Linky Love - Volume 21

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.

Anarchia - A lack of language, an abundance of masks - Asher writes about mental illness and the difficulty of communicating about it with friends to get the support he needs.

Auckland's Burning - Photos from tent embassy - John has pics of the protest aimed at visiting Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, underway in Auckland.

Born on State Highway One - Chomsky Lite, with a Scottish accent - Ryan looks at the background to George Galloway's visit to our little nation, and comments on the Voices of Peace forum Galloway spoke at recently.

Capitalism Bad; Tree Pretty - Stand Down Margaret - Maia writes eloquently about how Margaret Thatcher still influences her nightmares, and the negative effect she had on hundreds of thousands of lives.

Contradiction - Actions and moral concepts - George reflects on how politicians seem to make their moral decisions.

eggs benedict and two flat whites - Reasons why it's good to live in NZ - Sandy asks for your top five reasons.

Feministe - The Disney Princess Industrial Complex is coming for your soul! - Vanessa writes about the heavy gendering of children's toys, from the perspective of a mother with a toddler-age daughter.

The House of Ghetsuhm - In ur internet, bringing u weird shit - Ghet has a truly absurd picture that I heart.

LAANTA - More and Better Aid - Terence provides his speech notes from a debate on whether the 0.7% Overseas Development Aid target will actually help.

The Legal Soapbox - Portrayal of the accused and the law - Legal Eagle writes about newspaper sketches of defendants and how they might influence public opinion of the merits of their case, against the background of the Haneef case in Australia.

Roger Nome's Progressive Politics - RN has a series of posts on why NZ needs its unions back, 1, 2 and 3.

Women's Space/The Margins - What Have You Done For a Girl, a Woman, a Female Person? - Heart asks her readers to share their stories of what they have done, as radical feminists, for other women. Comment thread at 52 and counting.

Previous volumes of Linky Love (1 - 20) can be found over here.

(Pic Via)

Linky Love - Volume 20

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.

Alas, a blog - Helix SF Magazine published all-female authored issue - Mandolin looks at wot it says in the title, and the reactions that resulted.

DagCentral - Healthcare in America, Pt 1. - dc talks about the American system, from the point of view of a patient and a nurse.

Feministe - Monday Afternoon at the Welfare Office - kactus shares what it's like to be an American on welfare.

Feministe - Liberated - Jill has a very interesting graph and post on the US Government's attitude to Iraqis seeking to resettle in the Land of the Free.

Feministing - Bush's EEOC nominee "undermined" employment rights - Ann brings us another I Can't Believe This Is Happening Moment, courtesy of the Bush Administration.

The Legal Soapbox - Feelin' blue about blogging - Legal Eagle is actually writing about housing affordability in Australia, reminding us Kiwis that we aren't the only ones with ridiculous house prices.

Make Tea Not War - Film Festival: Part One - MTNW gives us her short reviews of the four films she has seen so far.

Scratch & Sniff - Whodathunk it? actually, plenty of us - Cheezy points out the fallacy in the recent right-wing argument No One Foresaw Iraq Turning Out Like This.

stanselen - No More Rape - jo writes about the Christchurch protest in support of the case against John Dewar.

Take Back the News - A positive example - Anna deconstructs a news story about crime and shows how it is possible to report on rape (and indeed other crime) without stuffing up your use of allegeds.

Previous volumes of Linky Love (1 - 19) can be found over here.

(Pic Via)

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 16

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.

Alas, a blog - Things You Learn About Race From a 7 Year Old - Rachel S on some revealing conversations with her partner's 7 year old son.

Brainstab - "Mortgage" means "death pledge" - Josh shares his thoughts on the endless treadmill of debt repayment he's now stuck on for all eternity.

Brainstab - STEP AWAY FROM DA LIGHT... - Apathy Jack reflects on Hoodrat High as his time working there comes to an end.

Capitalism Bad; Tree Pretty - What I actually think about voting - After ending up in an odd debate about the Democrats with a bunch of American feminist bloggers, Maia explains her views on elections.

DagCentral - The word is "Mexican" - In which the author talks about Mexicans as actual human beings, not the sub-humans the LAPD seemed to decide they were on May Day.

The Ex-Expat - The dark side of Asia - Musings from a Kiwi recently returned from living in Asia, and pointing out a few key points to consider when considering the fate of Cho Seung-Hui, formerly of Virginia Tech.

