those yoof and their irresponsible drunking (again)

Yet again the drinking age is in the news. It really must be the most covered "youth" issue in the last five plus years, but that doesn't mean it is the biggest problem.

I'm going to put my cards on the table - I'm a teetotaller. Always have been, possibly always will be, much to the consternation of many friends through out the years. I just choose not to drink, pretty simple. I'm not going to go into my reasons here, but perhaps in a future post, as they are rather numerous and I am already straying too far from the point I wanted to make when I started to type.

My friends at the time started drinking when I was about 13. To start with there were quite a few of us who didn't drink, but over the years this was whittled down, and my group of friends changed. Now only one other person I socialise with doesn't drink, and that's due to a contraindication from medicine. I'm both a freak and a convenient sober driver at the same time.

So I've seen a lot of drunken teens over the years - I've patted a lot of backs while my peers have thrown up over balconies, on drive-ways, and, occassionally, into toilets. I've seen the stupid things they do, without my own beer goggles on, and sometimes I've even tried to stop them.

What have I learnt from these observations?

1. Alcohol is too easy to get
It was when the drinking age was 20 and it still is now that the drinking age is 18

2. Parents don't teach their children how to drink responsibly
There seemed to be two approaches in my neck of the woods:
Parent A "Dooooo notttt toooooch the deeeeemon drrrrink!"
or
Parent B "Here's some bevvies, off wi' ye now, I'm trying to watch rugger"

Not exactly the cosmopolitan society we aspire to be when it comes to drinking.

3. Alcohol advertising is misleading as all get out
When do you see a blitheringly drunk person throwing up, sleeping with someone they didn't really want to, or ruining their favourite shoes on the telly? Not in the alcohol ads, that's for sure. There you see sexy, attractive people on whom alcohol seems to have remarkably little effect (not very good value for money you might think).

But none of these lead me to conclude that the drinking age needs to be raised again.

If we just enforced the drinking laws we had, particularly around the sale of alcohol, and put some serious money into education, it would have a big impact on the problems created by teenage drinking. I'd like to see the advertising issue addressed too, but that might be asking too much in the current climate.

Ultimately though we need to consider why it is that our teens want to get wasted every weekend - don't even start me on that.

time to Act up again?

Now that Donna is going, and Kenneth Wong is stepping up, it will be interesting to see how things play out inside Act.

Without the common quasi-internal enemy, and with List selection looming, the sudden addition of Wong to the caucus could create some tension, especially as it is not all that long since the leadership change.

With Act currently polling below the threshold, and unlikely to get back its current 9 MPs, the fight for the top few spots will be nasty. I believe Act has a poll of the membership regarding its rankings (anyone know?), but I don't know if this is merely influential or strictly binding. Given the fall of Penny Webster last time, few, if any, Act MPs can consider themselves safe.

Mr Wong of course will have less time to get used to the trappings of office so I guess he has the least to lose.

Whatever happens, I bet the polling in Epsom is a total feeding frenzy.

And of course it's not over for Donna herself yet - she still has the SFO charges to face. Possibly considerably more humiliation to come, and maybe jail, but now it probably won't taint Act (pity really).

of all the search terms in all the world...

After reading on the blog of He I Am Not Mentioning Due To Legal Proceedings about his fun with logs, I decided to install a Sitemeter of my own on the weekend, so I could exult in my own perceived popularity.

I quickly determined that I didn't get any exciting and obscure search terms, in fact any at all, because I wasn't listed in any search engines, so I fixed that (very lazily - only Google and the new msn beta search) and now, finally, after five days of waiting anxiously, I can reveal the first search term used to find my humble little blog...

"anita treefoot"

Yep, that's right, the erstwhile Women's Rights Officer at AUSA in the late '90s, and sometime host of Queer Nation, has inadvertently enticed one person to look at my blog because I mentioned her by name in The Post That Dare Not Speak It's Own Name.

So whoever you were, that person who was looking for Anita, sorry I don't know where she is, but good luck in your hunt.

decision time for Donna and Act...

Supreme Court decision due today! At last!!

I don't overly care whether she goes or stays, but this should be interesting...

Update: Decision due out at 2.15pm. If the Court decides against Donna she would be gone by next week, and Kenneth Wong sworn in Tuesday week.

Mara to FATW "Back off, sonny Jim"

Mr Preston,

You have now publicly repeated the allegations of your client, Mr FATW, and, to add insult to injury, on the blog of her legal guardian, span(ner in the works).

Your claim that our client, Mara, is financially motivated is unfair and quite slanderous - as our client is a cat your money is of little use to her. Her legal guardian will be similarly outraged if you attempt to attach such an accusation to her person as well, and I do not have to warn you that a further suit may be forthcoming on her behalf if you seek to insinuate the same about her.

