Winston Peters, Militants, Racism and the Maori Party

Well Winnie is up to it again - claiming to be above political showboating by being a political showboat. As many had predicted, the recent police raids have set off a storm of political huffing and puffing across the country.

The thing is that while the Maori party is trying to decry racist actions on behalf of the police and government, the evidence on the ground is rather light. It seems to be a case of trying to pre-empt any backlash that may arise.

What they haven't counted on is Winston Peter's ability to spot the political hot topics that mainstream New Zealand is concerned about and then exploit it to gain their support. Darn it if he hasn't hit upon a formula and knows how to use it.

Some of what he has said has a certain agreeability to it - and his Maori heritage wont be hurting his cause either. Here is Winston standing before White Middle Class New Zealand saying "look, I learnt to join the group and be a New Zealander first. I understand you."

His party may look dire in the polls - but this is not uncommon for NZ First. What the Maori Party needs to learn is to play the MMP game the way Winston does. He's a survivor and knows how to negotiate to keep in parliament.

Personally, I find him an odious man - but I do think that he's got it right. This is not about racism, but rather it is about generating a new kind of racism.

What I don't agree with is his view that there shouldn't be a Maori Party. I feel that Maori have genuine issues culturally and historically, and we live in a country where certain promises were made by the founders of our nation. The Maori need to have someone who represents their concerns in parliament. But they need leaders who will negotiate and talk. Not stand up and threaten or demand. The Maori Party could benefit from finding some allies to help build a future for Maori that is inclusive with the rest of the country.

Winston is no stranger to playing the racism game in politics - if Pita and Turia think they can win by taking on his comments, then they seriously have underestimated his understanding of politics. Their current statements are feeding seperatist thinking and worrying a large number of New Zealanders. Winston Peters knows this and is willing to manipulate it to get his party back in the spotlight.

Rather than targetting the police, Winston Peters or Government - maybe they need to look at how Tame Iti and friends have damaged Maori Mana. Regardless of their guilt, Tame Iti and his friends actions were stupid enough to stir up a hornets nest of trouble that has lowered views of Maori activists and environmentalists across the country. Hell, more people marched for Destiny Chruch's anti Civil Union protests than for the Urewera 17.

That should be concerning. Most New Zealanders want resolution, regardless of race. For that to happen, we all need to stop going to the knee-jerk reactions and start thinking about how to help each other and compromise. The Maori Party is in the position to start the move to reconciliation - but for that to happen they need to stop trying to play the racism argument at every opportunity, and start thinking about how Maori interests can unify with the rest of the nation rather than work against it.

This can be aided by working to educate NON-Maori in Maori culture. Learning to communicate why such issues as the Foreshore and Seabed aren't necessarily a threat to non-Maori. Show how money from treaty settlements have helped Iwi become a part of the nation - for example, my boss is involved with several groups that have wisely invested money to generate Maori owned and operated businesses that benefit both Iwi and the country.

Conan

Currently Reading: Promethean: The Created
Currently Playing: Nothing yet.

Mood: Worried about the state of the country...

Civil Rights Defence - Manipulating Political Capital

Today I saw the small gathering of activists in Midland Park, as they warmed up to protest against the arrest of the Urewera 17. In an interesting karmic twist, the weather in Wellington did not seem to approve of their gathering.

Groups marched all over the country as part of a unified plan set up by such groups as Civil Rights Defence. Which is an interesting example of how a fringe group of activists continue to spread misinformation to rally global support. This is a manipulation of sympathies and political capital. It is interesting to note their messages of support - there is no place for dissent with their view, no attempt to reasonably debate the issue at hand. Most concerning is how they have deliberately misrepresented events so that genuine groups overseas will voice support without having any true information about proceedings.

It sickens me to see educated people who claim to be looking out for our civil rights acting in what seems to me to be a very self-serving agenda. Very few of the people I have seen support the Urewera 17 have come across as genuinely concerned about the rights of New Zealanders - they all seem to be more concerned with looking like they care about the rights of New Zealanders.

They tend to be of that set of people who become vegetarian and eco-friendly so that they can lord it all over everyone else about how morally superior they are. It's kind of perverse.

Worst still, they are making wild speculations based on police actions over twenty years ago. Not forgetting that the people in charge now are different people, and that the laws of the land have changed to prevent such events happening again. But then activism is rarely reasonable. It's passion and belief that makes people become activists.

The problem is when you don't really have a cause to fight for. Most of these people have had to rely on amnesty international causes to support - writing stern letters and essays.

Now they have something they can stand up for - it seems to me that nobody cares whether the Urewera 17 are actually guilty or not. They have been wanting to blame someone for something - yay! Now the police are picking on activists. It's Pol Pott! It's Nazism! It's Police State!

But wait. The police weren't targetting activists in general. Nobody has stopped these protests or tried to break them up. Nobody burnt any activist literature or closed down any sites.

Now Myanmar - that's a police state where they shut down access to the internet across the country, imprisoned anyone who protested and abducted people in the middle of the night for no reason. Nobody is allowed to voice an opposing opinion.

Let's get this very clear. We do not live in a police state. Our civil rights are firmly entrenched in law. Even now the government is not 100% comfortable with the proposed anti-terror laws and they are doing what is expected of them - measuring up how important it is to place them into law or not. There have been plenty of opportunities to speak on it, and many have.

The police did not commit these arrests on some flimsy charge. If they had, the courts would have thrown out the cases and the Urewera 17 wouldn't be in jail. Unless you buy into some BS conspiracy theory. The reality that Civil Rights Defence needs to grow up and face is that the Urewera 17 may just actually be guilty as sin. They should wait to see if the courts deem them guilty, which the Police must prove. The 17 don't have to prove their innocence, just defend themselves against any proof that the police present.

