Linky Love - Volume 18

Some of these are pretty old, but worth it! Hopefully this is the return of regular Friday Linky Loves.

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 - What Kinds of Help do Abused Men Need? - Ampersand brings together a variety of comments on the very topic mens' rights activists often accuse feminists of ignoring and shows that patriarchy hurts men too.

Anonymous Lefty - That's not an argument, it's just contradiction - Jeremy has a worrying post about the Australian WorkChoices legislation and how it is being interpreted.

Capitalism Bad - Review: Rosita - Maia contributes an interesting run-down on an intriguing film about an 8 (eight) year old trying to get an abortion in Latin America.

Ethical Martini - Three cheers for Hone Harawira - Marty adds his views to the debate about Hone calling Howard a racist over his treatment of aboriginal communities.

Feministe - Morans - I just really like the pic that accompanies this brief post by Jill.

House of Ghetsuhm - Once upon a time... - Ghet wrote a great post a while back about Labyrinth, which I totally heart (the post and the film) but have only just got around to linky loving.

LeftAlign - The Vocabulary of Protest - LA writes about the way protests are reported in the media and how this can skew perception.

Maramatanga - Objection - The best damn round up of the objections to the proposed electorate boundary changes. Much more interesting than I am making it sound.

No Right Turn - It's the jobs, stupid - Idiot/Savant writes about careers and studies in the Sciences.

The Reading Room - On Fairy Tales - litlove looks at the adult themes in the children's stories we tell.

Sparkle*Matrix - porn and the cathartic relationship - s*m examines the idea that access to porn reduces the amount of sexual abuse and rape as it allows a less harmful outlet (for want of a better way to put that).

Well Urban - Toytown - Tom does some digging about what is happening to the houses affected by the Wellington City Bypass.

Previous volumes of Linky Love (1 - 17) can be found over here.

(Pic Via)

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.

Steaming onwards!

The Onehunga Rail line is to be re-opened

Wohooo!

That is all.

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.

"Just looney tunes"

Usually my father and I don't agree on much that has a political element.*

And in general my reaction to Stadium Madness is similar to Idiot/Savant's; I don't really care.

Don't get me wrong, I do care about rugby. So does my Dad. I care so much that these days I cannot actually watch a game. I get so wound up by half time (even if my team is winning) that I can't watch the second half. On the occasions Nickname Pending watches a game I will do a crossword or read a book and glance at the screen from time to time, lest I turn into The Incredible Span, all green of skin and exploding with rage.

But to get back to the point - at last Dad and I agree on something. We don't need a new stadium. Let's just use Eden Park, as we promised in our World Cup bid, and spend the dosh on something else.

Like:

• A decent public transport system for Auckland - one that is actually accessible from most suburbs, and goes to places other than a big Grey Elephant on waterfront
• Pay increases for some of those workers funded by the Government who are currently campaigning for them - aged care nurses and caregivers, radiotherapists, kindergarten head teachers, support staff in schools, hospital staff, I'm sure there are many more.
• Funding more than one parks officer in the whole of Auckland City - with that kind of money we could fund several for over a decade
• Commissioning some really crash hot research to find out how to actually address our drinking culture problems (without giving in to the simplistic, knee-jerk and ineffective option of raising the drinking age). I suspect this may need to start with that earth-shatteringly obvious step of actually asking people why they do/don't drink. I'm prepared to give them that starter for free. Just part of the service here at Spanblather.
• Shortening waiting lists - hip ops, cataracts, breast reconstruction, some men's health operation thingy - half a billion wouldn't even touch the sides in the health budget, but it could make a practical difference to the people (both patients and staff) who would get those ops.

And that's just a few minutes worth of thought. No doubt everyone else has their own ideas, although if your idea is a tax cut then you haven't thought hard enough.