Feministe - AutoAdmit's Anthony Ciolli Loses Job Offer - Jill reports on what seems to be the final play in the nasty online harassment she faced on a law student bulletin board in the USA.

The Gossip - Measuring sustainability and happiness, not just growth - A guest post from CTU Economist Peter Conway about other ways to measure our success besides the purely economic.

Maramatanga - Draft electorate boundaries - Maramatanga has the best damn run-down of the draft changes that I've seen yet, handily broken down into parts of the country so you can find the area you care most about with ease.

No Right Turn - A victory for freedom to protest - Idiot/Savant reports on the Brooker decision and what it means for activists.

Pandagon - Systematic racism is over - Someone should tell the system - Auguste has a great post, beginning with a great cartoon, that points out the absurdity of the concept that traditional racist power structures have already been turned on their head.

Red Diaper Dharma - My Good Abortion - Parenting writer Ericka Lutz shares her story.

Sir Humphrey's - Das Alles Verdanken Wir Dem Fuehrer - Psycho Milt has a powerful post about the victims of war who aren't shot or injured on the frontlines, but raped in their own homes.

Stanselen - Answering to yourself - jo has a great post about being a woman and being a mother and staunchly not feeling she has to justify either.

Previous volumes of Linky Love (1 - 15) can be found over here.

(Pic Via) (And this is my favourite Linky Love pic to date!)

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)

Linky Love - Volume 14

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.

a bird and a bottle - On the Feminization of Poverty - Bean unpacks an Alternet article which states that 70% of those living in poverty, worldwide, are female.

the blonde canadian - Pure intentions? - -k turns her insightful mind to one of my latest obsessions, Purity Balls.

Born on State Highway One -Quid Auclandium faciam? - Tama Boyle bids a fond farewell to Herald columnist Garth George.

Feministe - We're getting tired of prying your guns for your cold, dead hands - Jill debunks the line that enabling "vulnerable" women to have guns for self-defense is a feminist stance.

Feministe - "Pro-Life" Mississippi has highest of infant mortality rate in the nation - Jill reports on the US state which is allegedly "safest for the unborn child" yet has appalling statistics for chidren, and argues that this appears to be a wider trend amongst "pro-life" states.

Ilyka Damen - Some Thoughts on What Beauty is Mything - gennimcmahon examines her own internal contradictions and reasons that they come from her "deep connection to a culture that says that a good woman doesn’t believe herself to be attractive, no matter what." Let's just say, she's not alone.

The Legal Soapbox - Potter Schmotter - Legal Eagle explains why she finds the Harry Potter books so insufficient that she hasn't even read Book 6. (This one's for you, Apathy Jack.)
Me - My Opinions! Noisy! - disturbed kiwi disagrees with the recent BRT column in the Herald claiming that Working For Families and similar schemes discourage people from earning more.

Pandagon - President-for-Life Sheelzebub institutes her new Stumbling Block Prevention Program - Sheelzebub comes up with some novel ideas to resolve the problem women's bodies seem to pose for some men.

Parrot on Policy - Civic Virtue - Policy Parrot looks at why our political cynicism has increased and some ways we could fight it.

soapbox spinsters - updates and reflections from town hall - movingtargets covers the recent controversy in Western Ontario (and through-out many of the US and Canadian feminist blog) over a Not Funny "satire" piece in her University's student newspaper.

The Techsploder - Fisk on Wikipedia and Web hate campaigns - Juha highlights and discusses an article by Robert Fisk about the impact of internet hate-mongering and the difficulty of finding the truth online.

What We Said - French election update - mandarine explains why he's voting for a woman.

And don't forget, previous volumes of Linky Love (1 - 13) can be found in their own shiny category.

(Pic Via)

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 12

Hard to believe Linky Love has been going for nearly 3 months now! Any feedback welcome either in comments or by email.

Linky Love is a few hours early this week because I won't be at a puter again until Saturday probably. This is the third week in a row that it's been on a Thursday, so maybe that should be the new day. We'll see how I feel next Thursday I guess!

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.

Andrew Falloon - Jim Anderton's Progressives, Post-Jim - Andrew has an interesting article on the possible involvement of the Progs in local body elections in Christchurch later this year, and what this might bode for their strategy in coming general elections.