As to the ability of your client to pay - as it is not money but good reputation that is at issue whatever penalty would result in the bankruptcy and subsequent poverty of your client would be sufficient in reparations. In any matter the quantum of the damages is an issue for the Courts to decide. We are however quite confident of sizeable success in this arena.

In regard to your frankly laughable rebuttals to the points raised in our first missive to Mr FATW:

1.1 Mara is in fact a cat
Mara's catness is not at issue. Her status as a NZ citizen is however questionable. We wish this were not so and in fact have prepared submissions to the current Government around the extention of various rights to the feline population, in particular the franchise, as Mara has political ambitions that she would like to pursue via the Animals First Party.

1.2 Mara is in fact under 18 and thus unable to sign a contract of any sort
You responded: "We do not have access to your client's birth records and are thus unable to verify her exact age. However we suspect based on her appearance that she is substantially past the age of majority in cat years (note that you have already stipulated that your client is, in fact, a cat), and therefore entitled to enter into any contract she might find appropriate."

We are quite stunned by your lack of understanding of simple etiquette. It is quite ungentlemanly to enquire of a lady's age to begin with, but then to question her assertion in regard to it is totally unacceptable and were this still the age of duelling you would find yourself facing a slap in the face with an empty glove and at the next convenient dawn picking your pistol.

1.3 span(ner in the works) is in fact the legal guardian of Mara and thus able to consent on her behalf
The relationship between span(ner in the works) and our client is that of all legal guardians - span(ner in the works) stands in loco parentis. We can assure you that the appropriate papers were lodged with the SPCA at the time that this arrangement was initiated. Once Mara is of adult age the relationship will no doubt become one of close friends and possibly co-habitors (platonic), but that is far far in the future and not a relevant point at this time.

1.4 Would you, sir, deny the world the beauty that is Mara?
You claimed that you were pursuing the best interests of our client, when in fact it is we that are empowered to act on her behalf and are instructed by her, and her legal guardian, span(ner in the works), who is the legal caretaker of her best interests. To second guess us in this manner is inappropriate given that you do not act on behalf of any suitable Government or NGO agency. Some might say that you are nothing but a scurrilous troublemaker, capable of little more than throwing mud to see if some might stick, but of course we could not possibly make such an unprofessional allegation.

You also wrote:
"My client will issue a full and unreserved retraction if and when proof of the above is presented."

We assume that this will be immediately forthcoming, and would like to remind you of the principle of bane and antidote, in relation to defamation and retractions. Any retractions must have comparable coverage to the offending statements; in this case we suggest publication on your blog, in the NZ Herald, the Dominion Post, the Christchurch Press, the Times of London and broadcast during peak viewing hours at least three times on channels 1, 2, 3 and Prime.

Yours etc,
Ms I Robb and Mr A Cheat
Lawyers of Great Repute

more sad news

I seem to be having a bit of a bad-news posting blitz lately. And that's despite trying to avoid coverage of sad things :-(

PhD research completed recently on child sexual abuse shows some disturbing findings:

1. It takes victims of child sexual abuse on average 16 years to report the abuse. Less than 4% told immediately
2. Over half of those surveyed were unable to access therapy at some point due to cost.
3. And yet therapy was "somewhat" or "very" helpful to 68% of respondents. In particular those who attended over 50 sessions were more likely to report a large increase in their emotional well-being then those who had attended under 50 sessions.

It makes me immeasurably sad that so many victims of abuse feel unable to tell anyone immediately. They bottle it up inside them and it manifests in unhealthy ways throughout their lives - mental illness, anger, parenting issues later in life.

But it's one of the hidden issues of our society - something we choose to ignore because it is too hard.

It's particularly galling that organisations who do deal with sexual abuse, whether in children or adults, are so often on a funding knife-edge. For example Auckland Sexual Abuse Help, which has been helping children and adults cope with sexual abuse for 25 years, has been at risk in recent months, largely due to bizarre funding decisions by the Government. Corporate sponsors tend to avoid causes such as this and often these services survive due to the goodwill and commitment of their workers, paid and voluntary.

Big ups to those working for ASAH and similar organisations - kia kaha. The strength that you share with others makes our country a better place.

Mara licks paws at FATW

Mara to FATW: "Speak to my lawyers"

Mara would like to reassure her adoring public that she in fact enjoys having her picture captured for the consumption of the masses.

She does not appreciate Mr FATW's assertions that she is the victim of some kind of bizarre kitty porn. She believes that Mr FATW is spreading malicious and spurious rumours about her and her relationship with span(ner in the works).

