tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56172124363331461172024-02-19T11:28:42.071-08:00THE MENTAL DETOXWRITERS, THINKERS, ACTIVISTS & ARTISTS FOR A FREE-SPEAKING AOTEAROA NZ
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thementaldetox@gmail.com </p>cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07633832140168792435noreply@blogger.comBlogger378125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-24594551826773208442009-08-19T00:45:00.000-07:002009-08-19T00:55:53.761-07:00Ka kite ano!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkma-gDvKTM20NA4tNBjWryW1VmyPyE09TBRnXn67ILt7lgI3U1BNxKJksOL-34YHnvttvRDs_OSOCntlafgZuX4U9-pYm4I1w9PRxgSiRUh3RYHkwDMk59fo-45Z7VWoKXFDaUC2tUvQ6/s1600-h/peace-sign-1.gif"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkma-gDvKTM20NA4tNBjWryW1VmyPyE09TBRnXn67ILt7lgI3U1BNxKJksOL-34YHnvttvRDs_OSOCntlafgZuX4U9-pYm4I1w9PRxgSiRUh3RYHkwDMk59fo-45Z7VWoKXFDaUC2tUvQ6/s400/peace-sign-1.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371580454064818546" /></a><br /><br /><br />Thanks and much aroha to all the followers and contributors that made THE MENTAL DETOX so awesome during 2008 and 2009. This online political project has ascended to 'the next level' so follow the links below to track our frequencies otherwise reminisce in the crypts.<br /><br />Mauri Ora! <br />xx<br /><br />Bomber<br /><a href="http://www.tumeke.blogspot.com">www.tumeke.blogspot.com</a><br /><br />Alkom<br /><a href="http://www.dreamalities.blogspot.com">www.dreamalities.blogspot.com</a><br /><br />Agent Ali<br /><a href="http://www.specialagentali.blogspot.com">www.specialagentali.blogspot.com</a><br /><br />Hayley<br /><a href="http://www.hayleyjhansell.com">www.hayleyjhansell.com</a><br /><br />Flowsion<br /><a href="http://www.warrenbeazley.blogspot.com">www.warrenbeazley.blogspot.com</a><br /><br />Cat<br /><a href="http://www.yellingmouth.blogspot.com">www.yellingmouth.blogspot.com</a><br /><br />Coco<a href="http:// www.jessicoco.blogspot.com"><br />www.jessicoco.blogspot.com</a><br /><br />Emma Jean<br /><a href="http://www.thehalftruth.wordpress.com">www.thehalftruth.wordpress.com</a>cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07633832140168792435noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-80587358168468142172009-08-04T19:27:00.001-07:002009-08-04T19:27:28.860-07:00Bomber's Blog - The War On News - Ep 5<object width="420" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/t7BrVizbmuU&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/t7BrVizbmuU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="420" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Cq1nLJa0pWQ&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Cq1nLJa0pWQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4tQ1yt8WgBi-EvtWYbPEo4OG9y8oKp6h_WMDW2nKjckCYd8dwTgNIfgFiINBtE6RDTjKjPSIdxzgxPB_dS8FEP7_sb1rB4hfsWMGnK6p-VE-PCkAQOoS0fVnIfxHqlo-_9iU8BTbVDH_/s1600-h/liberal-media-bias1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4tQ1yt8WgBi-EvtWYbPEo4OG9y8oKp6h_WMDW2nKjckCYd8dwTgNIfgFiINBtE6RDTjKjPSIdxzgxPB_dS8FEP7_sb1rB4hfsWMGnK6p-VE-PCkAQOoS0fVnIfxHqlo-_9iU8BTbVDH_/s400/liberal-media-bias1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351769471540330626" /></a>Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-75162031016190966022009-07-25T14:04:00.000-07:002009-07-25T14:05:19.777-07:00Bomber's Blog - The War On News - Ep 4<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4tQ1yt8WgBi-EvtWYbPEo4OG9y8oKp6h_WMDW2nKjckCYd8dwTgNIfgFiINBtE6RDTjKjPSIdxzgxPB_dS8FEP7_sb1rB4hfsWMGnK6p-VE-PCkAQOoS0fVnIfxHqlo-_9iU8BTbVDH_/s1600-h/liberal-media-bias1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4tQ1yt8WgBi-EvtWYbPEo4OG9y8oKp6h_WMDW2nKjckCYd8dwTgNIfgFiINBtE6RDTjKjPSIdxzgxPB_dS8FEP7_sb1rB4hfsWMGnK6p-VE-PCkAQOoS0fVnIfxHqlo-_9iU8BTbVDH_/s400/liberal-media-bias1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351769471540330626" /></a><br /><br /><object width="420" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fZCrfCj_jGc&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fZCrfCj_jGc&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="420" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/y5ccCR-bOPY&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/y5ccCR-bOPY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="344"></embed></object>Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-56326753232235742732009-07-22T14:10:00.001-07:002009-07-22T14:10:46.832-07:00Bomber's Blog - The War On News - Ep 3<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4tQ1yt8WgBi-EvtWYbPEo4OG9y8oKp6h_WMDW2nKjckCYd8dwTgNIfgFiINBtE6RDTjKjPSIdxzgxPB_dS8FEP7_sb1rB4hfsWMGnK6p-VE-PCkAQOoS0fVnIfxHqlo-_9iU8BTbVDH_/s1600-h/liberal-media-bias1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4tQ1yt8WgBi-EvtWYbPEo4OG9y8oKp6h_WMDW2nKjckCYd8dwTgNIfgFiINBtE6RDTjKjPSIdxzgxPB_dS8FEP7_sb1rB4hfsWMGnK6p-VE-PCkAQOoS0fVnIfxHqlo-_9iU8BTbVDH_/s400/liberal-media-bias1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351769471540330626" /></a><br /><br /><object width="420" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/59oj0jhdMm0&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/59oj0jhdMm0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="420" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PcMIwUVL0Go&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PcMIwUVL0Go&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="344"></embed></object>Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-48651979009482454592009-07-19T11:18:00.001-07:002009-07-19T11:18:49.468-07:00Bomber's Blog - The War On News - now online<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4tQ1yt8WgBi-EvtWYbPEo4OG9y8oKp6h_WMDW2nKjckCYd8dwTgNIfgFiINBtE6RDTjKjPSIdxzgxPB_dS8FEP7_sb1rB4hfsWMGnK6p-VE-PCkAQOoS0fVnIfxHqlo-_9iU8BTbVDH_/s1600-h/liberal-media-bias1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4tQ1yt8WgBi-EvtWYbPEo4OG9y8oKp6h_WMDW2nKjckCYd8dwTgNIfgFiINBtE6RDTjKjPSIdxzgxPB_dS8FEP7_sb1rB4hfsWMGnK6p-VE-PCkAQOoS0fVnIfxHqlo-_9iU8BTbVDH_/s400/liberal-media-bias1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351769471540330626" /></a><br /><br /><object width="420" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oueC6j4nZkQ&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oueC6j4nZkQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="420" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vom26RJmaJc&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vom26RJmaJc&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="344"></embed></object>Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-53293696157357039282009-07-14T13:15:00.001-07:002009-07-14T13:15:44.856-07:00NZ International Film Festival: Red Cliff<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1Mog3v6WgndH3Y1ce2whNBQHmYjJrbrgJESkC_VBjZQMGqI4SwJ4sm-iZyKP6U-QvZcWlCXz2ICMy6CpJdqqy6jVVLK8kFvBjQR8yHyl8SJ5lxnDkr9-woEeJVMbiGWy47oKJYe674c2/s1600-h/red-cliff-ii.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1Mog3v6WgndH3Y1ce2whNBQHmYjJrbrgJESkC_VBjZQMGqI4SwJ4sm-iZyKP6U-QvZcWlCXz2ICMy6CpJdqqy6jVVLK8kFvBjQR8yHyl8SJ5lxnDkr9-woEeJVMbiGWy47oKJYe674c2/s400/red-cliff-ii.