Bloggreen - Crafty coolness - Kakariki has some fantastic links and pics of radical craftiness - beautiful and political at the same time.

Capitalism Bad - Geeking out - Maia ranks her five most, and five least, feminist episodes of Buffy, and why.

from the morgue - Psychological violence - morgue contributes to the debate on s59 with a post addressing the nonsensical claims that time out is as damaging as smacking.

The Legal Soapbox - No excuse - Legal Eagle gives her thoughts on how media phenomena like reality television and YouTube are normalising bullying and sexual offending.

Make Tea Not War - Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion - MTNW gives her thoughts on Dawkins' book and offers a place to discuss your own conclusions about his theories on religious delusion.

No Right Turn - Still failing the poor: Why NZ needs to give more aid - Terence Wood does a guest spot with a great column putting forward three strong arguments for Aotearoa to give more aid to others.

Shakesville - Feminism Benefits Us All - Mr Shakes decorates the new home of the Shakespeare's Sister team with a great post about why men should be into feminism too.

Shakesville - Sexism posing as science - brynn looks at some dodgy science about women's sexual responses which heads in the direction of claiming rape is naturally part of a woman's lot.

The Strategist - Negotiating with the Taliban - In which the Strategist examines debate emanating from German Social Democrat leader Kurt Beck's call to negotiate with moderate parts of the Taliban.

Tales from the Reading Room - A Code of Blogging Conduct - litlove writes about the discussions burgeoning in blogospheres overseas in the wake of the persecution of a female blogger in tech circles (covered in a previous Linky Love). Interesting that the timing of this echoes similar posting and commenting in NZ. (Che Tibby, this one's for you!).

Walking with Ghosts - Naturally I'm not the first to make this comparison... - Phoenician in a time of Romans compares militant evangelical youth movement Battlecry's propaganda with that of Hitler Youth.

And don't forget, previous volumes of Linky Love 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.

Linky Love - Volume 7

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) - Workplace deaths are overwhelmingly male - Ampersand looks at the reasons why US workplace deaths are mainly amongst men, in particular occupational segregation. My perception is that NZ stats would be similar.

Auckland's Burning - Workers fired because of union membership - John has text and pics about a group of Unite members who had jobs at the Ascott Metropolis in Auckland, until they were fired for having the gall to be union members.

Contradiction - Recanting - George Darroch changes his mind about the post featured in an earlier Linky Love about banning gang patches. Good on him for doing so publicly.

Feministe - File Under: Get pregnant, lose your civil liberties - Jill shines a much needed light on yet another example of discrimination against pregnant women.

Feministe - The New Feminism - Another great post from Jill, this time about how a new reality TV show based on the Pussycat Dolls is apparently empowering to women. That would be why high heels are so uncomfortable to wear then - the pain is empowering me!

Capitalism Bad; Tree Pretty - Expecting More - Maia rips apart the post by Russel Norman, Greens co-leader, about the trials of Rickards, Shipton and Schollum. She has written some amazing stuff on the trial and its outcome, including this, this, and this.

The Fundy Post - Listener now to be available as soothing Gel - Paul Litterick flexs his satire muscles in response to news of a declining Listener readership.

Hard News - Bad men - Russell Brown on the police rape trials, resulting in a multi-faceted comment thread which dips into trollville before being redeemed by D&D veterans. A thread to make you cry a lot, and, eventually, laugh a little.

The Legal Soapbox - The Old School Tie - Legal Eagle explores the issues lefties face when choosing between public and private schooling for their progeny.

The Legal Soapbox - Barefoot and pregnant with a gavel - Legal Eagle gets a second nod for a post on some really quite ludicrous reasons why women shouldn't be judges according to Shariah law.

A Long Time Ago and Not True Anyway - With these bombs democracy - Terence expands on a debate on Public Address System about imposing democracy, comparing Germany and Japan with Iraq.

Make Tea Not War - Know Your Rights - MTNW has a handy explanation of a basic consumer right; being able to return things wot don't work good. Includes a dandy letter you can use for your own broken stuff crisis.

Pandagon - Marriage's downward spiral - gay folks didn't do it - Pam Spaulding writes about the socioeconomic reasons why less Americans are marrying and concludes that it has little to do with homosexual marriage.