Consider:
1.1 Mara is in fact a cat
1.2 Mara is in fact under 18 and thus unable to sign a contract of any sort
1.3 span(ner in the works) is in fact the legal guardian of Mara and thus able to consent on her behalf
1.4 Would you, sir, deny the world the beauty that is Mara?

Mr FATW we call on you to immediately withdraw your cruel and defamatory statements made against our client, Mara. Failure to do so within 24 hours will result in legal proceedings and we feel secure that any Court which gazes upon the pulchritudinous puss who is our aforementioned client will find in her favour, and award substantial damages against your person.

We look forward to your retraction at the earliest possible opportunity.

Yours, etc
Ms I Robb and Mr A Cheat
Barristers and Solicitors of Considerable Ability and Modesty

free trade = no war - yeah right

Just heard me old mate Lockwood on Nat Rad saying that states who have trading relationships don't attack each other (physically he meant). Interesting given the whole "economic sanctions" situation eg Iraq...

Blumsky two-timing National?

Jordan hinted at this over on DPF's blog and it looks as if it's true, if United Future's media statement is anything to go by:

“Mark formally resigned as President of our party in August because he told us
that he was considering job offers that would conflict with his political
role.

“Presumably either those employment opportunities have
changed, or the job offer in question was from the National Party.

“But one thing that hasn’t changed is Mr Blumsky’s membership of
United Future. Our records show that he hasn’t resigned from the party and
is a paid-up member until 31 December...

Oh dear, oh dear...

(Kudos to UF for a remarkably witty media statement)

wishful voting II

So if the world had, theoretically, got to vote in the US Presidential elections Kerry would have won. Not exactly an earth shattering revelation.

What is interesting about Betavote's results is the voting for the USA - they have Kerry ahead by a massive 51%, which seems quite bizarre given the high level of internet organisation of both campaigns. I would have expected Bush to be ahead on there by a significant margin, or results to be fairly even. Weird.

what's the point again?

Gaz has posted on university advertising and it got me thinking.

The massive amount of money our universities are currently spending on advertising is definitely ill-spent. We know that students largely decide based on other factors such as reputation, expense, proximity to cheap accommodation and friends, having the right courses, etc. Advertising doesn't seem to sway them much at all. Yet the universities are indulging in this marketing company-fuelled advertising arms race, year after year.

It really grates when student fees go up each year, and institutions claim there is no more fat to cut. While I do agree that staff and facilities are funded on a knife-edge (and imho frequently underfunded in fact) this splurge by management on pointless ads doesn't sit well. It's a hideously inefficient use of our money. Yay for NZUSA taking them on over this.

the politics of using the C word

(By special request from Em, and proof that in fact my mother does not read this blog. That i know of. And if she does, she certainly won't anymore)

I'm a bit of a prude when it comes to swearing. I had a horrible formative experience when I was in Standard 2 - Flang (who in fact I am still friends with despite this) dared me to say "fucking bitch" three times at her. I did and she promptly went and told our teacher (the fearsome Mrs Outhwaite I believe), resulting in my experiencing the verbal equivalent of being bent over and caned in front of the whole class. After that I swore (hah hah) off cussing forever.

This lasted until I was in my late teens - student politics really broke the barriers down ("darn" really doesn't cut it at 1am when you are trying to stick posters up and they won't adhere to the concrete) and these days I have quite the potty mouth, even at work (where swearing is largely acceptable). But, unlike some of my workmates (yes you R) I stop short of using the C word. In fact I can still count the number of times I have said it (13 as of writing this). I suspect my practice of keeping count is rather revealing too.

But should I really be that concerned about it? The Man in the Comfy Chair thinks it's hilarious that I'm reticent about this. My mother of course has only heard me use the F word a handful of times and all when I have been very upset, so she forgives me. She has a very firm position on use of the C word, as I discovered when I mentioned it in passing on the weekend. I remember well her concern when I was doing a project on the Commonwealth Games back in Intermediate School - I was going to paint all the O's in to the section titles with gold paint, and of course Medal Count didn't quite read like that as I was leaving the gold until last...

So enough background, time to get down to the guts of the matter.

There is a school of thought that the taboo nature of the C word is in fact patriarchal and denies women the right to talk about their reproductive organs in common parlance. On the other hand the fact that a word that merely describes a female body part is so offensive could be oppressive in and of itself.