I do know that we'd have to spend money on Eden Park regardless. But it's a lot less and there's a lot less risk of it blowing out. And there was Professor Andrew Zimbalist on National Radio yesterday talking about the really quite large number of stadiums of the Stadium New Zealand genre that have gone bust. For a real life example not that far from our fair city, you could have a look at this article from last year, about Telstra Stadium, aka Stadium Australia. Dad reckoned he heard today somewhere that they had gone bust recently, but a quick google didn't turn it up. Update, same day 7.51pm: DPF has it though, so it must be true.

So for someone who doesn't care I've written quite a bit, above. I guess ultimately I won't care if they don't go with the waterfront. I will care if they do, because I'll resent it.

But either way, is there not some other news in this damn country, besides where we put a building for a one off sports event in five years time?

PS Dad also reckons any new stadium has to have a roof on it. So if anyone reading this is ever talking to Mr Mallard about this, you might want to pass that on.

Update, 19th Nov 10.55pm: The Red Letter is keeping a tally of bloggers for, against and undecided.

* Case in point, I rang him last week and he said it hadn't been a very good week for his side politically. I immediately assumed he was talking about the Republicans losing control in the USA and said " well I don't think it's that bad that the USA has it's first ever female Speaker". He immediately interrupted me and said "no, I don't care about that, I'm a New Zealander." He was down in the dumps about the drinking age, so we had a good ol' disagreement about that. We never even got to disputing the 100 MPs Bill Dad's side lost the same night. I remember many many moons ago when my boyfriend at the time wasn't allowed to come into the house until he signed the 99 MP petition. I was perversely proud that Dad's copy of the petition never got more than two signatures - his own and that of my intimidated boyfriend.

a little Laws Watch hilarity

I don't totally get everything they write on Laws Watch, the website dedicated to opposing Michael Laws' mayoralty down in the fair town of Wanganui. I suspect it's because I don't get all the code names they use, not being a local and thus not being overly interested in their local body politics.

But the picture they have up in this article about conspiracy theories is well worth a look-see (just give it a few seconds to start doing its magic).

one small question

What's the deal with Waikaraka Park? Can the Springs Speedway move there?

I'm actually of the "you moved there you're going to have to put up with it within reason" school myself, just curious.

Selwyn - an interesting life (so far)

I was sitting at home with The Man in The Comfy Chair, about to watch the late TV3 news, and he comes out with a shocker - the 30 year old Grey Lynn resident who has been arrested for allegedly putting an axe through a window is in fact Tim Selwyn, aka Selwyn Abaford, a man who I have had some acquaintance with over the years.

My original encounters with Selwyn were during my first involvement in student politics - he was running against a friend of mine for the coveted post of Media Officer at AUSA. It was a close run thing, with Selwyn using the catchphrases "If you're a fuckwit I'll call you a fuckwit" and "I like icecream" but missing out in the end by about 60 votes - possibly due to his uncanny resemblance to a young Al Borland (Home Improvement character, for those of you who didn't have parents addicted to the damn show). He didn't help matters by frequently wearing flannel shirts.

Then he ran for the local body elections using the moniker Selwyn Abaford, under the premise that being at the top of the ballot would sweep him into power. Rumour has it he would have used Aardvark but thought that might be too obvious. He ran for several spots around Auckland, and found himself a member of the Glenfield Community Board because there were only enough nominations to fill the number of vacancies so no election was held. There was an issue around the legality of some of his nomination forms which DPF advises me not to discuss further while Selwyn is currently before the court.

Tim spent several months on the aforementioned Glenfield Community Board. Apparently there was a big problem with graffiti on the children's playgrounds and Selwyn suggested, with a straight face, that they electrify the playgrounds at night to eliminate this unsightly behaviour. He put forward a full proposal, including working out how much it would cost, what materials would be necessary, etc. Would have been priceless to see the faces of the other board members as they tried to work out how to rebuff this strangely compelling idea.

Next time I saw Selwyn was during the frenzy of portfolio elections at AUSA, and his mate Martyn Bradbury was running for Craccum editor. Selwyn came and leafleted for him, and tried to get students to take the pamphlets on the basis that they were "get out of jail free" cards. Quite a jolly time was had with the three of us leafleting side by side at the top of the stairs by the old fruit and nut hut (sadly now long gone).