Single Malt Social Democrat - Charity begins in Parnell - Carl points out that it doesn't have to be private charity or government funding, and argues that the idea of citizens being totally reliant on charity is abhorrent.

stanselen - Ageism and Sexism - jo writes about her experiences within activist groups as an "older" (32!) radical feminist.

Tales from the Reading Room - Fantasy Podcasts - litlove muses on which great dead literary types she would love to interview, and what she would ask if only she could.

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

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 5

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.

As always, if you want to suggest some new blogs to widen my reading please leave a comment.

Alas (a blog) - Court Issues Unbelievable Stupid Sex Crime Ruling - Ampersand reports on a bizarre legal case (in the USA, whereelse) where a young woman's conviction for child pornography, based on sending intimate photos of herself and her boyfriend from her computer to his personal email, was upheld to protect her reputation. Yes you read that right.

Aucklander at Large - Section 59 Citizens Initiated Referendum - Jeremy gives his thoughts on the Family First views on s59 and the CIRs that are now on the go, but the main reason I linky loved this post is because of the fab cartoon at the end of it, all about the Right Wing Noise Machine in the USA.

Auckland's Burning - My street - John writes about a recent brush with violence in his street. A sad story.

Feministe - Disorder - piny supports Pigeon's theory that eating disorders operate in the same way as addicition, in a compelling post about power and anorexia.

Feministe - If motherhood is so great why don't you do it? - Jill has produced a post responding to the frequent calls for women to fulfill their "natural" roles as mothers to the exclusion of all else in their lives. She makes an excellent point - if motherhood is genuinely the most valued work then how come more men don't do it?

from the morgue - [mediawatch]The Listener Gets It Right - morgue highlights and comments on a recent Listener article about paroled murderers who haven't reoffended.

The Fundy Post - Dispatches from the frontline in the diversity war - Paul writes about what the Exclusive Brethren are up to these days, and the Human Rights Commission's recent conference on a possible religious diversity statement.

Instaputz - Rocky Mountain News: Putz is the right's Ward Churchill - Brilliant reporting by The Blue Texan on MSM criticism of Glen Reynolds of Instapundit advocating the assasination of Iranian scientists and leaders.

I See Red - Selection of media comments on Key - Tony Milne has put together what the post title says, creating an interesting review of media views of the new National Leader.

Pandagon - How to explain things to Libertarians - Chris Clarke starts with a great cartoon and just gets better.

staneslen - It's not OK to smack - jo writes about her views on smacking and why she hopes the Greens' bill passes.

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

Linky Love - Volume 3

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 still looking for new blogs to add to my Bloglines - particulary foreign leftie and/or feminist links - suggestions welcome in comments or by email. Thank you for the links offered last time.

Alas (a blog) - Silly - poor people don't get choices - Maia writes about the conflict between choice and access in Texas, where the governor has decided to make the HPV vaccine compulsory for all girls before they can start school.

Alas (a blog) - Lactivist blogger attacked by National Pork Board - Rachel highlights the lawsuit an American blogger who promotes breast-feeding rights faced as the result of a funny t-shirt slogan.

Auckland's Burning - ROI and Activism - A post on the assessments activists need to make when organising their campaigns, namely will there be sufficient Return On Investment, by John.

Feministe - Dates with Daddy - Jill has an icky article on fathers swearing to protect their daughters' chastity in the USA. Warning: you may need a bucket handy.

Feministe - The Limits of Political Strategy - piny gives her thoughts on whether (and how) straight marrieds can contribute to the fight for queer marriage rights.

Just Left - Waitangi Day - Jordan Carter reveals his thoughts on our national day, and then posts further in response to many of the comments his original article attracted.

The Legal Soapbox - Feminism and having babies - Legal Eagle writes about her feminism and how it has evolved, particularly since becoming a mother. Also, a follow-up post by the same author, Motherhood and career - what is the answer?

No Right Turn - Typicalling misleading - Idiot/Savant takes DPF to task over his dodgy graph on government revenue (DPF also responds in comments).

Public Address - The thing you can't stand on - Tze Ming Mok has another killer post, this time ostensibly about the kerfuffle rippling outward from a request to fly the Tino Rangatiratanga flag on the Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day.

Red in Roskill - Maori Party and Maori Political Power - Michael Wood gives his thoughts on the newest party in our parliament, and what its advent bodes for our political system, particularly for those on the Left.