Given the stupidly flimsy excuses that Jamie Lockett has spouted, I'm very curious to know what the police evidence is. The fact that it is so sensitive to the cases that judges have deemed that it must remain suppressed until the cases go to trial gives me reason enough to believe that it is likely to be very damning evidence.

Activism has its place in society - we do need people to watch out for tyrants and liars. But when those people become such manipulative, emotive liars themselves - it is a bad day for this country. Until Police start arresting protesters, shooting into crowds of innocents and shutting down sites that question their actions - then Civil Rights Defence is living a lie.

These people were arrested for legitimate reasons. They broke the law. The fact that they were hiding in activist groups does not equate to the police deliberately seeking to quiet activism. Given that these groups had not been particularly vocal in the last year or so, hell most of us were unaware of them until the raids, suggests to me it had nothing to do with the groups and everything to do with the individuals arrested.

But then I'm passionate about being reasonable and rational. And about thinking of others and not my own selfish need for moral validation - which I feel some of these people are quite guilty of.

Conan

Currently Reading: Sidereals
Currently Playing: naught
Mood: Not impressed with some activist groups hysterical hyperbole.

Reviewtime: Freaks and Geeks

If you ever thought that Firefly was an example of poor programme planning on the part of a network, you then have missed out on an even better series - Freaks and Geeks - which managed to garner the title of one of TIME magazine's best television series ever, and yet was cancelled after eighteen episodes.



Part of the problem lies in the series being slot into the lost zone of late evening/night screening. Why? Who knows. But due to perceived low interest in the series it was canned. Which is probably a good thing, because without that happening Judd Apatow and Seth Rogan might never had made the brilliant 40 Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up (which remains the funniest film of 2007 in my humble opinion.)

What makes Freaks and Geeks so cool? Well, much the same elements that make Knocked Up so brilliant a film. Judd Apatow is the rare producer/director/writer who knows that a quality show is not made by one man, but by a whole group of talented people with a passion for the series. Rather than cast big names in the series, he pushed to get unknowns who actually fitted the roles. He got writers, directors and crew who were professional and creative.

This and his talent for finding the humour in everyday life guarantees that this is a consistently funny show. Freaks and Geeks doesn't try to win you over with its humour, the gags come fast and out of the blue - letting you either get it or miss it. Humour lies in realistic set ups, nothing is implausible - even when dealing with the more eccentric characters of the world.

Stand-out performances from every cast member along with wry editing and shot construction make the whole series just one memorable moment after the next.



Set in the early eighties, it tells the story of two groups of friends as seen through the eyes of Lindsay and her younger brother, Sam. Lindsay has grown tired of her academic lifestyle, and following her grandmother's death she tries to strike out and make her own way in life rather than follow the path laid out for her by her family. In doing so she befriends the "Freaks" of the school. The dope-heads and drop-outs. Despite her intelligence and success at school, she finds a common bond with them.

Sam, on the other hand, finds himself labelled a Geek along with his two friends Neal and Bill (two of the geekiest guys you could ever meet...) However he is madly in love with one of the school cheerleaders, Cindy.

Each episode gently follows from the last, cleverly setting up jokes that sometimes pay-off only two or three episodes down the track - while having a sympathetic and real approach to each character. Despite the initial stereotypical characters, we soon learn that they have a lot of depth to them. As Henley, my brother, pointed out - each episode looks at cliches of the high-school milieu and then takes it somewhere you didn't expect it to go.

Brilliant. Watch it. Love it.

Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: Sidereals
Currently Playing: Nothing
Mood: Loving the geeks...

Evidence, not Hysteria

Well my ill-temper over this Urewera issue continues to hang around. I find it interesting that most of the people who have seen the evidence have remained convinced that the police handled things correctly, and that they have chosen to keep this evidence and reasoning from the public until trials are convened.

This is a serious thing to choose to do, and it isn't something that the courts do lightly. The media is stirring up a shit-storm about race relations (always a favourite when news is light) but absolutely no evidence has come to light to prove this.

Police have arrested people from a number of different backgrounds and ethnicities. Their links lie in fringe political, activist and environmentalist groups - but all that shows is that they have figured that such groups are good to hide in and can harbour potential candidates for their causes - whatever they may be.

This isn't necessarily a terrorist cause either - if you were wanting to start a Maori Sovereignty activism group, these are the kinds of people who are likely to be sympathetic to your cause.

However, no evidence suggests that this is a concerted police conspiracy. The reason for this is because the courts are not behooven to the police and given the highly political nature of the situation would have only chosen to keep things quiet due to some compelling and concerning evidence. To ensure that these people get a fair and just trial, that evidence needs to be kept as clear from contamination of opinion as possible - meaning that if the media were to print it prematurely, jury's could be swayed into a biased position.

But certain activist and political groups don't seem to care for facts - they are only interested in decrying racism and police-state tactics. Bollocks.

This hysteria has spread across the globe now thanks to groups like the "civil movement of Aotearoa" on facebook. Indigenous people are not being bullied or having their rights removed - most Maori realise this too. A particular group who have had a history of antagonism and self-serving protest under the false guise of "solidarity" have stepped up again and tried to blame the government, police and anyone else they can of some truly outrageous claims that betray a serious lack of understanding about how justice works in this country.

Nobody has thought to blame those who have been arrested of being so stupid as to cause the police to raid the community through their own illegal and self-serving actions. Nobody has stopped to give Tame Iti a well-deserved dressing down for potentially bringing danger to the Tuhoe through his irresponsible and selfish actions.