Then there was the Craccum suicide article, a tale that Ben at Dog Biting Men should really tell the tale of as I'm sure he knows more about it than me. However I will just add that I thought the Herald's summation of the article in their recent Selwyn coverage was a bit inaccurate - my recollection was that Selwyn wasn't so much saying that suicide was a valid life choice, but that people who wanted to kill themselves were losers anyway and so no great loss to our society. During this fracas Selwyn was interviewed by Kim Hill on Nine to Noon, and won the distinguished honour of being the only person she has ever hung up on in a live interview.

Last time I saw Selwyn in the flesh was on the second Auckland Hikoi (my photos here - scroll down) which was a surprise. I thought maybe he was being ironic, as I remembered him being very right wing at Uni. Sounds like he's changed and it would be quite fascinating to find out how and why.

For more blogging on all this (largely about the nature of the charges) check out:
- DPF - Seditious Conspiracy (interesting that in Glenn's comment on this he doesn't mention that it was his mother's signature that Selwyn forged, and maybe his own IIRC)
- Neil Falloon and Media Cow - Sedation to Conspiracy
- Idiot/Savant - DPF on "seditious conspiracy"
- Kiwi Pundit - Seditious Conspiracy

Update: DPF has suggested in comments that I edit this post to avoid legal liability - I've made a few minor changes with reluctance. Also Whiggy has posted his thoughts on Mr Selwyn too:
- Whiggy - Sedition!

new favourite political cartoon

In today's Herald and can be found here.

Everybody sing:

"We don't need no water,
Let the Mother Hucker burn.
Burn Mother Hucker, burn"

I do support City Vision, and I am glad we've got control of the Council, but some cartoons are just too good to get huffy about ideology.

wellington mayoralty closer than it appears

word is that Prendergast only got back in on the 7th preference and is in fact about 1000 votes ahead of Pepperell...

given the revelation about the 800 uncounted votes, the ensuing recounts, and the special still to come there is a very slim chance she may in fact be unseated like her Auckland compadre.

a bit more local bod news

firstly, i made a few errors in the elections posts below, due to my haste in posting in some cases and in others due to results not being quite final and things changing slightly in a few places - with small margins slight changes can be significant - i'll come back and fix them on the morrow.

secondly, Hubcaps rocked up to the City Vision function this arvo - i'd already gone home to rest up before Caligula, but The Man Who Sits In The Comfy Chair reported back that Hubbsie was much more savvy than he has been portrayed in the media, in particular not giving too much away in his speech to the CVers. there were no loud proclamations of Hucker as Deputy Mayor, so clearly that's not in the bag just yet.

Hubcaps did however speak about the importance of the community boards, and that he thinks they are crash hot (probably not in those words). Given that there is a review of ACC's electoral arrangements coming up during his mayoralty, and CRN has expressed a desire in the past to do away with community boards, this could be reasonably significant.

thirdly, interesting to hear NatRad announcing that the centre-left has taken 13 of the council votes - this is rather generous as it must include Hubbers and the two Action Hobson people (none of whom are going to vote with the centre-left on everything I expect) and Faye Storer
from Waiheke, who has certainly worked with the centre-lefties in the past, but again, not 100% of the time.

the big game in town

well the Auckland Regional Council is basically now confused. i texted a friend of mine who works for them and he said it's an interesting mix...

Auckland City gets 4 spots - Citizens and Ratepayers Now (CRN) took the top three (Michael Barnett who you may remember from the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and that grand flick "When Bowties Go Bad", Judith Bassett who I know next to nothing about, and David Hay who was deputy mayor for ACC and (in)famously opposed the Hero parade) and City Vision took out the fourth spot with Mike Lee, who was elected in a by-election after the death of Phil Warren and was returned this time.

Manukau City gets 3 spots - the right have taken two spots (Craig Little, Advancing Auckland, and Bill Burrill, Independent) and RAM have taken the third (Robyn Hughes).