In the late '90s the Women's Rights Officer at AUSA at the time Anita Treefoot (who went on to host Queer Nation) organised a women's art exhibition she called "Cuntasia". This was a bid by her to replace the C word in its rightful place; as a word that celebrated the vagina and it's importance to women, rather than as an insult to be hurled at particularly annoying types. At the time I thought this an admirable attempt on her part, and I remember referring to the exhibition by name at every opportunity. But I still didn't really use the actual objectionable word.

Myself I'm a bit torn. At the same time as I really like effective four letter words that you can spit venomously at people (even behind their backs) I am constrained by my up-bringing, and my PC concerns that by using the C word in a negative manner I am in fact contributing to a culture that defines sex and sexuality, in particular that of women, as dirty and bad.

Thoughts?

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.

brash as pm?

Further to this over at Just Left.

I really doubt that the public see Brash as PM material. I realise part of this is time and exposure, but I think he is a truly scary idea for PM, much like Ruth Richardson was (yes, like Jenny Shipley too - but she wasn't elected was she). I'm not a huge Helen Clark fan, but she does have a sense of leadership about her that Brash lacks. Once the election draws closer and those being polled are thinking more of Brash as leading an alternative Government I predict his ratings will fall even more.

I also suspect Brash is minus the common touch. I have never seen him in person, but he would need to be considerably warmer than he is on the telly. Clark is a master of this art - even her honking laugh makes her that bit more human.

Until Brash gets his PM ratings up Bill English will still be dreaming of those free rugby seats. English may well stage a comeback - he's certainly young enough, and his performance in the House is still better than Brash's.

how much healthier is Afghanistan?

Heard a startling report on World Watch (Nat Rad) whilst driving home tonight.

It told the story of an afghani doctor who was in exile, but returned once the Taliban had been toppled. She was the resident at the Kabul Chest Hospital before she left and she returned about 2 and a 1/2 years ago to the same hospital. A reporter went with her when she first visited it again and they were both shocked by the incredibly unhygenic situation. Few details of this first visit were given, but recently the doctor invited the reporter back and the situation is still just as dire, if not actually worse.

The reporter told of a filthy "operating" room, with a plastic sheet covering the operating table which she felt was unsuitable for camping on. There was grime all over the walls, and when she turned on the tap of the small sink in the room nothing came out. The doctor said they have had no water for over six months. (A reminder - this is in Kabul). The scrubbing up facilities consisted of a children's watering can and a sliver of old, very dirty, soap. Needles were 14 years out of date.

Another doctor was visibly agitated and took the reporter to another room nearby. When she opened the door she was hit by a putrid smell, no doubt coming from the raw sewerage lying about the room. There was some kind of burst pipe which was slowly dripping water out in some places and little watering cans beneath the drips to collect the water and use it elsewhere.

At one stage during the visit there was an accident victim brought in to the hospital. He had serious injuries to his chest, but the Kabul Specialist Chest Hospital did not even possess a chest drain to help him with. He died about half an hour later.

The reporter asked one of the senior doctors about the billions of dollars worth of aid being poured into Afghanistan and where they were all going. All the doctor could really say was "not here."

So where is it all going? I would have thought that a hospital in Kabul would have been pretty high up the rebuilding priority list...

think of the children (not a joke)

Sad things happen in this world every day - civilians (and for that matter soldiers) dying in various hot spots, people dying of terrible diseases, children maimed by land mines, men and women abused physically, emotionally, mentally. It's all too much to bear much thought without reaching for the homeopathic seratonin to get through the night.

Two sad stories have really affected me lately. The first was the very public story of the little girl who was killed by her father shortly before he took his own life by stepping out in front of a truck on the North Western motorway. There has been much media on this and to be honest I've avoided much of it as it just a terrible story, and reading about it won't help anyone. I was disturbed to see the Herald put a large picture of the little girl on their front page, above the fold, earlier this week - how upsetting for those who knew her, and how does it help anyone? I don't have a problem with a photo accompanying the story, but this was emotional overkill and a cold calculated move to sell more papers by pulling on heartstrings.

The second story wasn't really covered in the media, as far as I know. The Man In The Comfy Chair's mother told it to me on Wednesday night. She is a Plunket nurse, working in South Auckland, and what she imparted was the sad tale of one of the newborns she has cared for recently. Ma and Pa Baby were living with an older couple, who were supporting them. Pa constantly abused Ma, physically and otherwise, and in the end he was thrown out of the house. He persisted in harassing Ma, to the point where he broke into the house, attacked her and left her for dead, then took the baby and drove his car, containing his child, into the nearest tree. He was killed, the child, who was unrestrained in the car, was severely brain-damaged, and the mother recovered in time (physically at least).

A sad story so far, but in fact it gets worse.

