wake of The Hollow Men and the insight that gave into National's policy processes prior to the 2005 election, you'd think Key would be trying to distance himself from the perception that National are more Decepticonz than neocons. By changing policy himself, by media statement and speech-making, he is signalling that National is still a party which will change policy not via it's own, long-standing democratic processes, but to suit political whims.

I'm also a little perturbed by National's approach to industrial relations, which Jordan has already blogged about. Key has said that they wouldn't shift away from the ERA as the key piece of legislation, however continuing to endorse Wayne Mapp's 90 day probation law suggests that National would still want to make some radical changes to employment law.

So perhaps a reader who is in National would care to comment - do Key's announcements reflect recent internal policy debates (and of course their outcomes)? Please note, anonymous comments have never been banned on this blog.


* I first started writing this post in early Dec 2006. Now Key has actually gone back to almost Brash's policy, but he has still delayed the possible implementation of the abolition by three to six years on what Brash promised, to 2014. I smell the whiff of a bargaining chip for negotiations with the Maori Party myself, but Sharples and Turia don't appear to appreciate the game playing.

Linky Love - Volume 2

Continuing with the This Is Not A Link Farm, But Actually It So Is thing...

Alas (a blog) - Looking Professional - Maia (also of CBTP) writes on the issues surrounding the purchase of clothes for job interviews, and the difficulties faced by those whose bodies don't conform. Copious comments too.

Capitalism Bad - What we've lost - A well-written post from Maia about the change in language in the abortion debate from "A woman's right to choose" to "pro-choice."

Feministe - State of the Union: Hot Chicks Get Naked! - Jill writes about the anti-woman bent of PETA's latest campaign.

Frogblog - John Key's State of the Nation speech - Russel Norman gives a succint summary of the good and bad in the new National leader's 30th Jan speech.

Feministe - Feeding the Crocodiles - piny has a scary post about the trend towards accusations of "fetal abuse" in the USA. In other words, when you are preggers you are just a baby carrier and nothing else. So much for being a person too!

I See Red - Party activist bloggers - Tony Milne contributes a revealing article (complete with cool graph, he's so good at the cool graphs!) about the tensions of being a party activist and also having a private blog.

No Right Turn - What the Royal Commission really said about the Maori Seats - Idiot/Savant contributes a much needed article refuting the National spin that the Royal Commission recommended abolition.

NZ Human Rights Lawyer - Set Tasers to Spun - Actual lawyer (as opposed to all us pretend ones) Mark Lillico covers a recent court decision around pepper spray and draws the links to the current police taser trial.

One Tenacious Baby Mama - Blog for Choice Senior Kindergarten style - darkdaughta writes powerfully about the ride to school for her child, and the abortion clinic they pass together.

Pandagon - Help Chris Muir Find Teh Funny - Some great remixes of a climate change denial cartoon, put together by Amanda Marcotte.

Pandagon - Beg, Borrow or Steal (But Mostly Borrow) - ilyka has written about the NOW letter to the US Senate supporting the probably rise in the minimum wage in the States, and includes detail from the anecdotal research NOW attached. While it's in the American context, it sounds very familiar, and clearly many of the arguments made against increasing the minimum wage are the same here as there. ilyka has ferretted out some of the particular anecdotes which rebut those points.

Red in Roskill - Progressive Christianity - Michael Wood's post on what he sees as his faith, and some interesting comments in response.

What We Said - Why I Am a Feminist - Make Tea Not War talks about why she became a feminist in the first place and why she is still one today.

Again, if you have a post of your own, or some else's, that you'd like to highlight please feel free to add it in comments, or to discuss the above posts, or indeed most anything else.

Also, I am looking for new blogs to add to my Bloglines - particulary foreign leftie and/or feminist links - suggestions welcome in comments or by email.

Related links:
Linky Love - Volume 1 (23rd Jan. 2007)

Spooky

So on January 9th this year I posted some fictitious political news cos there wasn't much doing.