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357099583753600290" /></a><br />God I love John Woo, with his massive cast of thousands he manages to narrate the multi-perspective collective view of a 5000 year old culture in a way that makes the western individualist cinematic narrative seem shallow. <br /><br />His movies are like a multi-board Vulcan chess game with political Machiavellian machinations and Art of War quotations. The grace with which he films and the sheer choreography required to move that many people on screen around is a technical rubix cube that Woo never loses his place in as he spins and re-aligns shot after shot into a seamlessly completed image rich story. <br /><br />It’s the Chinese Empire again, there is a dictatorial Prime Minister who after quelling Northern rebellions is now eyeing up future enemies who need crushing now. The young and nervous Emperor weakly agrees to give his ambitious General of a Prime Minister a shot at beating the snot out of the two Southern power blocks who have so far resisted the authoritarian rule used to crush the North. I’m guessing with China’s level of censorship all political criticism has to be couched within an historic context as the resulting plot and message of resisting authoritarian rule while remaining loyal has far more to do with the social friction currently rubbing modern day China against a one party state. <br /><br />Woo mixes moments of quiet gentle grace with cheesy martial arts in a way few others could credibly get away with. There’s something for everyone, Horse shunting, in-flight pigeon cam and semi-erotic bandage wrapping. Red Cliff is another triumph from a Director who has set the benchmark for vast cinema.<br /><br /><b>3.5/5</b>Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-9013885071743606892009-07-14T13:14:00.001-07:002009-07-14T13:14:35.074-07:00NZ International Film Festival: Bright Star<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibI23Xu5wRNE3DbowzlpcsXUqgZtDrSXe-XLG-a-nWaWL3P7DGRZxM8dWfssiuogBYUK0xax2_cHB9uWhPkvD2bBJ9Pkz6H96suJTEeRG-gJ7xReruw54EUmZqyRhNEuzBW7eniXin6OqU/s1600-h/bright_star.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibI23Xu5wRNE3DbowzlpcsXUqgZtDrSXe-XLG-a-nWaWL3P7DGRZxM8dWfssiuogBYUK0xax2_cHB9uWhPkvD2bBJ9Pkz6H96suJTEeRG-gJ7xReruw54EUmZqyRhNEuzBW7eniXin6OqU/s400/bright_star.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357090234301583602" /></a><br />Opening night of the NZ International Film Festival is one of the best cultural events on the Auckland social calendar and my love affair with NZFF was reflected in this years romantic premiere masterpiece, Jane Campion’s ‘Bright Star’. <br /><br />I see so much Jane Campion in her work. In The Piano she seemed to embody the search for identity in NZ and in her latest work as a film maker she is personified in the fastidious craftsmanship of Fanny Brawnes sewing skills in Campion’s retelling of Brawnes love affair with the greatest romantic poet ever, John Keats. Campion’s own brilliant eye for subtle detail is matched by Fanny’s exact fashion skills and a tender yearning for an 18th century love that seems magically innocent to 21st century cultural sensibilities. <br /><br />Set in 1800’s London, the visual accuracy and sheer beauty of imagery is a frame by frame feast with acting that makes the dialogue believable and not archaic. Abbie Cornish’s skills helps her span the history gap by symbolizing the modern career woman’s attempt at finding love with a man whose status and wealth doesn’t meet hers, a dilemma many Sex in the City generation single women in their 30’s seem to identify with. <br /><br />Ben Whitshaw’s portrayal of Keats gives insight to a literary icon leaving an appreciation of Keats poetry as graceful and layered as his performance and Paul Schneider is a scene stealing gem providing much of the brilliant wit as Keats protective best friend. Hat tip also to Kerry Fox who as the loving mother gives glimpses as to where Brawnes fierce independence and love of culture originates. <br /><br />A beautifully well crafted film that reignites cinematic romance and adds another standing ovation to one of this country’s finest film makers.<br /><br /><b>5/5 </b>Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-78695210106751464472009-07-14T13:12:00.000-07:002009-07-14T13:13:12.414-07:00NZ International Film Festival: We Live In Public<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqHI7geW1xxRtvSgxuN3rCPN7H-DZ1uDFzMdzdv6moxG7qjcMtE3fWCCwjTTZkbbryq0wKIhA4B3_DLq8ASrCEV6pyXcHaEZh8ljAE33eiqUf_ezkTeRWKyDtZO1z4hxrcJOflcCYg7oU/s1600-h/0318public.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqHI7geW1xxRtvSgxuN3rCPN7H-DZ1uDFzMdzdv6moxG7qjcMtE3fWCCwjTTZkbbryq0wKIhA4B3_DLq8ASrCEV6pyXcHaEZh8ljAE33eiqUf_ezkTeRWKyDtZO1z4hxrcJOflcCYg7oU/s400/0318public.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353938452309682242" /></a><br />The tragic story of lonely genius, Josh Harris, the first person to ‘get’ how the internet would radically change TV. In the heady 90’s as technology and media clashed, his foresight with the 1999 – ‘Pseudo TV’ starts to collapse under the weight of it’s brilliant master as he opens his life to a 24/7 experiment in celebrity. Performance artists were interrogated by ex CIA officers and the flood of people prepared to follow them was the horrific pre-taste to it’s bastard offspring, reality tv . <br /><br />People lived in ‘pods’ beneath the ground in this hotel Josh builds filming everyone as Josh starts to become affectionately known as ‘Oz’. Everyone has a camera and there are screens everywhere playing everything being filmed, people showering, eating, partying, shitting and fucking are all captured in glorious grainy vision, the countdown to absolute oblivion is so self evident the tension is beautiful. Josh proclaims, “Warhol was wrong, people don’t want 15 minutes of fame, they want 15 minutes of fame EVERY day”. <br /><br />The fascist surveillance culture added with the hard core interrogations start to drive the contestants crazy and the truly amazing thing is how quickly the entire process starts to border on Abu Ghraib. January 1st 2000, the authorities close the entire thing down believing it’s a millennium death cult and Josh gets bored of his subjects and ends up throwing them all out on to the street. <br /><br />The excitement and terror of breaking new media ground in a surveillance format we take for granted each day without questioning buzzes through this doco and the culmination of his final experiment, weliveinpublic.com, saw him rig his apartment with cameras to watch everything he and his girlfriend do was the final leap of madness. <br /><br />A new reality based on the alienation caused by modern society was Josh’s insight, but it was an insight that ended up destroying him. This doco is a must to understand the zeitgeist of today’s media. <br /><br /><b>4 stars<br /><br />We Live In Public<br />USA<br />Director/Screenplay/Photography: Ondi Timoner</b>Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-33126082940930434092009-07-14T13:10:00.000-07:002009-07-14T13:11:23.327-07:00NZ International Film Festival: Afghan Star<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Y2Ml4woi0F6ZdR0YnlrUB-HKL777mo1YZGNN9dUKbrHGFjB6GloxSXjoyJgCFwuRRsxhUln_uTM5geSexWW7E_LxEjPkJksAoiCR_VzgvJ7nj6EJXG0ZlskeyFg_mED-hi_M1YfZNkS2/s1600-h/98612-32299.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Y2Ml4woi0F6ZdR0YnlrUB-HKL777mo1YZGNN9dUKbrHGFjB6GloxSXjoyJgCFwuRRsxhUln_uTM5geSexWW7E_LxEjPkJksAoiCR_VzgvJ7nj6EJXG0ZlskeyFg_mED-hi_M1YfZNkS2/s400/98612-32299.