Undulating Ungulate

Hey all. This mad and beautiful dream of travel will be ending soon, for now anyway. I will be back in NZ just before the election. Will be great to catch up with familiar faces again, and deeply fascinating to see NZ anew.

Also, I will need to replenish the war chest, which has been mauled by the past six months, so am interested in any random job stuff that is coming up that people know of. And any options of places to live, be it a flat, or a house sit, or even a couch or a backyard for a while, anywhere in the country really… everything is wide open. Surprise me.

Filed by billy at 10:35 am under new zealand,the moose,travel
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I realise the cheek in posting something like this as I prepare to head off (and the extent to which this is an exercise in projection/lecturing myself.) But I love my country and I would like NZ to be worth coming back to. And National is, honestly, damaging this country, and its future, to an extent that is actually startling.

I’m not entirely sure what the hell National and Key believe in. It seems different from anything I value. At the least, the way they go about things horrifies me, seems actively ridiculous, and completely broken. (This is just what I can remember of the top of my head: Inheriting a country with a budget surplus, then cutting government revenue via tax cuts for the richest, then cutting social programs to pay for that, and doing nothing whatsoever to get us through the recession while stamping on the poor, while borrowing heavily and sinking us in debt, while opening us up to exploitation by big business and letting overseas governments determine our policy, and abusing democratic process to pass extreme laws without oversight under urgency, and failing miserably to handle the Christchurch recovery, or deal with climate change and our collective future responsibly (let alone respectably): a pretty pathetic performance really, from a government that in theory represents us, but instead services a broken ideology divorced from reality. Yet still John Key is popular? WTF?)

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Take a moment to feel the horror and rage you would feel over the next three years if National got re-elected and proceeded to brutally fuck the country even further.

Use this feeling as motivation to get involved actively in politics, now. Being pissed off and miserable for three years in which mostly what you can do is complain stinks. Being pissed of and active for a few months before the election is a far more useful expenditure of time and energy. This is what the structure of our democracy means.

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I think the Left in general doesn’t grasp that politics is war. (At least, it has only recently really dawned on me.) Assume for a moment that von Clausewitz got it right – “War is a continuation of policy by other means”.

The simple corollary is that regular politics is essentially war, with all that entails.

It is about fighting for what you want the world to be like. It is about doing whatever the hell it takes to win. It is about realising that the other guys realise this, and are not fucking around.

Recognising this does not mean becoming the enemy. But it does suggest that techniques may be borrowed and repurposed; and suggests the attitude that is appropriate – how seriously to take things.

What, to you, is worth fighting for? Because the other team is fighting for something else, something that sucks balls, and, right now, they are fighting better than us.

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I wonder how this government would cope with massive public protests against them during the rugby world cup?

On the world stage, with their domestic issues and failings highlighted. A cunning campaign could really put them on the spot. Targeted action. Leverage.

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There is a lot of muttering, a lot of energy around the interwebs, a lot of dissent. Shape it. Use it to do something good. Get involved.

Because, scary as it is, we are the responsible generation now. We look up and see the deadwood fucking shit up based on outdated ideologies – those who have lost it. We look down and see kids, and young adults who don’t know anything yet – those who don’t have it.

Look in the mirror. We’re the adults now. This is our watch.

Filed by billy at 1:53 pm under new zealand,no mercy for john key,politics
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Govt confirms NZers will pay for any oil spill resulting from drilling offshore in deep water (
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1105/S00072/govt-confirms-nzers-will-pay-for-oil-spill.htm)

So, basically, what we are saying is, hi, foreign companies, come exploit our resources, and don’t worry if you fuck it up catastrophically, it’s sweet, we’ll cover your ass.

Not so much 100% pure, as 100% stupid.

Especially when you consider how unready we are to actually deal with an oil spill, as Jez shows with pictures so simple even John Key could grasp their meaning.

I guess this is what being blinded by ideology means.

Filed by billy at 1:59 pm under new zealand,no mercy for john key,politics
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[If you don't like metal at all, skip this one.]