My four spurious announcements included the following:

Bush: "We Will Fight Them On The Beaches" - George W finally admits that climate change is a) real and b) not so good, and decides to launch a comprehensive War on Carbon Emissions, starting with fuel efficiency standards in line with China.

Then in Bush's state of the union address, reported January 24th here, there's this:

President Bush today called for Americans to cut their petrol use by 20 per cent over a decade, mostly through a nearly five-fold increase in use of home-grown fuels such as ethanol by 2017.

In his annual State of the Union address to Congress, Bush also called for tighter vehicle fuel efficiency standards...

I'm looking forward to my other stupid predictions coming true!

Maybe I should also forecast a Big Wednesday in my near future. Although that might mean I have to start buying tickets.

Public transport systems I have known

Over on Brain Stab Morthos wrote (ages ago) about some of the public transport systems he has used, in the UK and Italy. It got me thinking.

I live in Auckland. Not exactly an area renowned for its fabulous public transport system, particularly if you want to go somewhere other than the CBD, especially somewhere in another city (eg North Shore to Manukau). I remember having to catch three buses to get home from the airport once. Which is fine if you have a lot of time (and less luggage), but not so good for the majority of people.

Things have changed a lot here since I got a car and now I only use public transport sporadically. Auckland still has a long way to go, but there seem to be Plans, and there's some evidence of their implementation - double-tracking on some of the Western line, more bus lanes popping up. The recent announcement that the Onehunga line will not be re-opened is a bit of a blow, but I suspect the fight will continue there and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it becomes a hot local issue in the elections later in 2007.

Anyway, the point of this post was actually not to write about Auckland but to write about some of the systems I had the luck to use while I was overseas last year. Only in the UK did we have a car, which of course we got rid of as soon as we got to London. But in all the other countries we visited we were reliant on public transport. For the most part it was grand. (This exception can't really be blamed on the Tube as a system).

Everywhere we went, with the possible exception of Moscow*, the public transport system was easy to navigate, despite our English-only limitations (ok, Nickname Pending had some German too**). Mostly the staff were friendly and knowledgeable, often anticipating our needs. Usually the prices were reasonable or cheap - a luxury born in some places from possessing a population large enough to sustain the system without subsidy. Clearly the public transport system was used not only by tourists but also by commuters, families, people going about their everyday lives, because it was comprehensive and went to the places people not only worked and slept, but also where they did their living.

In other words, quite different to Auckland.

Many cities had underground train systems, something NZ lacks. Moscow's Metro was certainly the biggest, and had these escalators that went down and down and down until you were certain that you must be coming back up again. For anyone who has had vertigo at the top of HSB1, multiply that tenfold. The trains were rickety and noisy, and seemed to be going at great speed. The announcements were all in Russian and you could go anywhere you wanted on one token as long as you didn't surface. Some of the stations had chandeliers and mosaics left over from the Soviet era, but I was only brave enough to take a snap of the outside of our local station (didn't want to end up a Kiwi version of Zaoui in a Russian jail).

St Petersburg also has a Metro, but we hardly used it, so I can't really comment on that, and Istanbul's we didn't quite understand. We got on at one end of the line and the next stop, just up the hill, appeared to be the other end. Obviously an oops by us somewhere in that experience. I'm sure it's very nice.

Athens was pretty good, which you would expect as it was built for a recent Olympics, and we trained everywhere from Italy onwards - within cities, between cities. Have Eurail pass, will train. Often the Italian trains were grubby, but they were always (roughly) on time, and safe. Procuring tickets and tokens was a breeze, although you have to validate your ticket in a little yellow box thing before getting on. Once you got used to doing that it became automatic and no hassle at all.

Lljubjana wasn't so big on a train based public transport system, so instead they had amazing bus coverage. At around a quarter of the size of Auckland, it puts us to shame. Although we did encounter more weirdos on those Slovenian buses than anywhere else in Europe.

The German systems put everyone else to shame. S-bahns and U-bahns, it was just a marvel of public transport in both Munich and Berlin. Paris's Metro was also useful, although more difficult to navigate, while Bordeaux had a handy combination of trams and buses that got us around. The trams were particularly great to get to and from the train station, plenty of room for luggage.*** Madrid had another comprehensive subway system, easy to get around and a welcome relief from the extreme heat outside.