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352927057223208690" /></a><br />The first time many young Afghan’s had ever voted was by text vote for Afghan Star, a Pop Idol-esk TV show on the endearingly modern Tolo TV: think TVNZ in the 80’s with less pastels. In the West these shows tend to have contestants that burn with the naked greed of celebrity, people you’d cross the street to avoid, but as we catch a glimpse of each Afghan contestant’s hell on earth set in a bombed out urban mud background, their wide eyed drive for existence beyond such a nightmare gives this doco a gravitas Simon Cowell fails to deliver. <br /><br />The Taliban weren’t big fans of art and banned dancing and singing which to a people as fond of the song as Afghans are based on the near hysteria the show caused in the country seems a bizarre and hateful form of torture the Taliban meted out to their own people. After such a cultural genocide, singing goes beyond musical expression, it in itself becomes a brave resistance to such terminal ignorance and the Afghan people leapt to the show with an enthusiasm reserved ironically for invaders meddling in Afghanistan. <br /><br />The songs of the finalists are all originals, memorable lyrics were, “The people yearn for reconstruction”, “I want to be famous” and my personal favourite, “The bend of your eyebrows are like a scorpion”. <br /><br />Scandal erupts near the end of the finals when one female contestant starts dancing a little during her song. A male contestant denounces her actions as not dear to the Afghan people, and the horror expressed by one of “what is she doing” as 21 year old Setara leaves the competition with a performance where she dances much more than she previously did sums up a shocked people. The public response was like Footlose meets Sharia law, the man on the street was explaining how her dancing effectively made her a ‘loose woman’. Nice to see that double standard sexism is a global movement, but a glorious 1980s Kabul University new wave electro band music video fronted by a singing short haired Afghan woman complete with neon pink shoulder pads reminds us that Afghanistan wasn’t always the stone aged hell it’s been bombed into with 1980 street shots showing women freely walking around minus Burka. The Ullema Council, a religious Islamic Council focused on repressing good times leans on Tolo TV to stop the dancing, but they courageously push onwards. A great doco. <br /><br /><b>3 and-a-half Stars<br /><br />Afghan Star<br />Afghanistan/UK 2008<br />Director/Producer: Havana Marking</b>Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-81889411009463714592009-07-14T13:08:00.001-07:002009-07-14T13:08:48.550-07:00How evil is Cheney? Very evil!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijj3DZy4xYdgF1U8AmBcNDJ2Bqg_OYXHi-PD2xDdCmT9J1xkoLo26VRPI7kpJ7RY2v4u7S5f4xmqFMMhHYqmk6OYsoo2JwiIL4q-FLLQeVvIUosV236__3pEoYrGq46jqw6CeNUJyyeGp/s1600-h/cheney_drevil.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijj3DZy4xYdgF1U8AmBcNDJ2Bqg_OYXHi-PD2xDdCmT9J1xkoLo26VRPI7kpJ7RY2v4u7S5f4xmqFMMhHYqmk6OYsoo2JwiIL4q-FLLQeVvIUosV236__3pEoYrGq46jqw6CeNUJyyeGp/s400/cheney_drevil.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358399878863400690" /></a><br /><a href=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/13/cheney-cia-al-qaida-assassinations>Dick Cheney 'hid plans to kill al-Qaida operatives abroad'</a><br /><i>Dick Cheney, the former vice president, ordered a highly classified CIA operation hidden from Congress because it pushed the limits of legality by planning to assassinate al-Qaida operatives in friendly countries without the knowledge of their governments, according to former intelligence officials. Former counter-terrorism officials who retain close links to the intelligence community say that the hidden operation involved plans by the CIA and the military to launch operations, similar to those by Israel's Mossad intelligence service, to hunt down and kill al-Qaida activists abroad without informing the governments concerned, even though some were regarded as friendly if unreliable.</i><br /><br />So we now have an idea as to what the CIA program was that Cheney was trying to hide and it seems to be 'Death Squads' - is there any other way we can read this? Cheney wanted to send Death Squads into 'friendly' countries who have pesky laws against state sanctioned none judicial execuations, so that would place NZ, Australia, Europe, Canada, India and most of the developed world into that basket. Effectively it was a progam to murder whomever the CIA thought was a terrorist - how the hell does endorsing madness like this fight for freedom and democracy? Screw it, Cheney is a war criminal and this mad beast of a man needs to be prosecuted! If any other country was caught trying to endorse secret plans to send death squads around the globe they would be branded a terrorist nation - how is what Cheney was planning differ from the criminals he is hunting? <br /><br />How do you defeat terrorism? Solid Police work and eliminating the righteous grievance and grinding poverty that recruits so many desperate young Muslim men into al-Qaida's ranks is the way you fight terrorism, creating CIA death squads in secret that break every international law under the sun to execute people you've none judiciously selected for assassination is the total antitheses of fighting for freedom and democracy.Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-31250079832344876932009-07-14T13:07:00.001-07:002009-07-14T13:07:34.538-07:00Secret Water<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3vjFy074DNdQAvhMYJK326wU8MvOTGEs8jzrhvb3rmzOwK4BTuP958kWjZTWkaVGpshggV8CwllEVNIa3i7NJ2sXhB_jG4dpEqTFnD1nZzDMduP1ox_U-KHUoJaTBAEeOgtW4EHD02gk2/s1600-h/dalek.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3vjFy074DNdQAvhMYJK326wU8MvOTGEs8jzrhvb3rmzOwK4BTuP958kWjZTWkaVGpshggV8CwllEVNIa3i7NJ2sXhB_jG4dpEqTFnD1nZzDMduP1ox_U-KHUoJaTBAEeOgtW4EHD02gk2/s400/dalek.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358397296263814114" /></a><br /><a href=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0907/S00158.htm>Complaints over secret agreements</a><br /><I>An attempt to hold negotiations over Auckland’s water services in secret might be a breach of the law, Progressive Wigram MP Jim Anderton says. He is going to the Ombudsman and Auditor-General with complaints over a ‘confidentiality agreement’ Watercare has tried to make Auckland councils sign. The agreement would stop councils from disclosing any details about the transfer of water businesses to Watercare. Jim Anderton says the agreement appears to be an attempt to thwart the law around official information - in particular the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. It provides the only grounds councils can use to restrict disclosure of information. It also provides for redress through the Ombudsman. </I><br /><br />Why the hell is the largest water monopoly gaining total secrecy under the new Super City to take over all the water services in Auckland? These are assets that NZers have built up over generations and they are to all be handed over to Watercare in total secrecy?<br /><br />First ACT and National ram through the annexation of Auckland under a misuse of urgency, then appoint 5 of Rodney’s unelected mates to run it (quorum is only 2 on that board by the way) oh and the Chair of Rodney’s unelected board just happens to be the head of Watercare who are now trying to smoother any public scrutiny on them seizing the rest of Aucklands water resources. <br /><br />How’s that change feeling Auckland? Auckland Labour voters didn’t vote last year in droves meaning the last election was one of the lowest turn outs ever, will Labour voters stay at home again in Auckland in 2011 after seeing National and ACT steal their city off them readying it for mass privatization?Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-84226906893582491702009-07-14T13:05:00.000-07:002009-07-14T13:06:28.605-07:00Absolutely, Positively, Bollard (is he smoking something?)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKs7eRFA6FjfrkWgDT6UmYVd8WR0HM26yfISvRlycG-x-MgQCfDXwl-M34m-nIrcgQhinGB_9gPS5liPiCTzV6qZ-w6zbyGeR5f3abjbBWaupp50Ufzj4ou_5-ThNB6X11FjaLXNlY7PSE/s1600-h/35cf91f17420fcb4baff.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKs7eRFA6FjfrkWgDT6UmYVd8WR0HM26yfISvRlycG-x-MgQCfDXwl-M34m-nIrcgQhinGB_9gPS5liPiCTzV6qZ-w6zbyGeR5f3abjbBWaupp50Ufzj4ou_5-ThNB6X11FjaLXNlY7PSE/s400/35cf91f17420fcb4baff.