No - the police take action based on the information they have gathered about Tame Iti and friend's activities, which the local community were not fully aware of. But it is the police who are held to blame.

This hysteria has to stop. It is irrational and neither helps those who have been arrested nor anyone in the country. It is shameful to accuse anyone of racial prejudice especially when many of the people arrested were of a mixture of ethnic backgrounds. So much so that it makes all the wild tales coming out of the area as a little exaggerated by people who want us to sympathise with them against the big bad police.

But the evidence simply does not support these stories. That's the blunt truth of the matter. As was pointed out by an excellent column in the Dominion Post on Friday, violent protest against the state of New Zealand is somewhat insincere when there has never been a Bloody Sunday like repression of the people.

When I consider that my current employer is a Maori businessman who successfully heads several Maori community boards and companies which all generate considerable wealth for their people. Who has a university education and can do whatever he pleases. How the man who co-owned the business with him was also a highly successful Maori businessman whose daughter has excellent university education and is researching and studying Te Reo as a living and growing language - I find the accusations of a state repressing indigenous people as a little hard to swallow.

Things aren't perfect - but they have been getting better, and the government has for the last decade been working tirelessly to help improve relations. Most Maori know this, and they work hard to be a part of New Zealand as well as teach New Zealand what it is to be Maori. They are the people who spearhead the future of Maori culture in a positive light.

They understand that we're all in this together and only by learning to understand each other can we move forward - not by making outrageous demands or hiding behind ethnicity. These people haven't allowed themselves to have a hysterical hatred of society, but rather have chosen to stand up and be proud of their heritage and to share it with society. To work with other people to benefit their families and culture as well as the greater New Zealand.

And they are the people who in cases as this one, believe that one should wait to see what the evidence is before harping off at the government or police or anyone else.

It may turn out that the Police did over-react. But it might also turn out that there really was a militia being trained to serve an anarchistic goal that each group was intending to exploit.

Until the evidence is revealed, we should wait and see - not decry foul play. It has been a week. As has been pointed out by others - in a true Police State, these people would just disappear. But they haven't. We know where they are, we know that they will be charged with further cases soon, and we know that their cases will be before the courts in short time.

Until there is evidence, I refuse to accept that this is some conspiracy or politically motivated white-wash. There is more historical evidence that suggests there is good reason for these people to be put through the process. They had illegal firearms. There were witnesses who were threatened by armed militia. We now know that the SIS were involved. I believe there is enough evidence to suggest that this needs to go to court and be tested.

And I believe that given the seriousness of the crimes, the police were right in acting swiftly and efficiently. If a few windows got smashed - that is a reasonable price to pay instead of risking a potential gunfight, or loose anarchists with an axe to grind.

Conan

Currently Reading: Lunars 2nd Ed
Currently Playing: Nothing
Mood: Still short of a suitable icon for how grumpy these people are making me.

Rumour Versus Fact: Trying to make sense of it...

No doubt you've noticed my developing discourse on the recent events in the Ureweras. I worry that sometimes it sounds like I'm joining the us-and-them brigade of mentality - but rather I am angry at the recent opportunistic strikes being taken around this event.

I saw on Yahoo.co.nz today a comment about studies have shown that people often believe rumour over fact. Something I have seen in action personally on occasion. It is easier to get all worked up over some juicy story than the solid facts, even when faced with irrefutable evidence.

It is worth noting that in regards to Tame Iti, Jamie Lockett and the other fifteen or so people arrested by the police - we have not seen the facts yet. The courts are still going over them, and to ensure that these people get a fair trial the evidence needs to be kept secret until the process has been completed.

Yet there are many who are resorting to rumour and hearsay to justify some need to be offended. I'm sick of how the police have been a constant punching bag for people, and how in many occasions people have started kicking before the evidence is even presented.

Currently there are protests about two issues - one is the alleged boarding of a bus of children going to their Kohanga reo by armed police. The other is the general conduct of the police apparently to target the maori community when they locked down the area.

There has been a weeping bus driver talking about fearing for his life and thinking that he would be shot just like that guy with the hammer, children apparently traumatised by the experience and parents angry that the kids weren't allowed through the blockade.

Wait a minute.

Firstly, the shooting in Christchurch involved a man who was acting in an aggressive manner - and because a lot of the same people had said no to Tasers, the policeman in that situation had very little recourse to do to protect his life from a man hopped up on party pills.

Secondly, the police have said they never boarded the bus. Which brings to light a curious question - how much of this bus incident is hysteria? No doubt there were armed police present - they were dealing with a group who had threatened hunters on a legitimate outing and then exploded a napalm-like weapon in an apparent training camp.

What these people seem to have overlooked is that the Police had no idea how this group of people would react. What would have happened if Tame Iti's friends had been planning to make a message out of the raid and set off explosives or started a shoot-out?

Those children were sent home to protect them from harm and apparently that warrants a hikoi to complain that they should have been sent into a potentially explosive situation that actually could have ended up with the death of a bus full of innocents.

There was no knowing at the time. I suspect it wouldn't have exploded into something violent - Tame Iti et al strike me as naive, self-centered dickheads rather than real terrorists. But nobody could say for certain - and it is better to err on the side of caution than risk lives.

But nobody protesting at the Whakatane Hikoi seems to care about that. They have made a lifestyle of abusing and resisting the police solely based on a self-fulfilling prophecy. By creating a conflict, they promote conflict. I find much of the behaviour being reported before any facts or evidence has come out is shameful. It angers me how readily these people leap up and decry such things. And now, if Tame Iti is revealed to have been a genuine threat - it will be a conspiracy of the crown, not the truth as far as these people are concerned.