And then there was London's Tube. I adored it. If it had been up to me we quite possibly would not have seen any of the sights as I would have been happy to set myself little challenges to get through the system all day long. All of my experience in Moscow, Germany, Paris and Madrid just seemed to prepare me for an underground where the signs were in English, I was somewhat acquainted with the placenames, and there were little quirks to each station.

To return to living in Auckland, a place with barely a decent bus system, and no plans to build a metro, was a big crash down to earth.

What would I like to see in my hometown? Obviously a subway system, but I realise that's ambitious. However I'm sure we could achieve something using a combination of methods - bus, train, tram, ferry - that would mirror the comprehensive coverage of the wider city in a way that the Moscow and London systems in particular do. Spokes of a wheel and then rings connecting them. I'd also love a single ticket system (or even recyclable tokens, save the paper) and council or state ownership of the providers - different private providers have created many of the problems we have now.

We need to do something, and sooner or later someone's generation is going to have to bite the bullet. We do not want to be trying to put this in after Auckland has grown even larger - I have experienced the Bangkok system, which is slowly growing, and it was not pretty.

Although if someone invents the teleport I'm quite happy to shelve my public transport dreams in favour of a network of teleportation stations. Then I'm sure I'd get to the gym more often.

* It didn't take us too long to sort out the Metro, but getting a train ticket from Leningrad station to St Petersburg was a three hour nightmare.

** Which handily saved us from a 32 Euro fine in Naples.

*** Although the friend we were visiting got intercepted by an American evangelist recruiting for Jesus on one of the Bordeaux trams when on her way to meet us. She had to get off several stops early to escape.

An Nouncements

Well it's been a few days since I last posted, but I just don't feel like there's much political to write about, and I can only go so far with memes and self-indulgent photo posts.

Jordan's indicated that he too feels there is Not Much going on*, but that "there'll be an announcement, soon."

So I've decided to make up some political news upon which to blog. Some announcements I'd like to hear, no less:

A Veritable Tsunami of Funding For Public Services - Clark and Cullen announce (in dubious taste) the Labour-led Government's grand plans to pump meaningful injections into the budgets of schools, universities, polytechnics, hospitals, and other public institutions.

Bush: "We Will Fight Them On The Beaches" - George W finally admits that climate change is a) real and b) not so good, and decides to launch a comprehensive War on Carbon Emissions, starting with fuel efficiency standards in line with China.

Real Issues About National's Conduct - The Herald's editorial reversing their naive dismissal of the concerns raised in The Hollow Men, and signalling the beginning of their own media campaign to root out and expose corrupt behaviour in all political parties.

International Year of Being Nice To Each Other Begins Well - Headline of article covering the launch of 2007 as International YoBNtEO, for politicians, bloggers, and all the people of the world. Blogs across the nation suddenly seem bereft of trollish comments and senseless barbs, while politicians agree that actually there's quite a bit they can develop across party lines without compromising their principles, so let's stop slagging each other in public.

Ok, that's enough to be going on with then.

* Although I'd note that Jordan has managed to write several posts since his Not Much, which suggests that there is more going on than perhaps he initially thought! I however am not motivated enough to write about climate change or Fiji (especially when No Right Turn has been doing such a sterling job).**
**Can I still call it a digression when it's at the end of the post?

We won't get fooled again?

A funny thing happened on the way to being in Government (or not). It seems that National have forgotten that their party has internal policy processes.

Since John Key's elevation to the leadership he's made a number of announcements and references indicating a significant policy shift. This creates some confusion for back-room boffins like myself, when Key makes speeches indicating a move away from Don Brash-era policies like a timeframe for abolishing the Maori seats, focusing on the issue of climate change (which Key and other leading figures considered questionable not that long ago), not to mention endorsing a nuclear-free New Zealand. Did National squeeze in some remit voting between Brash stepping down and Key opening his mouth?