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358389860542229714" /></a><br /><a href= http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2594149/Bollard-upbeat-on-early-recovery >Bollard upbeat on early recovery</a><br /><I>New Zealand is likely to lead the world out of the recession, Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard says. In his most upbeat remarks in months, Bollard told a Hawke's Bay audience yesterday that New Zealand had a rare opportunity to "rebalance" its economy. "Early signs of global recovery have now emerged. We have avoided a repeat of the Great Depression," Bollard said. "The New Zealand economy has taken knocks in this crisis, but some form of recovery is now on the horizon. Our opportunity is to use this time to rebalance the economy for the medium term." He said world growth would probably be subdued for several years, and fiscal stimuli would be necessary for some time.</I><br /><br />Ummmm – isn’t this the exact same Dr Bollard that told us just before Christmas last year that the recession was over? 7 months later he’s now telling us that it’s over again? Wow Alan, and what a ringing endorsement, we’ve just avoided a second great depression but recession will be here for several years, hardly time for a party folks. Aren’t these ‘green shoots’ really just dried snot and pretending that the next several years will be anything other than the most difficult time our Country has seen since the Great Depression is absolutely, positively denial.<br /><br />Bollard is starting to remind me of the desperate way the Real Estate industry incessantly screams each month that ‘it’s never been a better time to buy’. People with a vested interest in the ‘confidence’ of the economy are doomed to become cheerleaders on the sideline trying to pacify angry spectators as our team gets thrashed 100-0. Honestly if the Reserve Bank Governor has been on the Titanic while it was sinking, he’d be assuring everyone that there was never a better time to buy a cabin, that the owner was motivated to sell and that you would have great sea views.<br /><br />Let’s see how NZers joining the dole at 1000 a week feel about Bollard’s optimism.Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-31693170443383922052009-07-06T12:46:00.001-07:002009-07-06T12:46:24.068-07:00Global warming is happening despite what the right pretend<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPxEdc9b8xZadOwUQMu8MOoB_Dzprinkit7o29Xgmj5L9MPvIaYc4v6RqGErG8QNfWYX65_PlY9Brrqgm08orldHL821FrM8cNVZ2r3HaK34SiLc9ArW5REQusDd7qAMbd_b-1NgWTpyx/s1600-h/global-warming-policy-sac04.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPxEdc9b8xZadOwUQMu8MOoB_Dzprinkit7o29Xgmj5L9MPvIaYc4v6RqGErG8QNfWYX65_PlY9Brrqgm08orldHL821FrM8cNVZ2r3HaK34SiLc9ArW5REQusDd7qAMbd_b-1NgWTpyx/s400/global-warming-policy-sac04.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355417158340147682" /></a><br /><a href=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10582917>Deadly warning as tropics advance</a> <br /><I>CANBERRA - A widening of the world's tropical belt that will turn Sydney's climate into that of Brisbane will hammer Aboriginal communities and the poor nations of Asia and the Pacific, new studies warn. The studies say there is already evidence that the tropics are moving further north and south in a trend that will also extend the range of sub-tropical climates, drying out present fertile regions with devastating effects on health and food production. James Cook University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sandra Harding said tropical climates had already moved more than six degrees of latitude beyond the traditional confines of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, and were continuing to expand. About half the world's population, including most of its poorest and least educated, lived in tropical climates that were also home to 80 per cent of plant and animal species, and which generated about 20 per cent of the planet's wealth. "It is in the tropics where we have new and dangerous diseases evolving and spreading," Harding said. "According to genetic studies, about 80 per cent of infectious diseases arise in the tropics, with many new illnesses resulting from viruses that jump from animals to humans. "And it's in the tropics that we are seeing massive extinction of plant and animal life, the loss of indigenous cultures and deforestation on a scale that is scarcely imaginable." Harding's warning, based on a new James Cook University review of the scientific literature on climate change, was echoed by a report by the aid group Oxfam, which found that formerly distinct seasons are shifting, destroying harvests and causing widespread hunger.</I><br /><br />Surprise, surprise, global warming is going to crucify the poor, and as the economy tanks (because of unregulated American greed), the poor are the last ones we start to care about, as an example look at how Murray McCully killed off independence in aid and married it to trade. <br /><br />According to our friends on the right (the ones who are holding the Spanish inquisition select committee into climate change) and our very own on-line right wing bloggers in this country, they can’t argue that there isn’t climate change occurring any longer (because punters can clearly see the effects of climate change disrupting the agricultural cycle), so they pretend that it isn’t man made pollution that is causing the climate to change. I believe currently Ian Wishart is claiming the Antarctic is melting because of a ‘volcano’…<br /><br /><a href=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/climate-change/news/article.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10582441>Alarm grows over big melt in Antarctica</a> <br /><I>Antarctica is shrinking more quickly than expected and the pace is increasing, a conference has been told. Professor Peter Barrett of Victoria University's Antarctic Research Centre summarised the latest findings at the Annual Antarctic Conference. Recent satellite pictures showed the frozen continent was calving glaciers from its edges at a rate adding up to about 0.4mm of sea-level rise a year. That might not sound like much, he said, but the rate of ice loss was increasing quickly - up 75 per cent since 1996. The Antarctic ice sheet has been stable for a million years and until recently had seemed too large and too cold to be vulnerable. But Dr Barrett said scientists now believed it could change significantly in a matter of decades. A new assessment adding up global ice loss from Greenland, Antarctica and other glaciers suggested sea levels would rise between 80cm and 2m by 2100, he said.</I><br /><br />…that’s right folks, what the hell does Professor Peter Barrett know! It isn’t global warming from man made pollution – IT’S A VOLCANO YOU IDIOT! This is true because Leighton Smith and Ian Wishart say so! I find it amusing that so many right wing bloggers in this country take the very same ‘it isn’t man made pollution causing climate change’ attack line that the <a href= http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heartland_Institute>Heartland Institute</a> takes. The Heartland Institute (who until 2006 were receiving money from Exxon Mobile) is also behind the Tobacco Industries ludicrous position that Tobacco isn’t scientifically proven to cause cancer and as such there shouldn’t be taxes on cigarettes. <br /><br />Capitalism has a problem, I’m not talking about the inherent injustice of a few having all the money or the slavish ideological worship of the free market or even the IMF and worldbank genocide of poor people they commit every day with policies that promote Western mega corporations and their ability to dump heavily subsidized mass produced food on countries thus destroying the local markets – oh no, I’m talking about it’s impact on the environment. The reality is that the filth we pump into our planet has an impact on that planets health, a truth that the right wing desperately want to cover up.