the call to arms for maori
t
he maori party have called for maori to occupy land in relation to treaty settlement claims. is this such a surprise to the power culture in nz? how long have they [pakeha] ignored their responsibilities regarding the treaty of waitangi? is landcorp trying to sell maori land? i was hoping that pakeha had finished with land confiscation. one view of the situation here
DON'T FENCE US OUT: joe davis and other hauraki maori protesters are camping on the land they say is theirs. tainui chairman tuku morgan says landcorp's intention to sell the whenuakite station, between whitianga and tairua, as a modern example of confiscation, and maori party mp te ururoa flavell has called for maori to take direct action.
Labels: call to arms, maori lands, maori party, te ururoa flavell, the treaty of waitangi
kicked out of school over a tatoo
i have been thinking. the mum who allowed her son to get a tupak tatoo. what planet does she live on? she thinks that would be sensible at a fairly traditional school? she believes he will be proud of his tupak tat when he's 40?
she has placed him in a no win situation. she is a social worker. i know that at 18 he could make his own decision. he's not 18. i am sure that they agreed to abide by the school's standards and rules to get in there in the first place. what has his mother just taught him regarding entering into a contract with someone?
probably nothing, at worst, she set him up to fail. silly.
Labels: catholic, kicked out of school, social worker, tatoo
the fountain [a movie review]
i went to the regent on worcester tonight to see "the fountain" starring hugh jackman and rachel weiss. in short, unusual. very visual. two parallel stories. one about a conquistador in ancient spain who is sent to ancient mayan lands (new spain) to find "eden" (the garden). in the garden is the tree of life (biblical). to drink the sap of the tree of life brings immortality......
the other story is about a research scientist who's wife is dying. he is looking for immortality (an end to death) and a cure for his wife's illness......
what these two men (jackman) find is, not what they/he expects. see it, it is very good.
Labels: hugh jackman, movies, rachel weiss, review, the fountain
cyfwatch has won in the court of public opinion.
tvnz close up poll question: (24/1/07)
do you think the website “naming and shaming” cyf social workers should be taken down?yes, shut it down: 24%
no, leave it up: 76%
interesting isn't it. the public do not seem to be supporting the govt on this issue.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_index_skin/news_index_group
Labels: cyfswatch nz, naming and shaming, opinion poll, poll
freedom of the press to lie?
i am wondering how the press is getting away with accusing "cyfswatch nz" with threatening sue bradford when they clearly did no such thing. even the police have said no law was broken, yet
here is the accusation again on stuff.
i do think sue has done a great job in popularising herself by claiming she is frightened of a non threat. good politics sue. especially trying to foist an unpopular bill on 80% of the people who have made it clear that "
we do not want your bill."
we have a new link to cyfswatch nz. here it is:
cyfswatchnz welcome back.
Labels: cyfswatch nz, freedom, sue bradford
cyfswatch rises from the ashes
cyfs watch nz is now up and running again, click here:
watching cyfswatch nz.
i got this most useful link about just what our mp's are up to from wcwnz
theyworkforyou, it should be good.
Labels: cyfs watch nz, theyworkforyou, watching cyfswatch nz
choice, what choice?
it is with interest that i note the police legal opinion that the comments made on cyfswatch-nz were not illegal. yet cyfswatch-nz has been taken down. as i said earlier. having a govt out of control, imposing things on it's people that 80% have stated they do not want, is dangerous. did they (cyfswatch) upset google, who pulled them down? or was it governmental pressure? mmm, i wonder?
of course the main question still remains. "does what we do regarding the discipline of our children work?"