Remember the mid 90′s? When we had this awesome local metal band (we’re talking Churn/Killjoy era Shihad), who used to play live lots, and it was awesome?

If you remember that, you will be pleased to know of Beastwars.

Beastwars are awesome.

You know that thing metal does? Controlled ferocity, heavy intense slabs of sound, some guy screaming like a mad animal? That real particular itch?

Beastwars are really damn satisfying.

They are almost downtempo metal. Epic, slow, grinding grooves. Great dynamics. Crushing volume.

There’s a few decent local bands around having fun self-consciously playing with metal in a tongue in cheek fashion, riffing on a kind of this is shit-but-awesome mentality. With Beastwars, it’s like they have internalised metal, and taken what they liked, and spat out a new form of awesome.

By being awesome they have crawled up over the past few years to having a decent following and now a record deal. The shows are awesome, and have the Thing, that electric thing. But also not in a messy way. The pit never gets psycho.

So yeah. Hey, old bogans. Check these guys out. You will be glad you did. It has been a long time since we have had something this good locally.

Filed by billy at 9:44 pm under culture,new zealand
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The Herald has posted a list of the laws National has passed under urgency in the first two years of this term. I have ranted about these as they happened – click the No Mercy For John Key category tab for more. And it has been around the blogosphere, but it is interesting that a conservative mainstream media venue is now voicing it.

This shit is sobering reading. A government which announced no policies pushing through laws based on an extreme right wing vision, without allowing any democratic process.

(Note this list doesn’t include the most recent batch, including the Copyright File Sharing one….)

Posting here mostly to have the list easily accessible for posterity.

Laws which passed under urgency without any select committee consideration between December 2008 (when National came into Government) and December 2010:

9-Dec-08: Bail Amendment Bill provided for bail to be denied if there was any risk of a defendant absconding, interfering with witnesses, or offending while on bail.

Article continues below

Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill implemented national standards in primary schools.

Employment Relations Amendment Bill introduced 90-day trial period for small companies and allowed bosses to consider KiwiSaver contributions when negotiating pay increases.

Sentencing (Offences Against Children) Amendment Bill required courts to take into account factors such as the defencelessness of victim, abuse of trust and attempts to hide the abuse when sentencing for child abuse or ill-treatment.

Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill introduced tax cuts, cut some aspects of Kiwisaver, including holding employer contribution levels at 2 per cent rather than increasing up to 4 per cent.

16-Dec-08

Energy (Fuels, Levies, And References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Bill removed Labour’s requirement for an increasing proportion of petrol and diesel sales to be biofuels.

Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill removed Labour’s 10-year ban on new fossil-fuelled thermal electricity generation.

17-Feb-09

Electoral Amendment Bill repealed Labour’s Electoral Finance Act and reinstated the old Electoral Act as an interim measure.

13-May-09

Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill was the first of three bills for the new Super City in Auckland. It provided for the end-date of the previous city councils, set up the Auckland Transition Agency to manage the change, and restricted the powers of the city councils until the new Auckland Council was born.

24-Nov-09

Corrections (Use of Court Cells) Amendment Bill allowed court cells to be used to house prisoners as a last resort.

Policing (Constable’s Oaths Validation) Amendment Bill was a technical bill to retrospectively validate the oaths of a swathe of police officers following a change in the swearing-in procedure.

30-Mar-10

Environment Canterbury (Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management) Bill replaced Environment Canterbury’s elected council with government appointed commissioners until 2013. Gave powers to impose a moratorium on water and discharge permits.

Immigration Act 2009 Amendment Bill brought forward the date at which implementation work could start on changes from new Immigration Act, including set up of Immigration and Protection Tribunal.

28-Apr-2010 (Extraordinary Urgency)

Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill increased tobacco tax in three stages.

20-May-2010

Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill increased GST to 15 per cent and cut income taxes.

22-Jun-10

Civil Aviation (Cape Town Convention and Other Matters) Amendment Bill aligned NZ law with international Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (the Cape Town Convention).