North Shore City gets 2 seats - couldn't find their results online, but it's expected to be two of Joel Cayford (centre-left), Wyn Hoadley (centre I think) and Ian Bradley (right and incumbent).

Waitakere City gets 2 seats - also couldn't find their results online. But Sandra Coney and Paul Walbran, centre-left incumbents, are expected to be returned.

Rodney gets 1 seat - Christine Rose has won - the incumbent Brian Smith was second, but not sure about Ms Rose's affiliations.

Franklin gets 1 seat - and who knows who it went to, I can't find it online.

So best case scenario (for the left):
Centre-left - 4 (Lee, Coney, Walbran, maybe Cayford)
RAM - 1 (Hughes)
Centre-right - 6 definite (Barnett, Bassett, Hay, Little, Burrill, Bradley)
Unknowns - 2 (Rose, whoever wins Franklin)

Clear but control to the right, so I guess David Hay will be the next ARC chair. Arguably this is worse than Gwen Bull.

Interesting to consider is the spoiler role that RAM may have played. In Auckland City they may well have knocked Marie Leadbeater (CV) out, and in Manukau City they have won their only seat on the ARC, which might have gone to Steve Bayliss of centre-left ticket Manukau Vision had they not run. Not sure if the RAM rep and the other centre-lefters will be working together as RAM seemed to cover a pretty wide range of the political spectrum and didn't strike me as "left" so much as "we don't want to run with any of the other tickets".

Helpfully the ARC actually has the results that are known on their site here. Shame on those councils that haven't been up there on the interweb thing - including those who have published other results but not the ARC!

those important little people

theme music: in the neighbourhood (sisters underground)

let us not forget our community boards in all the kerfuffle about mayors and councillors!

in Auckland City the centre-left has clear control of four of the nine community boards - Avondale (5 total - 4 City Vision, 1 Citizens and Ratepayers Now), Eden-Albert (6 total - all CV), Tamaki (5 total - all Labour), Western Bays (5 total - all CV).

Of the other boards, I know basically nothing about Great Barrier (5 independents out of 5 seats) and Maungakiekie (5 Team Maungakiekie out of 5 seats). I suspect that Maungakiekie must be centre-left though, as C&R stood against TM.

Hobson is an even split between C&R and Action Hobson. The highest polling candidate last time, C&R's Aaron Bhatnagar, has lost his seat - not sure what that's about! This will certainly be an interesting board to sit in on from time to time. (Not that I will)

Mount Roskill has 3 C&R and 2 CV. This is no change from last time. The Man Who Sits In The Comfy Chair can sit in it a while longer, having come second to last, but with a smile on his dial.

And Waiheke has 1 CV, 1 C&R and 3 Independents. At least one of the independents, Faye Storer has centre-left tendencies. Not sure how this will play out.

muesli mayor

Hubbard appears to have caned Banks, in provisional results for the Auckland City Mayoralty.

Interesting to see the size of the majority (approx 17,000 votes) and the size of Fletcher's share - only 11,000-odd, so considerably less than the difference. i wonder how she will really feel about this result - it can't have been a surprise, and she has seemed to be very emotionally involved in the race (but then that is often the story the media run about lone female candidates).

Rumour has it that Banks was seen cleaning out his office yesterday, but i take that with a whopping great grain of salt - he doesn't seem to me the kind of man to do that, and i'm sure there will be a transitional period to ensure good governance.

Given that the centre-left has basically taken control of the council (6 City Vision councillors, 3 Labour, plus the mayor on most things maybe?) the anticipation is that Hubbard will pick up Bruce Hucker as his deputy mayor, and the centre-left will be a heavy influence on him. Both left and right will be scrambling to get in the ear of a man who may be much more aloof than many suspect. While I think Hubbard will want advice, I don't think he will be naive about attempts to control him (or at least not for long).

The 2 Action Hobson councillors could also play a pivotal role. Christine Caughey ran under a joint CV-Team Auckland ticket in a by-election (which she lost) so she must be reasonably centre to have been selected for that. I suspect moves will be made early on by CV to bring them into the left fold.

