light and magazine

the light pours out of me

wankers united

Shane jones has had it. The ministerial expenses are out and he has admitted using taxpayers money (which he has paid back) to hire porn movies to watch in his hotel room. Okay he is a wanker but so what, we are either all wankers or telling lies. The fact that he masturbates is not the issue - the issue is the poor judgement, the perception of 'right' and 'privilege' of stealing our money and don't forget he is a member who rallies against sharples and turia for their enjoyment of ministerial warrents and their reluctance to give them up.

From stuff

"Labour MP Shane Jones has admitted using his ministerial credit card to book up pornographic movies while he was a government minister and has blamed it on the fact he is a red blooded man."

Bye bye shane

Update

"Mr Jones told reporters this afternoon he was not a "sex fiend" but got in the habit of watching pornographic movies while he was away.

He told his wife this morning and she was enraged. He had no excuses, he said. "I just lost the plot."

Jeepers mate you left it a bit late to inform the wife - another epic fail shane

Update

"The shamed MP appears to be within a heart-beat of resigning from parliament.

"[The people] will say that Shane has dug a hole for himself - a hole and that may very well prove to be his grave," Jones said of himself today.

"This is a day of great shame. Not only have I embarassed myself, my family and party colleagues, but I got in to a pattern of expenditure that is inexcusable.

"It's beyond excuse and it's a day of humiliation for me."

Oh dear - talking in third person about himself is not a good sign.

Shane resign.

Then pick yourself up and get working for maoridom via energising the maori party. Labour are holding you back and stiffling you and with this baggage you will never lead that party.

is the maori party 'slam-dunked'

John key seems relaxed about this but the slam dunk analogy says a lot really.

From NZH

"Prime Minister John Key believes the Maori Party is more likely than not to support the Government's final proposal to repeal the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004.

"I wouldn't want to say it is a slam dunk but I think it's better than 50/50."

Better than 50/50? Sure the gnats have tried to make it a no loss situation for them but they have forgotten something and that something is maori.

Let's really cut to the chase.

The maori party was formed to repeal the F&S legislation. Whilst they have been in there, the maori party have achieved some gains but at a very high cost of being seen as being the lapdogs of the gnats. The Iwi Leaders group which represent 100 iwi have rejected the government proposal of this bogus - "no one owns the land" line. The maori party and the iwi Leaders Group do not represent all maori.

If the maori party oppose the Iwi leaders Group then there will be tears and bloodshed for all parties. If the maori party support the iwi leaders group then the maori party may leave the government benches and initiatives like whanau ora may not even get started.

The maori party have some very big decisions to make. They cannot survive without the support of the Iwi leaders Group.

The maori party have to advocate for maori aspirations - the maori party have to support the Iwi Leaders Group - no other course of action is correct.

Good post by marty g at The Standard called high noon on the foreshore

And a wonderful outline of the various threads of concern around this issue from Lew at Kiwipolitico called 'between the Devil and the deep blue sea'

photos for thinking

recursive structures lie at the heart

rockfall misses rockart

The power of water. After the big rain came the rockfall and luckily the rockfall did not destroy our maori rock art.

From ODT

"Rare examples of Maori art have survived the dramatic collapse of a rock outcrop at the Takiroa rock art site, near Duntroon in North Otago.

It was a major landscape feature and an "amazing" site in terms of the rock art and the historical context it provided.

Many different styles and techniques had been used at the site and the wealth of red figures made it quite unusual.

The site was the first recorded instance of Maori rock art, noted in 1852 by the surveyor Walter Mantell.

The first photograph of rock art was taken there in 1896.

Some rock art pieces were removed from the site in 1916."

and

"When contacted yesterday, Ngai Tahu Maori Rock Art Trust curator Amanda Symon said someone had to be located to do the assessment and funding obtained as it would be "not a cheap task".

It was hoped to have that done within two or three weeks."

Money money money if we must have money let's use it for this type of mahi.

Is our rock art treated like the taonga and treasure that it is?

who speaks for maori

Who speaks for maori?