Conan

Currently Reading:
Currently Playing: Exalted: Nexus of the Sun
Mood: Still short an appropriate image.

Pita Sharples, SHAME ON YOU!

Normally I like to give people a chance to mull over my posts before I put up the next one, but this recent declaration from "Dr" Pita Sharples has infuriated me.

This action has violated the trust that has been developing between Maori and Pakeha and sets our race relations back 100 years.

Now I am a strong supporter of the idea of a Maori political party, it is exactly why we have MMP, so that all groups can have representation. Maori need to have a strong voice in New Zealand Government so that their issues can be heard and properly debated and considered. Just as any group in NZ deserves.

But I have found Pita Sharples constantly takes advantage of nearly any opportunity to raise spectres of mistrust and hate. I do not believe that he speaks for the majority of Maori, and I am angry that this latest claim to Australian members of a conference was merely a political stunt on his behalf.

Let's get something clear here, "Dr" Sharples - the police arrested people of varying ethnicities and who had a variety of agendas. It has been the media that has fixated onto the terrorist camps issue - I find it interesting that as the story has developed, there has been a fixation on the Maori aspect.

But in revisiting the news stories - what we are dealing with are radical activists who have taken advantage of legitimate political groups. These idiots had a variety of agendas - none of which were for the benefit of NZ - and they were naive enough to believe that talking about war and anarchy wouldn't draw police attention. The police acted because these guys threatened members of the public - then set off weaponry that is meant to be restricted in this country.

The police moved in because of that.

The only reason race relations could be pushed back is if people like Dr Sharples remained so thin-skinned and self-absorbed as to not look at all the evidence before shooting their mouths off and stirring up sentiment amongst Maori.

Why couldn't he wait until he had all the information? How, exactly, is making such a broad claim - notably from overseas as well, Dr Sharples has not been in the country during these events - exactly helping heal relations?

This strikes me as looking for an excuse to be offended. I feel that Dr Sharples political career has hinged on being the angry ethnic politician. Time to get a new tune, Pita. Because it is getting old, and you are not helping anyone. I'd be interested in going back through previous "announcements" from Pita Sharples - because I suspect you would find he has said the same thing in the past at every opportunity he could.

Grrrr. He should be ashamed, because it's statements like these that create unease and promote racism. Let's hear about positive action from people who have the facts and know what's going on - not the wild accusations of a man who isn't even fully informed of the facts.

Conan

Currently Reading: Sidereals
Currently Playing: Nothing at the moment
Mood: I don't even have a menchi picture that best represents how insulted and angry I am about this one...

Freedom, Rights and Justice - What comes after you win?

Something that many people struggle with is the understanding of what a Right is compared to a Liberty. Libertarians, ironically, are the worst at failing to know the difference.

In light of the expanding Urewera camps saga, I have found myself thinking more and more about how poorly people understand these things. Not only that, but how those who wish to change "the System" often have this utopian ideal that once they have "won freedom from tyranny" everything is just going to fall into place.

Well first, let's talk about rights and liberties, then I'll talk about the faulty thinking involved with "when we win" mentality.

Rights are not the same as liberties - and yet many people declare liberties as rights.

A right is something that people are obligated to ensure you have. Right to freedom of speech, for example, is the right to say what you want without censorship. However it does not protect you from recrimination. This right obliges people to give you a forum within which to speak your piece. But once you have said your piece, they have no obligation to agree with you. Nor do they have an obligation to react favourably.

What the right is doing is granting that others must accept your liberty to speak your mind.

Liberties are freedoms. They are things you are free to do, but nobody is obligated to give them to you. Using the above example, you are free as a Nationalist to walk into a Jewish/Pacific Island community and mouth off about how you don't like said ethnicity. However, they can choose to beat the living snot out of you for offending them. Freedom of Speech does not protect you from people if you offend them.

That is why we have laws that help police freedom of speech. Those laws that prevent people from spreading hate speech exist to find a safe equilibrium between freedom of speech and freedom to live a life without discrimination.

See, liberties can conflict - which is when rights have to be looked at and considered. It is reasonable to suggest that said racist nationalist is abusing his right.

As the old saying goes, just because you can doesn't mean you should...

My favourite little bugbear is how smokers say "I have a right to smoke." Actually - you don't. You have a liberty that allows you to smoke. But non-smokers do have a right to object to smoking in their presence, and as a smoker you have an obligation to respect that right.

But moving to the meat of the discussion... the story seems to go that Tame Iti and Jamie Lockett were planning an IRA-style war on NZ. Tame Iti's goal is to see Tuhoe become an autonomous nationhood separate from the rest of the country.

Why? Because it would appear that the Tuhoe did not sign the treaty and do not feel that they are part of this nation. Yet for over a century they have been drawing benefits from this nation.

Now I've studied the treaty and the issues surrounding it. I feel that the Crown's clumsy and confused handling of the Maori have had disastrous effects on their culture which are still being felt.

But I also feel that it is time to look forward, not back. I feel that many activists do use the past as an excuse to avoid facing the future - that they act out claiming lofty goals, but really habouring more self-serving actions.

Here's a question for not only those who feel that Tuhoe deserve their own nation, but to more radical groups such as the Islamist terrorists who fight to convert the world - what happens when you win?

Much like George Bush's ill-planned invasion of Iraq, what happens after it is over? Has anyone thought about how they plan to build a nation? Thoughts of how manageable a world-wide Islamic rule could really be, given that evidence has shown time and again that homogenous rulerships collapse.