Single Malt Social Democrat - In her Majesty's Service - Carl writes about the tensions of being a civil servant, and the extra scrutiny the public service faces from all and sundry.

Sir Humphrey's - Those dirty stinkin' capitalists! - Pyscho Milt writes in response to Maia's post at Alas (a blog) about clothes, sizes, etc, which I linked to in the last Linky Love.

Women of Color Blog - The Coward speaks - brownfemipower's brief post sums up my thoughts about the furore in the US that has resulted in a leading feminist blogger resigning from the John Edwards' campaign team after pressure from some religious lobbyists. While I understand and support Amanda Marcotte's decision to stand down* it makes me very sad and I wish we lived in a world, and operated in a political system, where it wan't necessary for The Game.

Previous Editions:
Linky Love - Vol. 2 (4th Feb. 2007)
Linky Love - Vol 1. (23rd Jan. 2007)


* Pandagon is currently down due to a DOS attack, which is unfortunately not surprising given all the effort some on the US right have been putting in to attacking one of it's authors for daring to have a personal opinion, expressed on her personal blog, about issues they don't like, and criticising them for their stances. GRRRRR! When it comes back up I will put in a link to Amanda's post about her decision to resign. Update, 15th Feb 2007 9.41am - Pandagon is now back up and I have put in the link.

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)

Linky Love - Volume 1

I've been quite inspired by the link farming work that Ampersand does over at Alas, and have decided to do a bit of it myself, although no doubt on a much smaller scale.

My intention is to semi-regularly put together a post that links to a whole lot of posts that I've noticed and got something out of in recent times. Mainly these are going to be from NZ pol blogs, because that's often what I read, but also feminist blogs. They'll be the posts that I probably haven't written about but wanted to. Sort of like a recommended reading list, but I'm not vain enough to think that anyone will follow my recommendation. More like an acknowledgement to the author that I appreciated their post even if I didn't comment or write my own post on the subject.

I've decided not to call it a link farm though, as Wikipedia tells me that has pejorative connotations as it is a spammer tool. "Linky Love" seems to more reflect what my sentiment is, so I'll see how that goes as a name.

So here is my first go at it. Hopefully it won't be the last!

Anarchia - Mental Illness: My Struggle - thought-provoking post from Asher about responses to disclosure of mental illness

Put Up Thy Sword! - Repentant Kiwi Bloke - don't agree with everything AJ says (no surprises there) but this is a revealing and interesting (if somewhat paternalistic) piece about rape and the responsibility men take (or don't) for sexual violence.

Capitalism Bad: Tree Pretty - Hating your body is for losers - Maia writes about feminism and body image, wondering what we can do collectively to stop the hate.

Hard News - Appeasing Osama - Russell Brown has covered the outbursts from Dinesh D'Souza, blaming the left for 9/11 because of our support for liberalism (in the sense of homosexual rights, feminism, etc). An interesting discussion has ensued in the forum thread.

Inside Higher Ed - Against Phalloblogcentrism - Article by Scott McLemee about the perception that political blogging is dominated by men, and how that culture may be maintained. (Hat tip to Make Tea Not War's post at What We Said, where there is also some discussion in comments of this notion) (Apologies to MTNW for not adding the hyperlink, fixed 24th Jan)

I See Red - Minimum Wage 1980 - 2007 - Tony Milne has done a very helpful graph of the level of the legal minimum wage year by year since 1980, thus under both National and Labour-led governments, plus an additional graph showing it in today's dollars. While the evidence is not surprising it is certainly good to have.

Long Ago and Not True Anyway - "Post Abortion Syndrome" - Terence succintly sums up the wrongness of anti-abortionists arguing on the basis of protecting women's mental health.

NZ Human Rights Lawyer - Mad Bad and Unparoleable - given all the recent reactionary palaver about parole, Mark Lillico's contribution is refreshing, imho.

Ranting on the ROK - Vanity Size Me - a post by Stef about the irritation and impracticality of the practice of labelling a size 12 as a 10 (etc) that seems to be infesting women's clothing.

Red in Roskill - As the Bishop Said to the Editor - Michael Wood returns to blogging with a piece about (Anglican) Bishop Randerson's comments about faith, inciting what must be the longest non-spam comment I have ever seen.

Ok that'll do to start with.

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. In particular I'd appreciate some feedback on this concept, good or bad.