The Opinionated Diner

Stupid White Men again...

It’s not easy getting the gist of a political situation when you are a few thousand miles away from the action and the news media is as patently useless as it is in New Zealand. The NZ Herald is a one eyed waste of space and I read with some bemusement its piece in the weekend about political bias in the media. Today of course, on form, they provide the people of Auckland with a non-story about how crime figures are much worse than we are led to believe…no political bias in printing a story like that, as lacking substance as it is if you read it, so close to an election. What a rag it really is. The Fairfax site looks like it was put together by an intermediate school class as a term project. TVNZ is …well….even on a reasonable link its so overflashed or whatever it is, that its unviewable for the first few minutes. I tend to open it then head off to another site on another tab until it settles down.

Thank god for Scoop….I love the Lyndon Hood thing I found today and Selwyn Manning’s op piece on Brash’s most recent race card speech is a must read. In earlier times those of the same ilk as Brash a few thousand miles away used a system called Apartheid for their self perceived uppity darky problems. Brash has a far more efficient system planned…he’s simply going to abolish Maori. With a few swipes of the GGs pen he can cut Maori health, crime, and any other problem. They simply don’t exist...they are assimilated. Sadly any fool who has spent any time in urban NZ, outside a few gildered towers can see the idiocy in this. Walk through any street in Auckland and Hamilton outside the National Party’s strongholds and tell me urban Maori are happily assimilated into NZ (read: white) society. It’s ignorant nonsense. I guess anyone who listens to Brash and nods their head in agreement almost deserves what they get, but New Zealand as a nation doesn’t deserve the pain and anguish Brash’s policies inevitably must bring. For me, there is an upside, a project I’ve been approached to work on has, inherently, some element of Maori music, its history and its direction. Whilst this is only a part of the project, it’s an important element and a part which is going to cause most headaches…happily I will be able to forget that element if Brash abolishes the Maori race….so perhaps I should put my hand up as a stupid old white man and vote National for a perceived self interest as so many others seem to be.

Because that’s what it really comes down to….a government for, by and about stupid old white men, and a government for people who really don’t care if Brash would have unquestioningly sent their sons and daughters off to die in some foreign misadventure at the behest of a fundamentalist government, as long as they get the extra $40 in their pocket next week. And I don’t want any part of it…..so maybe its best I don’t know what is happening day to day as it scares the fuck out of me

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Songs that did the trick today: Patti Labelle’s “Get Ready (Looking For Loving)” re-edited with love by the mighty Ron Hardy / Kerri Chandler’s ..Bar a Thym…favourite single of the year no question / E Dancer- Heavenly….Juan Atkin’s mix