<br /><br />We have had to put up with oil funded skeptics claiming the entire global warming idea is a hoax created by Greenpeace to make money for tree huggers for too long. The reality is that our pollution created by an unsustainable consumer greed capitalism is killing the planet and we push the environment to its very edges of being able to sustain our civilization with our denial of this fact. Right now we have a climate change denial Government in power, led by a man who initially didn’t believe in global warming supported by a political party that claim C02 is a misunderstood nutrient and that a 2 degree rise in temperatures would be “beneficial” for NZ. In their first week in power, nACTional have destroyed the Emission Trading Scheme and they are embarrassingly setting up a select committee to examine the 'science' behind global warming to provide pollution Industry funded quack science with a platform. It will be a global media embarrassment that will make NZ out to be a backwater Hicksville that seems unable to accept that the world isn’t flat. <br /><br />This isn’t a debate about science because the science has been ‘settled’ in the same way evolution science has been ‘settled’, this is a culture war. Those in denial will not accept that their lifestyle is part of the problem and their ego’s are so inflated that to admit ‘tree huggers’ (a group they despise as much as their mythical ‘nanny state’ bullshit) are right and they are wrong would be such a devaluation of their status driven personalities that they fight with the venom of vanity. Would Paul Henry or any of his ilk ever admit they were wrong? We know the answer to that. They’re petty denial should be viewed with the contempt it deserves and their role in the debate should be as marginalized as much as one would marginalize someone trying to argue the planet is only 5000 years old at an evolution conference.Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-72634528366196092502009-07-03T16:27:00.000-07:002009-07-03T16:29:35.733-07:00Royal Rayman Rife<embed src="http://www.disclose.tv/embedPlayer.php?vid=c90a356873c27f20338486301" flashvars="config=http://www.disclose.tv/videoConfigXmlCode.php?pg=video_25349_no_0_extsite" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" name="flvplayer" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" allowfullscreen="true" align="middle" height="355" width="425"></embed><br /><a href="http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/25349/">Royal Rife Story Electromagnetic Cancer Therapy1/3</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">"This is the fascinating video documentary The Royal Rife Story (2004) which tells the lifestory of a forgotten medical pioneer in fields of micro optics, germ research and cancer therapy. Rife won 14 government awards for scientific discoveries, and received an honorary medical degree from the University of Heidelberg for his work in bacteriology. He is most famous for building the world’s most powerful optical microscopes which overcame the limits of standard research microscopes and became the first person ever to see a living virus. During his germ research he developed a method of destroying disease-causing microorganisms using frequencies which was later also applied to cancer with major success.<br /><br />Rife’s microscopes and bacteriological discoveries were featured in many official medical reports and hundreds of newspaper articles throughout the world. Doctors used Rife’s instruments in the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s and reported very high success rates. Dr. Rife’s technique was first embraced by the medical community, used by many doctors and then later rejected because antibiotics showed greater financial promise but didn’t deliver any real medical results. Now over 50 years later, there has been a renewed interest in the incredible method he used.<br /><br />This video reveals the dedication and commitment of Dr. Rife, and the many medical doctors who worked with him. All their efforts were focused on helping mankind. It also takes an in-depth look at his life and the wonderful discoveries he made in bacteriology. Dr. Rife said in 1967, “Having spent every dime I earned in my research for the benefit of mankind, I have ended up as a pauper but I achieved the impossible and would do it again.” This historical documentary is a must see for anyone interested in Dr. Rife and his amazing discoveries as he already successfully cured cancer by 1934 with his expertise in optics and innovation with a specially designed microscope and frequency generator.<br /><br />You have probably never heard of Dr. Royal Raymond Rife before, but in this unique documentary you will learn all about the life of this overlooked medical genius and his great scientific accomplishments which can benefit everybody if only we could learn to use them."</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-81507333408197686232009-07-01T16:39:00.000-07:002009-07-01T16:41:24.794-07:00The Making of Turtle Pizza Cadillacs<object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/svi86Heun-c&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/svi86Heun-c&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-2960992465109235712009-07-01T09:08:00.000-07:002009-07-01T09:17:15.811-07:00SELF DETERMINATIONDetermined in a spark<div>the electricity of art<div>creation's inspiration</div><div>multiple levels apart</div><div>but not more than the heart.</div><div>The unlimited will still travels through life</div><div>like water through light</div><div>like a kid rides a bike</div><div>all initiated in atomic time</div><div>(then someone borrows my light,</div><div>it turns out for a crack pipe</div><div>right in the middle of the sentence that I write)</div><div>and despite this the universe is prepared for the fight</div><div>it all changes if you get one thing right...</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-20289986579372496202009-06-28T17:57:00.000-07:002009-06-28T18:03:14.430-07:00wondering what to tick....?<span style="font-weight: bold;">My friend gave permission for me to post his correspondence up ~ </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">"Kia ora Sue,<br /><br />Regarding the upcoming referendum and its ambiguous, leading question, I wanted to ask if you would make a statement of how you would suggest those who disagree with the wording of the referendum should answer. I've so far heard of a number of options: ticking every box, not answering at all. For those who are supportive of the current legislation but against the referendum, what would you suggest? There must be so many New Zealanders against the wording of it, but obviously if as many of us as possible answer it in protest in the *same* way, the impact will be felt more by the instigators, and at a government level.<br /><br />Many thanks for your time Sue.<br />Dudley Benson"</span><br /><br /></span><span><span style="font-weight: bold;">response:</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">"Hi Dudley</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Sue Bradford has asked me to respond to your email regarding the very confusing referendum question. You will probably have seen the intense media response to this, which has taken up a lot of Sue’s time over the last few days. However the Green “position” is that people should respond to the referendum by voting “yes” in spite of its ambiguity. This is the position the NGOs who supported the s59 Bill throughout have taken and this response is in support of them. You may know their website www.yesvote.org.nz. Sue Bradford has also launched a Private Member’s Bill on Referenda which I will attach to this email for your information.