The maori party

The iwi leaders group

Who speaks for maori?

From Stuff

"The Iwi Leadership Group, a forum of some of the most powerful Maori leaders, met on Friday and unanimously rejected the public domain proposal.

Mr Key said though the group was influential, its members did not speak for all Maori. He also rejected their suggestion that if Maori were to forgo their rights to the foreshore and seabed, private land owners should be expected to do the same."

Mr Key said the Iwi Leadership Group was not the only one battling the Government's preferred option for settling the dispute – there were also sticking points with the Maori Party.

He reiterated the Government's position, however, that it would rather shelve the repeal than make further concessions, even though it would mean retaining the 2004 act.

That was despite his view that the law represented a "weeping sore" in race relations."

This weeping sore is about to go septic and there will be a lot of pus to be expressed.

Who speaks for maori?

From NZH

"The Government is close to finalising its foreshore and seabed law repeal proposal, but the Maori Party will have the power to veto it, Prime Minister John Key indicated yesterday.

Mr Key also said that it would not proceed unless the Maori Party supported it - effectively a veto - even if there were enough support from other parties to pass it.

He said again that meant the status quo would remain, namely the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 passed by Labour.

Who speaks for maori?

Heads up - divide and destroy is the way of the oppressors. They will try to divide maori any way they can and they will succeed in some ways because there is self interest and ego and cults of personality within maoridom - just like everywhere else. Focus on the goal - tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake - everything else is divide and destroy.

the light and dark

the light and dark are us

Our kaiwhakahaere and Q&A

Good interview from Mark Solomon on Q&A. I don't agree with everything he says but he is our kaiwhakahaere and i support our kaiwhakahaere.

From TVNZ

"GUYON But state owned assets, have you had specific conversation with ministers about Iwi getting involved in stakes of state owned assets.

MARK Yes I have, I first raised it with the National Party in July 2008, prior to them coming into power, did the same with the Labour Party and talks have continued since."

We really need to have a think about this. if, from a maori perspective, state assets are shared with iwi via some ppp's - are iwi just a private company that is maori or are there deeper issues, such as the development of tino rangatiratanga. If maori get involved with these state assets - are they doing it just to make money or are they doing it to assert mana over the area. If just for money - don't do it.

"GUYON Let's look at one of the opportunities that is coming up, and that is in the prison sector, because there is joint development in public private partnership there if you like, in contracting out to private providers. Are Iwi looking at being part of any bids to manage any of the private prisons?

MARK Myself and three other Iwi leaders were invited by TPK to meet with some of the companies that are coming into the company to potentially bid for private prisons. I will be up front, my interest wasn't so much in having an equity share in the prison. I wanted to know how these companies that are offshore companies would deal with the cultural aspects when they came into New Zealand. So we met with GE4S.

GUYON A Melbourne based company.

MARK And Serco, yes the other Australian based company. We were blown away in the way that they deal with their prisoners.

GUYON You were impressed?

MARK We're completely impressed."

When you read about the things that impressed them - these companies or organisations that run prisons should be doing those things anyway. The big danger here is that maori will get used by these corporate-prison entities. I do not believe that prisons should be run for profit. I do not believe that maori should be shareholders in prisons run for profit and i do not believe that private companies should have anything to do with running prisons. I do think that there should be very strong and persuasive cultural content and context for any and all prisoners. In this country the cultural content should be based around te ao maori.

Kia kaha Mark

iwi bind together to say no

I was a little concerned about the urgency of this meeting of the iwi leadership group but I am pleased that they have come out strongly rejecting the prefered government option regarding the foreshore and seabed repeal.


Frome NZH

"Mark Solomon, Ngai Tahu chairman and member of a Maori iwi leadership group said the leadership group met on Friday and unanimously rejected the public domain proposal and agreed to seek assurances that past Treaty breaches were not used to extinguish rights."

and mark was also on Qand A

"We refuse to forgo all of our rights and put our rights to the foreshore under the public domain, as long as there are still 12,500 titles sitting there, private titles to the foreshore," he told the TVNZ programme Q+A.