Going to the Tuhoe, how much land would become Tuhoe land? How would it be managed? How would the economy be kept alive? Who would rule? Where is the money coming from and going? What kind of exchange rate would you expect to have, seeing as you most certainly would not have NZ currency, and it is highly likely that most nations will not trade with you.

What kind of exports would you be able to genuinely ask for? How much land is likely to be manageable if you end up in a genuine war?

Look at Ireland and the IRA - that was a disaster. Why on earth would anyone want to pursue such a course? The IRA and Britain fought for decades, and the reason peace is coming isn't because everyone is getting what they want - it's because everyone has realised conflict wasn't solving anything, both sides were just so tired of the violence and horror.

The people were tired of the violence and horror.

Why would you even entertain the idea of bringing such a thing to this country. New Zealand isn't perfect, but until now it has enjoyed a degree of safety from such thinking. We, as a nation, probably felt that nobody would be so silly. Even with our shocking falling education rates, most New Zealanders are more informed than many nations.

New Zealand has enough problems with gangs, drinking and violence. We have an issue with people who want to blame the government and police. Listen to how people are accusing the Police and Government of trampling on civil liberties. But as has already been pointed out, if Tame Iti's associates had been genuine - if a Napalm bomb or other attacks actually eventuated - then we would have heard many of the same groups complaining about why didn't Police act sooner.

The reality is that we must all take responsibility for our actions, and face up to the consequences when challenging the state. In NZ, we enjoy a lot of freedoms - and our justice system is better than many other nations. It is not beholden to the Police, and we have a lot of law in place to prevent the police from abusing their position as protectors of those freedoms we value.

I genuinely believe that New Zealand needs to find a new identity. That we, as a nation, need to gain pride in ourselves and our country. Not through the All Blacks, or any such over-hyped nonsense. But in the little things that make New Zealand such a special place to live.

We need to talk to each other without getting angry - we need to respect each other and come to realise that New Zealand is not a western nation, not an eastern nation, not a Pacific nation even. It has the ability to strike out on its own as a meeting place for all nations. We have a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic population, and we should take pride in that. Our country has been treated as a microcosm for years by companies wanting to test what the pick up of certain technologies would be like - let's now do that for politics.

Let's show the world that you can have different religions, cultural heritages and different lifestyles and still form a vibrant and supportive community. The foundations are already there. Put out the invitations - and let's make this country something we can be proud of again.

Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: Sidereals
Currently Playing: Nothing
Mood: Wanting to live in a better New Zealand...

Local Politics and Terrorists

What a day for news it was today! First I was planning on a review of Freaks and Geeks, but then I saw the results of the local body elections and felt I needed to talk about that, and then Tame Iti and friends end up creating more of a furor. What a day.

So the review can wait, let's turn to the news.

Local Elections - Poor Turn Out

It seems to me that the results of the latest elections are subtly showing the growing divide within New Zealand society. The swing to the Right spectrum is likely related to a variety of issues. For Auckland, Hubbard was just hopeless. He was clumsy and incapable of handling the city - people were willing to take back the much reviled John Banks rather than put up with another term of Hubbard's inept handling of the council.

But there was a record low turn of of voters, and many people in the position of organising these things are scratching their heads as to how to fix this.

I suspect it has to do (in part) with the dropping number of homeowners. See, people who rent don't pay rates and often don't consider local politics as affecting them as much. Which is patently silly, but a sentiment I have heard from a number of people.

With the recent housing boom, the people who have been buying up properties have been largely people of a reasonably high income bracket, who have conservative views and are aiming to get into the property investment business. These people will be paying rates on their homes, and so will be worrying about the increasing rates (ironically missing the fact that most rate increases are often tied to increased house prices, but go figure...) and so they will usually vote conservatively because Right-wing candidates love to tell those who are investing lots of money that they will not have to pay as much for the returns they are getting at the expense of others. (Did you spot the bias?)

What needs to be done is firstly educating those who aren't voting that just because they don't directly pay rates doesn't mean that local government doesn't effect them. Rents are also tied to rates- as landlords increase rents when rates go up. Your rent pays your rates.

Furthermore, local body government effects much of your city's appearance, how its businesses operate, how clean your streets are...

As an example - in Wellington water rates are part and parcel of council rates. In Auckland you have to pay them on top of these rates. In Wellington you have to pay for rubbish collection seperately. In Auckland, everyone has a wheelie bin.

Auckland has an inorganics collection regularly throughout the year - when all your crap furniture and other non-biodegradable trash can be put out on the street for collection.

As far as I am aware, Wellington has no such thing.

These elements are all part of local governance. If you genuinely have pride for your city, you need to vote - because the council has considerable influence over how your city develops. While Kerry Prendergast has a rumoured history of nepotism, she has also had the shrewd mind to support the creative and artistic endeavours of Wellington - it is something that makes Wellington's character unique.

In contrast, John Bank's mayoralty was focused on business and economics - and as such Auckland suffered a distinct lack of cultural identity - one I would argue is still a problem as Hubbard did very little to rectify the problem.

If you didn't vote, I don't want to hear a single complaint about the Mayor of your city - choosing not to vote is just plain silly. We spout out support for democracy, the least you can do is exercise that democratic freedom. By voting you are showing interest in the society you live in - be it for selfish reasons or altruistic, you are still taking part. By refusing to vote you aren't making a statement - you are shirking responsibility, because no vote is pretty much supporting the person who gets into power. By choosing not to vote you are saying that you are fine with whoever gets in.