Labels: anti-smacking, cyfs watch nz, government, sue bradford
sue bradford's bill
in answer to the comment on the previous post, i believe that having a govt that ignores what it's people are saying because it "knows better" is a dangerous thing. i thought that their task was to represent their constituents. an 80% disagreement factor should cause concern in terms of their (govt) direction. if they (the govt) are to continue misrepresenting what we as a people want, should they hold those positions in terms of policy making in aotearoa? whatever is the right direction regarding the right to smack, the first question is to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask, "is our current culture working?" then we need to ask "why?"
i was interested to read that sue feels as if she has been threatened by a
post written on cyfswatch nz. i read the post. it did not strike me as an actual threat, more of an, i think that she needs this to happen (a punch in the face, followed by a smack on the butt) so that she could tell the difference between each course of action. there was a comment re assassination that was not cool. as usual, we are frowned upon for disagreeing with the power state.
interestingly enough, i just went to look at what was being said on cyfswatch, the site is down. govt censor-ship strikes? are we free? are we allowed to say what we think even if we do not agree with the govt? looks like we are not!
Labels: anti-smacking, cyfs watch nz, government, sue bradford
sue bradford goes against the grain, again.
sue bradford is afraid she might be assaulted physically. she is pushing her anti-smacking bill through parliament . for some reason, she hasn't figured out that out of the 80% of our country who disagree with her, someone is going to get pissed off. of course it has now happened. when will she get it that people do not enjoy being told how they will live, by a minority? when will she get it that right or wrong, it's our prerogative to choose? when will those "born to lead" arseholes (govt) look to themselves instead of trying to point their fingers at others? now cyfs-watch is having a go at her too!Labels: anti-smacking, bill, cyfs watch nz, govt, sue bradford
another governmental cock-up
i can only agree with tom scot. our govt are a bunch of idiots.
Labels: government, tom scot
graham burton, murderer by career choice
capital punishment would achieve more than parole???i can't agree about graham burton. the problem is not parole, it is that a convicted killer is being released back into the community, only to kill again. the bigger problem in my view is that we have abandoned capital punishment. if graham burton had been executed after committing one murder the community can be assured that he will not go on to offend again. capital punishment has a long tradition -- it is sanctioned by religion and by centuries of experience. i believe if we brought back capital punishment then the murder rate would go down and the community would be satisfied that justice had been done. under our current system a convicted murderer can expect to return to the community after 17 years or so. the victim does not have that opportunity.
scott lelievre
i have just watched a doco about our system of parole and justice. they are so entrenched in their "process" that they have already started talking about the process regarding graham burton and his next parole after his second murder. how weird is that? after cyfs watch, is there a need for a "parole board watch" web site? or is the question, should his behaviour be stopped for good? you have to wonder.
the burton case
Labels: burton, parole, parole board
progress at last
family first’s call for a cyf complaint authority answered:family first welcomes today’s announcement by the minister of child youth and family to begin the process of establishing an independent cyf complaints authority. about time!
“parents who feel they have been unfairly treated by the child, youth and family and have had their families torn apart have had no avenue for appeal – no independent body,” says bob mccoskrie, national director of family first. “this is grossly unfair when families are being ripped apart, often just based on the subjective judgment of a social worker.”
progress at last.
Labels: cyfs, cyfs watch nz
oh woe is she
ms "n" who is the older sister of ms 15, a young mother, a whole 21 years old and a nice young woman, has decided to cease the smoking habit she started when she was 13. eight years as a drug addict sure is hard to "cold turkey" but she has started. the withdrawal has hit. she (this morning) has a major headache. so ms15 and her mum are off to provide the required support. they have taken a good measure of "mother earth" remedies that won't work so all should be well. hopefully. i did google some more remedies for them. who knows, they might do something that will work or just having the support might do the trick. smoking, man that sucks.Labels: cold turkey, smoking, support
power corrupts.....absolute power corrupts absolutely
i went to the movies (a favourite thing to do) last night. it was at the rialto in chch. i saw "the last king of scotland." it was about the relationship and it's consequences, of idi amin and his personal physician (a scotsman) who went to uganda to be "of service" to it's people and to get away from his father, to whom he felt inferior. this movie was really well done. the filming was lush. the soundtrack was just great. man i can sure recommend this one.
i have also discovered "warm hand" the new cd from don mcglashan. the favourite track so far is "i will not let you down." just wonderful.