"If you put them into the public domain, then iwi will have the discussion about putting all of our rights into the public domain."

Yes - why should maori get worse treatment or consideration compared to private owners.

I have a little more to say about Q and A and will post a bit later.

taniwha scales

taniwha scales

te waikoropupu springs

Iwi chairs urgent hui today on F&S

Always a worry when urgency is involved.

From Hauraki Iwi

"Iwi chairs working with the Government on an alternative to the Foreshore and Seabed Act have summoned all iwi to an urgent hui in Auckland on Friday.

Mark Solomon of Ngai Tahu told Waatea News the aim is to get a national consensus on a replacement framework for coastal management.

He says the short notice was unavoidable, because the Attorney-General is taking a proposal to Cabinet next Monday.

The hui is at the Ellerslie Event Centre from noon on Friday.

I hope we don't dance to their tune all the time and actually start getting some of our own tunes in there - for them to dance to.

Why the urgency and why are maori saying "how high sir" when they say "jump".

Something is not right here.

gerrymonster says sorry for forgetting maori

Classic comedy - tragicomedy that is, from gerry brownlee.

he has been forced to apologise to iwi for announcing and doing the deal with the multinational oil company to pave the way for their exploitation of our natural resources, without consulting with MAORI.

He forgot that maori have a say in the area he has sold off. or did he forget...

From TVNZ

"It's an oversight on my part, I must confess, that they weren't consulted sooner. But part of the difficulty we have is some of the commercial sensitivity that goes around these things," says Brownlee."

An oversight - oh that's okay then - this shows the attitude of brownlee - maori don't exist for him, they are so unimportant that they can be considered an 'oversight'.

"The Minister says he will try to liaise with iwi on permits involving the foreshore and seabed in future.

Well a try is better than not trying isn't it? How about this gerrymonster, how about respecting tangata whenua before they bite you on the bum. This deal is a bum-deal in many ways.

Let's stop this foul destruction before it starts and let's send a clear message to gerrymonster and this exploitive oil company that this country doesn't sell it's taonga, it's natural resources and it's future for money.

kanuka

kanuka at puponga

whale respected correctly

Can we see the world this way?

From NZH

"An orca that washed up dead on Whakatane's Piripai Spit has been buried whole in a nearby Maori cemetery despite researchers wanting to perform an autopsy on the two-tonne whale."

Why did this happen?

"Ngati Awa cultural adviser Pouroto Ngaropo said sea creatures were spiritual guardians of the people of the land.

"This whale is a message that has been sent to us," Mr Ngaropo said.

"The last orca whale to come ashore we [Ngati Awa] know of was when Te Tahi-o-terangi rode a whale from Whakaari [Whale Island] to the mouth of the Whakatane River."

Te Tahi-o-te-rangi was a famous whale rider who, according to local legend, rode a whale-shaped taniwha called Tutarakauika to the mainland.

"Because of the whale's connection to the people of the land, it must be buried with its ancestors in the sacred urupa Opihi," Mr Ngaropo said.

Locals remained with the whale throughout Monday and Tuesday until Mr Ngaropo performed a karakia (blessing) before it was buried at Opihi."

This is correct and respectful. Thank you. Nothing is unconnected, and the washing up of this whale has many layers of meaning - let's listen and learn about those meanings.

teach maori history to bind us together

I agree with this call - seriously how much maori history or history from a maori persepctive did you learn in school? If NONE then that was more than most. It is not good enough. There is rich and interesting history that is OUR history. This maori history is our history - the history of our country, our land.

I would like to see maori history and perspectives as COMPULSORY for all students in this country including english language students, hell - I'd make it compulsory for ALL PEOPLE. Tax breaks when you can recite your whakapapa, or korero in te reo or explain the history of the region you live in. I wonder how many rich people would get the tax breaks then!

Imagine how great this country will be when we are all paddling the waka in unison.

From Waatea News Update

"The head of Maori and Ethnic studies at Canterbury University is backing his counterpart at Victoria University in attacking the quality of history taught in schools.