Apathy does not free you from responsibility.

Which brings me to the next topic...

NZ Terrorism?

What the hell? I am shocked, appalled and mystified by the revelation that there were military-style training camps that were being run by radicals. Not so much that such a camp existed - given the freedoms we have in this country, it wouldn't surprise me to know that a bunch of rural folks had a little semi-survivalist type commune - but rather that there are people with a more serious goal in mind.

See, semi-survivalist types tend to keep to themselves. They aren't preparing to take a fight to the people, they are preparing to protect themselves when the perceived collapse of society comes to their doors.

But Tame Iti and his crowd seem to have been preparing for a variety of agendas that the NZ Police felt were of genuine risk to the public. Now I have heard the BS stories before of conspiracy and police-state NZ. But the reality, from knowing many police (and having once been on the wrong side of the law as a teen) is that they do not act unless it is a genuine risk. Despite some of the bad press recently, the NZ Police are more often effective and professional in their handling of things.

If they felt there was risk, I believe there genuinely was something to be concerned about. Even if these guys weren't really planning to follow-through with their agendas, but were acting out on their crazy schemes to a point - they were idiots for going so far as to raise concern.

Let's get something straight folks. New Zealand is not an oppressed nation. We have a remarkable number of freedoms that so many people take for granted - choosing to gripe about the most inanely silly issues.

Sure, Maori are still not fully treated with the respect that their culture deserves, but in the 30 or so years I have been in NZ, I have seen amazing changes in the way Maori have been treated and there doesn't seem to be any evidence to suggest this progress is going to stop.

I certainly don't feel that Tame Iti has any foundation or moral authority to take such violent and divisive actions. His antics have done more to harm Maori as a people than help.

For Maori culture to survive, it needs to change - not be preserved. Shocking as that may sound, a culture lives by growing and changing. Maori culture needs to be cultivated and nourished. It needs to be allowed to grow and become part of the greater NZ culture. It needs to be treated as something that is changing and developing - not held in stasis from a time in the long distant past.

The success stories in NZ are from groups who have seen this and recognised it. I want to see more people like the woman who got on the bus the other day and asked the driver (in Te Reo) if he was a native speaker, to which he replied he could speak somewhat - and they proceeded to have a conversation in Te Reo. (Which has made me think I should find the time to learn it myself.)

What are attacks on "crown" lands going to achieve? Terrorist attacks on NZ parliament and perceived locations of imperial oppressors would show nothing. It would create a climate of fear and recrimination. Groups like the National Front would begin to fill their ranks with angry young people, gangs would grow even more prominent than they have as of late - this country would cease to be the NZ we love and would become more violent than it is now.

There would be no gain.

But most of all, what is there about our country that deserves such a reaction? We live in a country that has a growing multicultural population. We have the opportunity to embrace that. Yes, we may have to let go of some cultural conventions - society would need to make some changes - but those changes are happening already.

Contrary to anti-globalists views, those changes are not a european hegemony - they are something more primal. New Zealand's social views are often at odds with other European nations. What many NZers don't realise is that over the last thirty years we have become a more pacific/asian nation when it comes to cultural views. And this isn't because of increasing numbers of immigrants - although they have helped this development. This view is very subtly showing up in traditionally European families.

NZers, as a people, tend to be community focused. They tend to be well versed in the cultural habits of several ethnic backgrounds - many NZers have a mix of Maori, European and sometimes Asian societal habits.

Most NZers have experienced a hangi, been involved with the Chinese New Year, understand basic Maori sayings and believe in the idea of family being more than the nuclear unit.

It isn't a comfortable acceptance, but rather a subtle unnoticed effect.

And it is something to embrace and grow from. Collectivist societies such as the Pacific nations and many asian cultures can teach those of us from a European Individualist ideology much about how to look at society in the big picture - while we Individualists can teach collectivist nations about how to not overlook the individual elements within our society.

Maybe I'm proposing that we stop worrying about the past and embrace New Zealand culture as our primary identity - and that part of that identity is to take pride of the various cultures we come from. For those with Samoan heritage to proudly show their culture while embracing NZ as well. For those with Irish roots to embrace their Irish heritage while reveling in a culture where they can learn about other people and the stories they can teach.

This nation's identity should be founded on working to come together - not to be selfish but to show that working together we can create a society where your ethnic culture isn't a difference to separate you from the rest of the country but rather an aspect of our society as a whole. Not an easy task. But an admirable one to aim for. Ultimately people need to stop being afraid of change. We were once a nation unafraid of change - we were willing to do things before anyone else. We should be again - for it is part of human nature to grow and change.

The fear of change is a threat that only prevents us from reaching the happiness we desire. Buddhism and Taoism can both teach us how to face change in different ways. Maori tradition can teach us much of learning to respect each other and the land. We are a nation that is still looking for an identity - but acts of violence will not aid us, they will only continue to push us apart. We need to be coming together.

Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: Sidereals
Currently Playing: Niente
Mood: Hoping to find a new way

Reviewtime: Eagle Versus Shark

Henley and I went and saw the much talked about NZ comedy film Eagle Versus Shark last night, finally.

For those not in the know, it is the story about drippy-but-cute Lily and her romantic adventure to find love with Jarrod, the absolutely useless and seemingly irredeemable twat who works in the video store up the mall from her. Initially blinded by love, a trip to see his family becomes a subtle battleground between the two of them for attention.

Ultimately we find what it is that Lily sees in Jarrod, but I have to admit that for the majority of the film I just hated the guy unconditionally. He was the epitome of self-centred, arrogant and deluded. But he does come around in the end... kind of.