Labels: don mcglashan, idi amin, movies, the last king of scotland, warm hand.
bad habits
gossip is a pretty low form of communication. gossip that puts someone down is even lower. making oneself feel more important by painting a verbal picture of someone as being "less" than one is can only be hurtful and an obvious form of blame shifting. i got gossiped at this morning. couldn't wait to get out of there. the gossip was enjoying himself immensely at someone else's expense. yuk, it still tastes bad. of even more concern, i don't think he realised what he was doing.
Maori concerns can not be brushed aside” says Tariana Turia
“the concerns of Maori must not be brushed aside again” said mrs Turia today, responding to statements she had made about the impact of the government’s immigration policy on the creation of the Maori electoral districts. the Maori party has fielded many calls from constituents, who believe that the fact Maori did not achieve an eighth electoral seat is a direct consequence of high overall population growth that has arisen through the influx of migrants to Aotearoa. “these callers have reminded me that tangata whenua are the only people in Aotearoa who cannot increase their numbers by immigration” said mrs Turia. “as such, they believe it is a question of justice that present and future immigration is managed in such a way as to prevent Maori from becoming an even smaller minority in their own land”. “It is appropriate that as we approach Waitangi day, we look again at the impact that immigration has on national identity” tangata whenua often refer to Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the treaty) as being the first immigration policy document for this nation. dr Ranginui Walker has described the preamble of the treaty as the original charter for immigration; in that it allows immigration to Aotearoa (nz) from europe, australia and the united kingdom, but requires consultation with Maori as treaty partner for any variation. Walker argues that the government has ignored the notion of partnership by unilaterally deciding who can enter Aotearoa without consultation with Maori.
“the Treaty sets the scene by which all subsequent migrants and communities can survive and prosper in Aotearoa” Tariana Turia.
more to do, more to discuss, more to think about. at least we are still trying to get it right.
Labels: aotearoa, te tiriti o waitangi
once in a lifetime
tuesday february 06, 2007by maggie mcnaughtonwhen aucklander troy huston saw a pod of killer whales ripping stingrays apart and devouring them metres from where he was diving, he didn't feel scared - he felt privileged. the 28-year-old was diving with a group off the poor knights islands near whangarei last wednesday when he witnessed the extraordinary event. check the whole story out here.Labels: killer whales, orca, poor knights island, whangarei
waitangi pressure
“it is a great pity that the national party has failed to grasp the significance of such concepts as consultation with tangata whenua (indigenous people); te tiriti o waitangi (the treaty of waitangi); the maori electoral seats; and the widespread grief expressed by maori about labour’s confiscation of the foreshore and seabed” reflected dr sharples today.
“the new leader of the national party made a public declaration that there was nothing to fear from tangata whenua” said dr sharples.
“and then at the first opportunity to show maori there is some substance to that declaration, their caucus retreats in alarm and panic”.
tomorrow is waitangi day.....
we're supposed to celebrate the treaty, some, but not all, will not honour the treaty.
Labels: dr pita sharples, te tiriti o waitangi, the treaty of waitangi
4th, is that all?
so we were ranked 4th best country in the world in which to live. this is the international living travel website. they surveyed 193 countries. france was top with australia second. i guess they don't look at stuff like the way australians treat their indigenous people. the netherlands were third. interesting.they described the nz landscape as "jaw-droppingly beautiful." one can only agree with that.
Labels: best country in the world to live, international living, nz, survey
rugby time
yeaaaaah! the rugby 7's in welly has started AND the super 14 (go the canes!) starts tonight. the only downside is.....
i am living in christchurch (crusaders territory). have been thinking about buying a new "canes" jersey to wear round the place. that should catch the cantabrian eye (tis a well known fact they have only one). go the canes! Labels: canes, crusaders, kiwis rugby, rugby 7"s
the maori party have called for maori to occupy land in relation to treaty settlement claims. is this such a surprise to the power culture in nz? how long have they [pakeha] ignored their responsibilities regarding the treaty of waitangi? is landcorp trying to sell maori land? i was hoping that pakeha had finished with land confiscation. one view of the situation here