The mother and the older couple continue living together, with the baby, when she isn't in hospital. They are reliant on Housing NZ for a roof and, understandably, they would like to shift from the scene of such a horrible experience. Especially as they had to wash the blood stains off the walls themselves and have been unable to totally remove the splashes of red, which are still clearly visible. Their chances of a move currently look slim.

All of this makes me wonder about the society we live in. Are we really in a place where parents who are not coping have no other options?

Update: Some good news - the baby has apparently made a near miraculous recovery from the brain damage - only 1% with this level of damage recover, and this child is one of the lucky ones.

rearranging the furniture

You may or may not have noticed that the layout of this blog has changed a bit (well, quite a lot really). Thanks to James from DBM, who rocks the party, for his help with pesky colour related things. There may be some more minor changes in the next few days as I work out what irritates me.

But the purpose of this post is to reassure those who are on the nz left (imaginary) list that I do not doubt their existence. My left blogs' list was just getting too long so I decided to divide it into those I have actually met IRL and those I haven’t. Pretty simple really.

the tale of JPA and the party for small business

Bit late fronting up with this one, but anyway...

JPA has shocked us all (apparently) by recommending a cut in the corporate tax rate, to make NZ more competitive with Australia.

To those who have been active in the Alliance since before the 2002 split this will come as little surprise. Since the beginning of time it seems JPA has internally advocated for policies that will advantage small businesses, in particular, somewhat regardless of the impact for other groups, eg low paid workers, beneficiaries, etc.

For some odd reason he has this fantasy that small business owners and operators will vote for his Party (whichever he is leading at the time) in droves if he can just make them love him. Sadly the exact people he is appealing to are much more likely to vote for a party that gives them the whole package that they desire, ie National or Act. JPA resisted many of the left-wing policies that the activist base of the Alliance were keen on, in particular in relation to a progressive income tax system, for years and years and years.

Various reactions to JPA's announcement that you may not have already spotted:

- DPF reckons the world is all upside down

- IS claims "Jim Anderton has sold out completely" (you may very well think that but of course I couldn't possibly comment)

-The Alliance states it is still needed and looks forward to the influx of disillusioned Prog members (always nice to get a dig in when you can)

- JH has suspicions about the funding for the tax cut adverts

And for those with a strong opinion on this, there is a poll on the Alliance website asking which change to the tax system you would prefer - corporate tax cut, progressive taxation system, or a cut to the top rate of income tax. Could be interesting to see which right wingers would prefer, of the first and the last.

should minnows contest the list?

In my recent post about the Alliance's current situation, we got into a bit of a discussion about whether or not small parties should contest the list, if they have little chance of making the threshold (5% of the vote).

Parties outside of Parliament find it very hard to reach the threshold, or win an electorate. Without the money and profile that an MP (or more) provide it is difficult to garner list votes, especially as NZ voters seem very canny about "wasting" their vote on a party that won't make it (witness the fate of the Alliance in 2002).

While some minnows are single issue parties, those take a broader approach must inevitably take votes off bigger parties that are almost guaranteed representation. For the Alliance the obvious parties are the Greens and Labour, and possibly the Maori Party. (We have also historically contested the "grumpy" vote with NZF). But the policies and principles, not to mention the personalities, of these parties are in fact quite distinct - so should minnows with little change of representation not run in the interests of securing power for bigger parties that they don't entirely agree with?

Part of my reason for supporting the continuation of the Alliance, and the strategy to contest the list in 2005, is that without the Alliance I will simply have no party to give my list vote to. I will, simply put, be disenfranchised, as I would find it nigh on impossible to vote for Labour or anyone to the right of them, and I would only vote for the Greens if I had absolutely no other options.

I suspect there are others like me - not a vast percentage of the total vote, but people who believe that one of the minnows is the only party that really represents their vision for NZ. Without the minnows many of us would not vote (on the list) or would do so in a very grumpy and unhappy manner. We can in fact think strategically for ourselves, and decide whether we would rather "waste" our vote on a minnow, or vote for the lesser evil to return the kind of Government we prefer. In addition the minnow parties can make a collective decision, given how the polls are shaking out in the lead-up to Election Day, to ask supporters to give their list votes to one of the bigger parties instead.

Without the minnows I believe our political environment would be poorer. Sure sometimes minnows put out bizarre policy, but one person's bizarre is another person's ideal. Diversity of opinions should be encouraged - no one person has all the answers, so best we share the ideas we have. If we were minnow-less the big parties would also be less vigorous - they keep an eye on what the minnows say, and pick up on the ideas that appeal to the public (some might call this stealing!! ;-)

Surely it is better that the minnows run and voters be left to make up their own minds?