So what did I think of the film. Well it suffered from the awkwardness that so many NZ films deliberately aim for. Not so pretentiously as it could have, but what it ended up doing was making the film less appealing than it could have been. Don't get me wrong, I liked it mostly, and there were funny moments - but good comedy it wasn't. More often I found the best moments were not carried by the leads but some of the secondary cast - and the awkward tone of the film made the first half almost agonising to sit through. In fact, if it hadn't introduced Lily's brother when it did, I was getting tempted to just walk out of the cinema.

This whole aim at making the audience uneasy and uncomfortable was great back in the day when NZ film-making was all self-reflecting and searching for an identity - it worked for such serious films like Sleeping Dogs, Vigil, The Quiet Earth - but NZ comedy has always fallen flat on cinema because of this style of film-making. Via Satellite, Goodbye Porkpie, even Came a Hot Friday (one of my favourites...) - NZ film-makers need to understand that there is more to comedy and, frankly, more to NZ's identity than this.

Eagle Vs Shark felt, to me, like a great big step backwards for NZ comedy films. Seriously. It just wasn't as funny as it could have been. But maybe I'm just being a bit harsh - I just felt that with the amount of characterisation given, there could have been a better way to tell its story.

Maybe I feel that it is time for NZ film-makers to grow out more - redefine what it is to make a film in NZ.

I think one of the reasons that comedy suffers in New Zealand lies in how we train our actors. I've been watching Freaks and Geeks, by the brilliant Judd Apatow - who knows how to get the most out of performances. Most importantly his films and shows identify that the visual media is not a stage. Stage acting is the anathema of good film.

To act on screen a person needs to either be natural or hyper natural. People need to talk like real people, and not annunciate every word. New Zealand television and film performances are a bit of a mixed bag - with many good actors, and a lot of bad television actors who are better on stage.

There is a fault in the mannersims given - on television you get NZ actors who either do nothing but deliver their lines with minimum facial reaction, or go too over the top and look terribly uncomfortable and self-conscious when they do it. As if to apologise to the viewer.

Not that Eagle Vs Shark suffered too much of this - if anything it was too awkward and understated, and I feel that was a lot to do with the director and the style chosen.

All in all, I just wish I could see an NZ comedy that kept me laughing rather than squirming in my seat during the obligatory "serious bits."

Maybe I've just become a serious Apatow school of comedy guy - where humour is found in the everyday, and where even during the most serious and heart-touching moment we still find something to laugh about. That is good comedy.

Conan
Currently Reading: Sidereals 2e
Currently Playing: Nothing
Mood: Getting ready to write his own scripts...

Emotional Linguistics

I was cranky, frustrated, tired, hopeful, loving, worried, excited and overwhelmed today.

Often all at once. And at any given time I was more than capable of explaining why I was feeling that way in considerably long and expressive terms.

If there is one thing above all others that I should thank my mother for - and there are a few - it was that she has taught me a lot about the language of emotion. Not just the words, but their meanings and how the can mix together in ways that some find confusing.

The most important part was learning to be honest to myself about my feelings. If I felt ashamed, I needed to be honest to myself about it. If I felt anger, I needed to face that anger and admit to it.

Someone once told me that one of the key reasons I found a lot of people hard to understand was because they didn't have that lexicon of emotions. It appears that when most people "feel" things, they don't understand how to recognise or communicate those feelings.

I was telling Brad today about how I tend to be a bit of a straight shooter when it comes to decisions - 9/10 times, I know what decision I've made and I know exactly why. Sometimes I will play dumb to try and get others to come to decisions because I know that if I make the decision, I have to own it. I have to take the responsibility - and I at least want to know what they desire.

I know what I want. When I like someone, there is no real fucking around. I like them. I know it. I rarely go through the "do I? Don't I?"

And I can tell you why I feel how I feel.

It seems that is somewhat overwhelming. I'm a passionate kind of guy. Let's look at today...

I was grumpy/cranky because I subconsciously wanted to be working on the third episode script, but it isn't turning out the way that I would like so I've been mulling over it and it was annoying me. I was also cranky because I'm very cross about the events in Myanmar. That's right, cross. It pisses me off when I hear about human rights abuses, and I might not show it, but a part of my psyche is busy being furious. I was commiserating over the All Blacks - believe it or not - and also angry that people were not accepting that it was just a game, and yes the referee was an ass but get on with life people.

I was tired because I've been stressing about getting my place cleaned up (my room is still a bombsite, if anyone can help me get rid of two couches, I would GREATLY appreciate the help. Dad helped me out and I had intended to get a bin, but I ended up using those resources to balance out my cash flow so that I wouldn't get in a financial stress situation so soon again...) and I have also been feeling down from a lack of a partner and the realisation that I am getting older, need to go to the gym and want to get married. That's right. I would like to get married someday - and you kind of need to date someone, spend time with them and get to know them before marriage is an option. So I was tired.

I was hopeful because I have written two scripts so far, and number three is a matter of time - thus virtually inevitable. I have big dreams for this series, and I believe some of those dreams can even become a reality...

I was loving because I always feel love for people. Am I in love at the moment? Not new love. As was once said, you never really fall out of love - you learn to deal with it and find new love instead. I've been feeling angry/happy/loving/disappointed recently.

So my point is - I know my feelings and where they stem from. I can talk for a long time about my feelings because I am full of feeling. That intimidates people, it seems.

But this isn't really just about me - coming back to that lexicon thing... it would seem most people - especially males - don't really know how to express or identify what they feel. It is love? Is it anger? Is it fear?