Policing (Involvement in Local Authority Elections) Amendment Bill allowed police officers to run for local council and be councillors without having to leave the Police.

14-Sep-2010: (in extended sitting hours, rather than Urgency)

Canterbury Earthquake Response Bill gave government greater powers to deal with recovery after the September earthquake. Set up the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Commission.

28-Oct-2010

Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill so-called Hobbit Bill – specified workers on film productions are independent contractors unless they specifically entered into an employment agreement.

Summary Proceedings Amendment Bill (No 2) made offences such as theft purely summary offences if the property involved was less than $500.

I would really like these guys to be voted out. Because voting them back in accepts and endorses this, and will free them for worse.

Filed by billy at 12:29 am under new zealand,no mercy for john key,politics
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Cold. Wet. May be time to leave the country.

Filed by billy at 12:28 am under new zealand,the moose
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Hilarious.

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(I have wanted to get a V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes mask for ages. Even before Anonymous happened…)

Filed by billy at 5:18 pm under new zealand,technology
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So, passing yet another law under urgency seems bad news, particularly a deeply unpopular one. Folks all over are talking about the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill , go read them. Heck, even Boing Boing is talking about how stupid this is.

A few brief observations:

The bill seems wildly out of step with the entire population < 50 years old, so it will be interesting if criminalising a huge sector of the voting public has much political blowback. Also, by making people’s actions criminal, it pushes them to adopt the behaviours of criminals.

For instance, use of a proxy server or other anonymised browsing (eg https://www.torproject.org/) service.

It also seems totally redundant since as soon as there is demand someone will cobble together an idiot friendly easy install protocol/package to circumvent the tracking, and it will spread virally.

Finally, I wonder if renewing the “3 strikes your internet is suspended” criteria may even be a pre-emptive strike to meet one of the requirements of the TPPA, the other IP shocker going through without enough oversight.

Copyright, IP, and creative production in the digital age are complex issues, which need addressing. Ignoring what the voting public thinks and slamming through laws under urgency, or negotiating behind closed doors, is not the way to go about it.

Filed by billy at 2:36 pm under new zealand,no mercy for john key,technology
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You all should be reading the latest series of posts on No Right Turn about what National is doing economically.

Basically, their do-nothing policy of economic mismanagement means we have a recession and no money. They are blaming the earthquake for having to cut the budget of the tiny $800 million they had allotted for government spending, mostly on health and education, which will negatively effect the worst-off kiwis. However, with the other hand, they are still managing to pass laws which will give $500 million in tax cuts to the wealthiest New Zealanders.

Instead of having the poorest New Zealanders paying the cost of the earthquake, we could split the load more fairly via an earthquake levy. Of course, John Key won’t do that.

This government is consistently acting against the majority of its people.

Stark when pointed out.

Filed by billy at 2:50 pm under new zealand,no mercy for john key,politics
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Slowly shock wears off, the numbness seeping into reality. The rubble is still there, the dead beneath. The city devastated. Months to clean the mess, years to rebuild? And nothing will be the same again.

So huge, too big to grasp, to get your head around the ramifications. The economy. Peoples lives. This event, and its effects, will be with us for many years. Everything changed in a minute. Plans and dreams, hopes and realities, redefined, shattered, gone.

Light in the darkness. Chatting to a friend in Lyttleton, who observed that without the horror, this would be great. People are working together, helping each other out. The suspension of normality allows something wonderful to bloom in the cracks. We shed our roles and rediscover ourselves.

What will we make of this tragedy? Our actions from here on will decide. As we rebuild our second largest city, we can ask ourselves, what is it we want to build here? How do we want to live? Will we just do our best to put things back the way they were, forgetting it is all impermanent? Are we defined by the buildings and the roles we played? Or can we dream something better into being, freshly armed with the shock of death and change, and the reawakened perspective of what is truly important to us: people.

Many buildings are yet to come down. Central Christchurch will be changed beyond recognition. How often do we get to consciously change the character of a major city? What is the most awesome change we can make?

Filed by billy at 12:22 pm under culture,new zealand
4 Comments