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Kind Regards</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Geraldine Molloy</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Executive Assistant to Sue Bradford MP"</span>Hayley J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09682257260874886000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-48449594375114180852009-06-28T15:57:00.000-07:002009-06-28T16:02:31.931-07:00R.I.P Michael JacksonAugust 1958 - June 2009<br />R.I.P Michael Jackson<br /><br /><div style="background:#000000;width:400px;height:348px"><embed flashVars="playerVars=showStats=no|autoPlay=no|" src="http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/sy-1456297275/michael_jackson_rock_with_you_official_music_video.swf" width="400" height="348" wmode="transparent" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" name="Metacafe_sy-1456297275" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed><div style="font-size:12px;"><a href="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/sy-1456297275/michael_jackson_rock_with_you_official_music_video/">Michael Jackson - Rock With You (Official Music Video)</a> - <a href="http://www.metacafe.com/">Funny home videos are a click away</a></div></div>Hayley J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09682257260874886000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-6714053299106530132009-06-18T20:28:00.002-07:002009-06-18T20:29:27.736-07:00Family Fist turn referendum into referendumb ( I want to hit their kids as well)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8Rr2jW1VTkzcJVGluUoRD8gaotV_M3XqUHLvR7ZROScAqAo6wfPNlqQpEveaK04MSN3vaO0ssEqBEXYkqUCW83zKQfRk4FRzYqiKgXuuL05KERrGPpz8u69suPtKzRgGNp9wdPPR8XOe/s1600-h/HelenLovejoy_t630.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8Rr2jW1VTkzcJVGluUoRD8gaotV_M3XqUHLvR7ZROScAqAo6wfPNlqQpEveaK04MSN3vaO0ssEqBEXYkqUCW83zKQfRk4FRzYqiKgXuuL05KERrGPpz8u69suPtKzRgGNp9wdPPR8XOe/s400/HelenLovejoy_t630.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348395422150492466" /></a><br /><a href= http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2510690/Key-dragged-into-smacking-debate>Key dragged into smacking debate</a><br /><I>Prime Minister John Key has been dragged into the centre of the resurgent smacking debate. As the controversy around the citizens-initiated referendum mounted, one of the organisations backing it last night called for a meeting with Mr Key and said it could produce evidence that parents were being needlessly prosecuted under the 2007 law change. It removed the defence of reasonable force from the Crimes Act, effectively banning smacking as a means of correction while giving police discretion over prosecutions. Arguments have raged ever since and opponents managed to get enough signatures on a petition to force the referendum to be held. It will ask the question: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?"</I><br /><br />What the fundie Family Fist need to understand is that if they get the legal right to hit their kids, we will all want the legal right to hit their kids. Seriously though Family Fist need to get that their expensive, ill worded tantrum isn’t going to move popular support into a reversal of the repeal of section 59 and the reason is we are as a nation in a different headspace.<br /><br />The media fuelled debate over the repeal of section 59 was inspired mostly by talkback hosts convincing NZers that the Labour Party nanny state dykeocracy was kicking in the door and telling you what water shower heads and lighbulbs you are allowed to have. The Nanny State myth (a myth that NOT PC has amusingly built an entire blog site out of catering to white men who feel so threatened by equality that they bitch like little girls about their restriction of ‘freedom’s – yawn, grow some balls and be men boys) was created by talkback hosts and played into this con that ‘Labour knew best’. NZers hate that so much that they can get blinded by nothings like ‘political correctness’ and forget the actual issues. Now we have the reality of the Daddy state, the myths of the Nanny state seem far away and silly, which is where all this hysteria about the repeal of section 59 has ended up.<br /><br />David Farrar, the man who was running all the technical aspects of Don Brash’s office at the time the printed emails were leaked, was yesterday saying on Kiwiblogh that he supported Family Fist because the relationship between a child and parent was special and the Government shouldn’t regulate that relationship. This was the exact same argument used by Farrar’s religious mates in the 1970s when the Government ruled that rape in marriage was a crime. The religious buddies of Farrar’s cried out just as David does now that the relationship between a married man and woman was special and that the Government shouldn’t regulate that. Thank God we’ve moved on from such a petty view of the world. <br /><br />The repeal of section 59 closed a loophole in the legislation that meant the Court ended up defending parents who had assaulted their children, that was a ridiculous position to be in. The Court is there to defend the weak, and a child in the care of their parent has very little power, to end up with a situation where the power of the court was being used against the child to protect a parent who assaulted that child was a legal philosophical position that simply wasn’t tenable in a progressive country. The nonsense that the Nanny State would jail parents who smacked was hysterical verbal diarrhea from a conservative Christian clique who believe that physical punishment is required to keep Satan, the dark lord of evil, away from their children, obviously that belief isn’t tenable in a secular country, so they polished their attack and made it all about the Nanny State. <br /><br />Public referendum are important, too important to let Family Fist ruin it for everyone. There is no requirement on the Clerk of the House to inform Family Fist that their question made no sense, but there is room for the question to be modified with the help of the Clerk IF Family Fist initiates that discussion. Wasting $9million on a poorly worded tantrum mocks democracy and serves no point in determining the mood of the nation on important issues. In future the petitioner needs to seek out the advice of the Clerk of the House to make sure the question makes sense and is valid in clearly calling for a change in legislation. <br /><br />Regardless of where you are in this debate, this abortion created by Family Fist serves no one well.Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-18274571943422857232009-06-18T20:28:00.001-07:002009-06-18T20:28:33.044-07:00Cops & Power<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgioLIFuJJL6on9WfC62CBihMQr9G2GxVkXFDtSO8nMyEs7ZYiCopDvx_iLDLj9RSnk8lekW-eMt2YSN2fMB8o5d0PVkH6zmLln51iA8yb8n1_cMwqoxUZdZd9XNCA2hz80xMPkvxHl_q-P/s1600-h/cop.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgioLIFuJJL6on9WfC62CBihMQr9G2GxVkXFDtSO8nMyEs7ZYiCopDvx_iLDLj9RSnk8lekW-eMt2YSN2fMB8o5d0PVkH6zmLln51iA8yb8n1_cMwqoxUZdZd9XNCA2hz80xMPkvxHl_q-P/s400/cop.