The reality for the centre-left is that they will disagree - in particular there may be disagreements with the Greens (Neil Abel in Eden-Albert, and others on community boards) over the various roading projects. But if a process can be agreed early on to allow "agree to disagree", within certain limits, then the team should be able to hang together and build for next time.

Links to others on this:

• DPF - Banks out and Full Auckland City details
• Aaron Bhatnagar - Centre-left swing in Auckland City
• Whiggy - New Dawn Fades

missing in action

this week i've been struck by the lack of Banksie billboards up on my usual routes. today confirmed their absence, as i didn't see a single one driving out to the airport and back from Kingsland. anyone know why they've come down over a week early? or have i just been uncommonly lucky not to strike any?

Update: It looks as though it's just Roskill-Avondale who has been cured of the great Banks Rash - Eden-Albert certainly had billboards, on both public and private sites.

my 2c on the local bods

everyone who has a political blog knows who they are going to vote for in any given election anyway, but here goes...

surprise surprise - vote LEFT - for those in my neck of the woods, Auckland City, this means voting for City Vision for Council, Community Boards and Regional Council, and give the City Vision Health candidates rankings 1 - 5 for DHB. pretty easy really.

as for the mayoralty - well i reluctantly ticked Hubbard. two reasons: 1) he's the only candidate who can beat Banks. 2) he's probably going to go with whoever gets the majority on council, so could work with City Vision. If Banks wins again and there is a left majority i suspect the council will be quite dysfunctional.

It all underlines how important it is to change the majority on Council, not just the mayor - i'm sure there are other cities where this is the case too. There is so much concentration on the mayoralty race, but in fact the balance of power is just as crucial. This is the first time i've really been involved in local body stuff (although i did a bit for McCarten's bid for the mayoralty last time) and i find it near impossible to get any sense for how things are going. I've found the sheer money that the right has intimidating and galling - Banks hasn't sloshed much around, but CRN and their mates are everywhere with glossy leaflets, colour billboards with pictures, and full page Herald ads, not to mention the supplement the EMA et al funded last week. I found their leaflet confusing though - the way the people were divvied up amongst the folds and where the headings were put made it difficult to read. They must be worried about David Hay getting the ARC though - they are really pushing him now, all of a sudden.

oh and if you're in the Roskill Ward - there's a nice young man called Michael Wood who's running for the Community Board on the City Vision ticket - he's really a rather good guy, despite being in Labour, and i rate him quite highly ;-)

not witty but accurate

well on the drive to work today i see one of the Citizens and Ratepayers Now signs has been defaced with DEVELOPERS in red spray paint. actually it's on the Vote David Hay for ARC bit that's been tacked on the bottom (the CRN signs are in dark blue, so quite hard to deface). I noticed as i drove home tonight that the other side is sprayed with BIG BUSINESS.

there's certainly no denying that CRN has strong links to business - and we aren't talking about SMEs here, for the most part. it takes serious money to buy full page ads in the Herald, and an even bigger pot of dosh to create the pro-roads "supplement" from last week.

and as for the developers angle - well there's a CRN sign up on the Keith Hay Homes vacant section in Lynfield. enough said really.

odd (local) bods

hope he didn't get frostbite...

witty billboard alterations #1

spotted tonight on Dominion Rd, just down the hill from George St.

and no it wasn't me. honest.

a strange rash

spotted in manukau city yesterday. mostly stuck to road signs but also stuck to local body candidates' signs, regardless of denomination.

basically these signs will mean nothing to the vast majority of NZers. If it hadn't been for my run in with the BCIRers at a public meeting a month or so ago it would mean nothing to me.

what worries me about these signs is that they have stuck them on election ones - basically garnering for themselves fake endorsements. to date i've seen them on signs for Manukau Vision, Citizens and Ratepayers Now, Dick Quax, Bill Burrill, and others. how is it "real democracy" to misrepresent the position of these people and tickets? and to misrepresent the support that BCIR has?

*BCIR is Binding Citizens' Initiated Referenda