Now please don't think I don't want National to talk policy. I definitely do - not only so that voters can see what National would do in power, but also because I think it's an important part of democracy that the Opposition not only criticise but also put forward alternatives.

But in the wake of The Hollow Men and the insight that gave into National's policy processes prior to the 2005 election, you'd think Key would be trying to distance himself from the perception that National are more Decepticonz than neocons. By changing policy himself, by media statement and speech-making, he is signalling that National is still a party which will change policy not via it's own, long-standing democratic processes, but to suit political whims.

I'm also a little perturbed by National's approach to industrial relations, which Jordan has already blogged about, as has the gossip. Key has said that they wouldn't shift away from the ERA as the key piece of legislation, however continuing to endorse Wayne Mapp's 90 day probation legislation suggests that National would still want to make some radical changes to employment law. Simply saying that they'd keep the ERA isn't honest enough if they intend to gut it or pass other legislation that nullifies much of it.

So is it a case of meet the new boss, same as the old boss?

What might have been...

Will Gore run again? The below suggests not. However it does also tend to suggest that two of the barriers he faced last time (being wooden and humourless) are now things of the past...

If Al Gore was president - SNL
Uploaded by Uberlinkert

Hat tip: Sethop's Interesting Times

wailing on those wailing on the whalers

Yesterday DPF posted some criticism of the decision by the Maritime Union of NZ to stop working the ships involved in the Japanese whaling in the Antarctic. In particular he cast aspersions on the democratic decision-making of the union involved, implying that members had no say in these kinds of political decisions.

I emailed Victor Billot, who works at the Maritime Union of NZ (MUNZ), to ask how the decision to withdraw labour from these ships was made. Below is his response, which he has given me permission to publish:

The Maritime Union is a democratic working class organization. The national leadership of the Union is elected by a direct ballot of members every three years: this includes the General Secretary, a fulltime official, and the President, Vice President and Assistant General Secretary. Each branch of the Union is directly accountable to the members through elected executives as well.

The elected General Secretary is responsible for the day to day running of the Union, and has authority to represent the Union as a collective organization, with final decisions on major issues made by the National Executive of the Union, represented by elected delegates from all port branches.

In this instance the General Secretary cleared the decision with the elected branch officials in the ports most likely to be affected.

I myself attend bi-monthly stopwork meetings at Port Chalmers (my home branch) attended by up to sixty Union members, of several hours in duration, where full and frank discussion of all Union activities is held, with rank and file members questioning their elected officials and putting their own views. I would say the Maritime Union is one of the most democratic organizations in New
Zealand.

The Maritime Union has a proud history of political involvement including refusing to work ships loading metal for Japan in the 1930s, international workers struggles, the anti-nuclear movement and anti-apartheid movements. Maritime unionists realize that solidarity and collective democracy are their best tools in the constant struggle to defend their rights and dignity as workers and citizens.

As far as democracy goes, I would suggest that if there are any concerns, people should question why large businesses join organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable, who wage a ceaseless propaganda war against job security, decent wages, the environment, an equal society and so forth.

I don't believe the vast majority of employees of these businesses are asked if they wish to support organizations which act against the interests of the working class. Yet those employees are the people who create wealth for the business, and society. Where is the democracy there?
Regards,
Victor Billot
(Communications Officer, Maritime Union of New Zealand)

All of this further underlines the lack of understanding by some on the Right of the democratic nature of unions. As I outlined in #3 of my union myths series, unions are quite different from businesses, in particular in regard to their decision-making structures.

Workers are entitled to make collective decisions about their lives. Get over it.


Related links:
Frogblog has a good response to the But-Whales-Are-Just-Like-Lambs argument, most recently propounded by Stephen Franks, but popping up all over the place lately.

why isn't this front page news?

Bush's reports on climate change were being heavily edited by someone with absolutely no scientific training, but a background in the oil industry. I only know about this because I heard it briefly on Nat Rad and then Googled to find out a bit more, but there's hardly anything out there.

This is incredibly corrupt - if it's happening in this area whose to say it isn't happening elsewhere in the Bush Administration?