We know the words, but a lot of people don't really know that it is rarely just one emotion. The thing is, how do you understand those emotions? They are dictated by the subconscious - the decision maker and primal processor of our brains. Our feelings can almost feel alien in our own minds as we experience the conflicts of interest that may generate multiple emotions.

Not only that, but because the subconscious makes the decision elements - and we live in a society that tells us to NOT listen to our subconcious - we don't always know WHY we feel certain things.

Before I go on, for those people who would dispute that the subconscious makes our decisions, there is increasing scientific evidence that our unconscious/subconscious mind is key to the decision making process - that it is the subconscious that makes the final choice, our cognitive functions being a form of processing that information to help with the decision making.

I'm not saying to throw everything to the wind and follow your intuition - but rather that it is VITAL to be able to have an honest discourse within yourself between subconscious and conscious. Your subconscious mind shouldn't be treated like some unknowable caged animal. It is a part of your identity. It is still your mind, just the processing part of it.

The subconscious is not something that acts in a sophisticated way - it can, in some ways, be ruthlessly logical but in a way that seems irrational. That is because the subconscious gathers all manner of variables your conscious mind misses. Then it registers your emotional associations and decides from there.

Or something to that effect. :D I still need to research it more. The upshot is that while the subconscious is capable of misinformation (due to receiving false information) it cannot lie. It is honest - sometimes brutally so.

Most importantly, the subconscious tends to communicate through emotion. By having an open understanding of that language - you learn more about yourself and what drives you. Learn those emotions and why you feel them.

Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: Nothing at the moment.
Currently Playing: Nothing at the moment.
Mood Just thinking about things...

Return of the repeat of the coming of the ... you get the idea...

It has been some time since I posted to this blog - what with the web project in effect, personal turmoil and a hectic lifestyle as of late - it has been difficult to find the time to come back to this.

Currently I am thinking about crossing over into the world of either VLogging or podcasting. The problem with Vlogs is that they often feel to me even more about self-obsessive ranting than even blogging tends to be. Very few vlogs are insightful or honest - the most popular ones tend to be fictional as well. So I think I need to emo up a bit more before I consider that.

Podcasting would be fun, but I feel that I would need to have profound things to talk about - and a decent podcast takes time to set up and edit - time I don't currently have (see web television project mentioned earlier.)

So where is Conan at right now?

Well I've got two completed scripts for my series, and I'm working on the third at the moment. My business, Evin Shir Games, is looking at a transition into the indie game selling scene - although that may be short lived if Customs tariffs end up being too high...

Emotionally, I had a really rough time about a month or so back. I ended up canceling all my gaming commitments because I was in such a bad place and needed to slow down. It was a difficult choice to make, but things have been very rough. My finances are currently very tight, and I have been feeling a bit vulnerable about things recently.

My experience has taught me that being up front about my feelings can tend to overwhelm or upset people. Right now I'm kind of trying to get things together and set up for the future. It was funny, I talked to my ex - Steve - who isn't an ex, but kind of is. It's a long story that doesn't involve sex, but involves a three month "relationship" that went a bit awry.

Any way, I was talking to Steve last night because I had texted him that morning and he called me that night to see how I was. As always happens when we talk, we kind of behaved as if we were a couple. (A common problem we have faced in the past, where people have assumed we were going out. We just get each other on a certain level...) ANYWAY, I kind of let slip something when I was saying good bye. It just popped out. "I love you, sweets."

It felt oddly natural. Because I do love Steve, dearly. We're not going to ever be lovers, but that doesn't change my feelings. I love a lot of people. But as of late, I've been realising that a lot of my stress has arisen from the fact that not a lot of people love me in the way that I need love at the moment.

Did that come out right?

Let me try again.

I am in a very difficult situation at the moment with three key projects juggling - work, the web show and my business. Normally I can keep things going around for a while - but I am human, and we aren't built to do these things alone. I'm not talking about sex - although I could do with some of that as well at some point - but about companionship. I look around my room and ask "who am I doing this for?"

I'm not some Objectivist who is able to be a lone intellectual. I need nourishment, I need to nourish someone else's life.

Probably sounds more depressing than I mean it to. Just that love is on my mind at the moment, and I feel that I need to know that I am worth loving. That someone wants to spend time with me, wants to get to know me.

It has been two months since I went to the gym. I went back on Thursday, and it was a bad experience. I have gotten out of shape. But motivation has become a hard slog.

I have met so many people in this world. I have known a lot of guys and I have fallen in love three times now.

I have yet to find someone who genuinely fell in love with me.

I was told that part of the problem is that I can be an overwhelming person - apparently there are times when I put my attention on someone and everything about me focuses on them.

I am passionate. Most of all, I know my feelings. I can sense what I feel and even have a good idea as to why I feel those feelings - even when they are conflicting. It would seem that not so many people are able to do that. They can't understand that you can be angry, forgiving, sad, happy and passionately in love all at once. They can't understand how to tell why they have all those feelings at once.

Most of the time, I can tell why I feel those things.

Which is why saying "I love you" means a hell of a lot. It is true, and it is a sign of my giving something over - something precious to me. I place myself into a vulnerable point.

Of course talking about love on a blog isn't going get me a lover, it's not going to solve anything. A blog is really a way of processing information and getting the knowledge out there. For me, the struggle will continue. Just letting you all know that I don't mean to be rude or callous or unsocial. I just have a lot on my plate at the moment and it is a difficult time emotionally for me. But I am working through it.

Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: Changeling: The Lost
Currently Playing: Nothing
Mood: Hard to say at the moment. Kind of happy, a little melancholy. NOT Emo. ;)