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348847884658128066" /></a><br /><a href= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6521199.ece>Police stop and search innocent people to balance race figures, terror watchdog says</a><br /><I>White people are being unjustifiably stopped and searched to provide racial balance in police statistics, the antiterrorism watchdog said yesterday. Lord Carlile of Berriew, QC, described the searches in his annual report on the operation of counterterrorism legislation as “almost certainly” illegal. He said that he knew of cases where people were stopped by officers even though they did not fit any known terrorist profile. He accused the police of wasting time and money by carrying out “self-evidently unmerited searches”, which were also an invasion of civil liberties. The searches, for example, of blonde women who fit no terrorist profile came against a backdrop of complaints from rights groups that the number of black and Muslim people being stopped and searched by police was disproportionate.</I><br /><br />TUMEKE! To make up the numbers to pretend they are not racist, UK cops have been stopping white people and putting them through ‘terrorist’ searches to pump up numbers to hide their original racial discrimination. Giving more power to the cops is always a questionable move: Police getting tasers, lowering the evidential threshold to declare you a gang member and freeze personal assets, the NZ Police taking your DNA on mere suspicion and new surveillance powers to film you secretly without judicial oversight are all examples of creeping Police powers in NZ at a time when the Independence Complaints process is only funded to independently investigate 30% of cases. <br /><br />Police power without independent oversight is not security.Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-48840064570890987212009-06-18T20:27:00.001-07:002009-06-18T20:27:39.711-07:00National green lights moves to let Japan hunt Whales (how’s that change feeling?)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RCB0K4L4rsUsKLZuUUWVEA9QiHC1Klt13JmKQe57ZPdgCIPl8UlevjlK1VyEW8rAe0-_0x0EHdvZiBbNR6r6U2J2-ojU8CqeqwIn89oPd5RtQ4CBAXTxGDRRj3aoXcYid_YMlN2WdPhyphenhyphen/s1600-h/japanese_whale.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RCB0K4L4rsUsKLZuUUWVEA9QiHC1Klt13JmKQe57ZPdgCIPl8UlevjlK1VyEW8rAe0-_0x0EHdvZiBbNR6r6U2J2-ojU8CqeqwIn89oPd5RtQ4CBAXTxGDRRj3aoXcYid_YMlN2WdPhyphenhyphen/s400/japanese_whale.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348763782266622994" /></a><br />When National announced that they were going to butcher Labour’s <a href= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10563615> ‘hug a polar bear’ programmes</a>, their spin drs giggled at how clever they were to avoid answering hard questions about deep social cuts by wrapping the entire affair up as some type of cleansing of political correctness from the awful Nanny State, but few would’ve guessed that National were actually serious at least in killing whales.<br /><br />Murray McCully, The Dark Lord of the Sith (who NEVER seems to get criticized by Jane Clifton in the Listener*) has been screwing over international aid by removing its independence so that Murray can use the aid money to further corporate interests over and above humanitarian interests. But his latest move to let the Japanese hunt whales is surely a right wing move too far. McCully is destroying NZ’s long stand against whaling by agreeing to a compromise (something the <a href= http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacbeat/stories/200906/s2592348.htm >Australians refuse to do</a>) with the Japanese means that NZ will willingly accept that ‘scientific’ whaling is legitimate when every intelligent person knows that ‘scientific’ whaling is an utter lie. <br /><br />McCully’s aim seems to be the same as his destruction of the independence of the International Aid fund, he wants to give Japan a get out of jail free card on whaling in expectation of trade interests. That this Government’s greenlighting of a concession to let Japan continue the ‘scientific’ whaling lie is more to do with McCully’s trade before aid world view and is just another example of the real type of ‘change’ these right wingers have slipped past the voters. We should NOT allow Japan to continue the 'scientific' whaling lie, and we sure as hell shouldn't be letting them do so because of McCully's bloodmoney worldview. I didn't notice National letting voters know NZ was going to bend over and take it from the Japanese by giving up on whaling protections. <br /><br />(* PS – I haven’t bought a copy of the Listener since that nice Findlay stopped being editor so I was interested to peruse a free copy I received this week and oh my Christ it’s gone so hard right I had to perform an exorcism with old bong water on my copy as soon as I had read it fearing the combined evil within my house would lead me to start wanting to physically discipline children. The National Party zeitgeist that has washed over NZ is reflected in right wing columnist after right wing columnist of a once great magazine that now sums up the new Sylvia Park anti-intellectualism Ponsonby housewife perspective that the Listener perfectly represents. Won’t someone please give Deborah Hill Cone a) a cone and b) some friends to tell her those Harry Potter glasses are terribly unflattering).Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-28333223878314802992009-06-18T20:25:00.001-07:002009-06-18T20:25:57.543-07:00Iranian watershed moment?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSCsH4aGURW031ePTrBZLbEhnhpPeADm50G33bnQK1Pm0zlPC1pKJ5DoDMBZUpy_V5JW6470Utj4cfLklwU-rNBlEME29QlB5V2sl5BVwhrnJOEUY48cfYettsDbMYR-FPAqjMyEl7Ymc/s1600-h/6470EC51-613A-4FD4-9E05-1F734FC07A93_mw800_mh600.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSCsH4aGURW031ePTrBZLbEhnhpPeADm50G33bnQK1Pm0zlPC1pKJ5DoDMBZUpy_V5JW6470Utj4cfLklwU-rNBlEME29QlB5V2sl5BVwhrnJOEUY48cfYettsDbMYR-FPAqjMyEl7Ymc/s400/6470EC51-613A-4FD4-9E05-1F734FC07A93_mw800_mh600.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348806047715031042" /></a><br /><a href= http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/middle-east/2515272/Day-of-mourning-called-for>Day of mourning called for</a><br /> <I>Supporters of Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi are preparing for a day of mourning for eight people killed in mass demonstrations against what he says was a rigged election. Iran's English-language state television has reported eight people killed in protests since official results from Friday's poll showed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been re-elected. His huge lead on Mousavi, a moderate former prime minister, has provoked Iran's worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Bloodshed, protests, arrests and a media crackdown have rocked the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, embroiled in a dispute with the West over its nuclear programme.</I><br /><br />I think the televised debates which caused the very foundations of the Islamic Republic to shake has changed the debate in Iran forever. I think that this is a watershed moment in Iranian history, one which the US should step back from and watch rather than directly interfere, let’s not forget that it was the CIA coup blowback 5 decades ago that created the conditions that birthed this theocracy in the first place and direct US intervention will only reopen that wound. Let’s also not forget that Ahmadinejad was elected by a freaked out Iranian population that George Bush had terrified with his Axis of Evil brainfart and by parking the US army next door to them: this is not the time to exacerbate what could be a natural evolution towards democracy.<br /><br />Let’s also not get too blinded by any nonsense that <a href= http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KF16Ak05.html>Mousavi</a> is some sort of beacon for liberal democracy, it is a sad indictment on the Theocracy as a whole that the people of Iran are so limited for real choice that Mousavi can be considered moderate. Which is why I think the change is much more profound than Mousavi winning or not. I tend to lean with <a href= http://www.stratfor.com/about_stratfor>STRATFOR</a>’s assessment… <br /><br /><I> "........this election has shed light on an underlying reality that is difficult for most Western analysts and media agencies to accept. Mousavi derives most of his support from urban professional classes who responded positively to “Obamaesque” calls for change and felt that their time had come to take Iran in a different direction. The fact remains, however, that the clerical regime still carries broad support, and Ahmadinejad — despite being lambasted by his political rivals for mishandling the economy and foreign relations — has strong support among the rural, poorer and mostly deeply religious population. Ahmadinejad campaigned heavily for this election and made sure during the campaign to visit rural provinces, where some 24 million Iranians, or 34 percent of the total population, make their living. He also put a lot of money into his campaign to buy popular support. Mousavi, on the other hand, returned into the political limelight only about four months ahead of the election and struggled to connect with Iran’s lower classes, who fail to identify with the working elite or with an Ahmadinejad rival and Mousavi supporter like Rafsanjani, who is widely known and criticized for his corruptive practices."</I><br /><b>STRATFOR</b> <br /><br />…and here’s the rub, for as much as no one likes a crank like Ahmadinejad running things, we have yet to see any actual evidence that the vote has been rigged, yes there are questions, but no proof yet, in fact in an environment where Twitter can evade state repression, it is actually of some concern that no evidence of fraud has been tweeted to the rest of the planet yet. The reality is that cheat or not Ahmadinejad may well have ‘won’ the election, but the reverberations of the open debate on TV has meant that reform must come and I think the Guardian Council is starting to acknowledge this new reality as the anger from the middle class intelligentsia continues to cleverly use street politics to force home the new paradigm they want a modern Iran to evolve into.<br /><br />Iran is still on a knife edge I’m not pretending it is safe, but I think the televised debates sparked a deep yearning for reform that goes well beyond the current limitations of the Iranian state. My hope is that we are viewing the painful birthing of Iran’s maturity from radical theocratic reaction to the 1958 coup to a reasoned realignment redefining what a modern Muslim country should look like.Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-47387839854377366472009-06-14T22:17:00.000-07:002009-06-14T22:25:19.536-07:00In Search of the Miraculous<div style="text-align: center;">Fragments of an Unknown Teaching<br />P. D. Ouspensky<br /></div><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DPoj_C7IUuc&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DPoj_C7IUuc&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="364" width="445"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HDR3eed9rKI&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HDR3eed9rKI&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="364" width="445"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RQ0r9uXKiG8&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RQ0r9uXKiG8&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="364" width="445"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ilxRXTGpDTw&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ilxRXTGpDTw&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="364" width="445"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uRDH9fkDqPk&hl=en&fs=1&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uRDH9fkDqPk&hl=en&fs=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="364" width="445"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-4855002311879178862009-06-13T16:18:00.000-07:002009-06-13T16:19:04.048-07:00Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies<div><object height="312" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x8wt4j_brothers-quay-1987-rehearsals-for-e_creation&related=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x8wt4j_brothers-quay-1987-rehearsals-for-e_creation&related=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="312" width="480"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8wt4j_brothers-quay-1987-rehearsals-for-e_creation">Brothers Quay -1987- Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/petitlolotechre">petitlolotechre</a>. - <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/channel/creation">Arts and animation videos.</a></i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5617212436333146117.post-50424111795176859312009-06-08T12:16:00.000-07:002009-06-08T12:17:00.207-07:00This is the new sound, just like the old sound, just like the noose round, over open ground<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5o8mm4g8dLgBJoHyOzXNqGN05qh9tHvdrSLXW8MLxBvMI1DeY-M0Bn7Do3YtWzM3FjpGRM78ttRPpD8f58uf9cE8-wIP-Pi1TnQJvNCfui8ob8zJL3-xNOSQl2IKaWkUgOE0VN55yN5V/s1600-h/obama-cartoon-711310.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5o8mm4g8dLgBJoHyOzXNqGN05qh9tHvdrSLXW8MLxBvMI1DeY-M0Bn7Do3YtWzM3FjpGRM78ttRPpD8f58uf9cE8-wIP-Pi1TnQJvNCfui8ob8zJL3-xNOSQl2IKaWkUgOE0VN55yN5V/s400/obama-cartoon-711310.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345030932216132402" /></a><br /><a href=http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/middle-east/2477993/Pakistan-army-chief-says-tide-turned-in-Swat>Pakistan army chief says tide turned in Swat</a><br /><I>Pakistan's army had "turned the tide" against Taliban fighters and aimed to completely eradicate them from the Swat valley, the army chief said, ahead of a meeting with US special envoy Richard Holbrooke on Friday. On Thursday, hours after President Barack Obama's point man for Afghanistan and Pakistan visited Mardan district to see camps set up for some of the 2.5 million people who fled the conflict zone, militants shot dead five police and a soldier after first targetting a convoy with a roadside bomb. Pakistan launched an offensive to expel Taliban militants from Swat last month in a move welcomed by Western allies worried that the nuclear-armed country was sliding into chaos.</I><br /><br />Oh you’ve won? Really? Because my reading of the situation is exactly what always happens in the Swat Valley, the Military move in, the extremists move into the mountains and restart their guerilla war against the military. Seeing as this humanitarian catastrophe that has seen millions displaced and the damage done to civilian infrastructure run into a Billion dollars has all been done at the behest of America, it is America’s responsibility to stump up the entire Billion and make sure the rebuilding of Mingora is done because if none of that rebuilding is done, all this military action will have succeeded in doing is causing the next generation of radicalized militants righteously furious at their displacement, ie the military action will end up causing more harm than it ‘solved’.<br /><br />Obama needs to walk the walk as well as talk the talk because if demanding humanitarian crises via military intervention that they then don’t bother to clean up afterwards is the ‘new America’, I’ve got news for him, it’s the same old bullshit blowback America with a friendly new smile, that ain’t change.Bomberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06019007449666643244noreply@blogger.com0