Rawiri Taonui says Peter Adds is right to say race relations is the loser if children leave school without ever getting a Maori perspective on history.

He says while understanding of Maori culture and language has improved dramatically over the past couple of decades, the new perspectives on history which have come out of the bicultural Waitangi Tribunal investigation process have not made their way into the syllabus.

“If you say to people what happened at the battle of Orakau where Rewi Maniapoto, two or three hundred of his people were killed trying to escape, what happened at Ngatapa where Maori were stripped naked and thrown from cliffs, what happened at Hanley’s Shed in the Whanganui-Taranaki district where colonial cavalry, some of whom were decorated later, charged down a small group of 8-10 year small boys and hacked them to death with sabers. People just don't know that,” Mr Taonui says.

If the public knew more about the history of te Urewera, its attitude toward's Tuhoe's claim for the national park might be quite different.

How do we make positive change in this country? How do we empower indigenous people? How do we respect and support maori? This is one place to start. Let us all learn the history of this land, the people, the legends. This country did not begin in 1840 and it is time we actualised that into our learning at school.

kotuku

kotuku - ruataniwha inlet

tarred and feathered are us

I am opposed to this permit to drill for a multitude of reasons. It won't create many jobs, the money mainly goes offshore, it is environmental brutality, it is too risky for this country, and we should be looking to sustainability not continued digging and drilling. So brownlee and key sell us out to a multinational oil company - we are the suckers being used to help them all make more money.

From NZH

"International oil giant Petrobras has been awarded a five-year permit to drill for oil off the North Island's East Cape.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee said "Given Petrobras's expertise, and financial and technical pedigree, this is an exciting step into areas of New Zealand until now unexplored."

The permit awarded to Petrobras covers 12,333 square kilometres.

So while the world looks on in horror at the destruction caused by drilling for oil - what does gerry brownlee do? - he puts in head in the sand and pretends it isn't happening and cannot happen here.

What an absolute idiot - we know brownlee isn't the sharpest knife in the draw - but here he has proven his mettle - he hasn't got one.

Other horrified people include

"Greenpeace last night labelled the agreement "a bad joke".

Climate campaigner Simon Boxer said it was "unbelievable" that the Government was pursuing deep-sea drilling.

"The BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico shows that it is extremely difficult to control activities in the deep sea."

Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe was "game changing" for deep-sea drilling.

"The inability to control it is demonstrated live on the internet every day.

"Things have changed, and nothing is going to be the same for deep-sea oil drilling ever again."

Footnote - And isn't it interesting that as obama puts a six month freeze on oil exploration brownlee and key refuse to accept what he has accepted, that is

"Where I was wrong was in my belief that the oil companies had their act together when it came to worst-case scenarios," he said. "It just takes one to have a wake-up call."

"... he was ordering a six-month freeze on the opening up of the remote waters of the Arctic to oil exploration and on the drilling of 33 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Proposed lease sales off the coast of Virginia and in the western Gulf would also be cancelled."

The US president said he was calling the pause to plans by Royal Dutch Shell to begin drilling exploratory wells in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, after studying an interior department review of the Deepwater Horizon disaster."

We are going to have to stop this.

leopard seal

leopard seal on onetahua

drown in oil

Will the oil ever stop flowing into the gulf?

What would stop it naturally - running out of oil might, perhaps.

Look at the first graphic - that shows all the oil wells in the gulf by the US coast - do you really think the oil will run out soon? Nope. They aren't drilling there for nothing.

Image credit NOAA

Hat tip Open Parachute

And go here to see the extent of the disaster. You may even like to produce a google map like this

Will the oil stop flowing - I don't think so, not for years and years.

rugby and race

I have not really been interested in the haden/crusaders/darkies/rugby controversy.
 I don't rate haden - he is a cheat and a big mouth and his darkies comment, while offensive, is really nothing new.

This is a non-story designed to distract us from other things - but it is interesting to note riach's statement

"Meanwhile, Crusaders chief executive Hamish Riach says he remembers speaking to Fraser at a Ranfurly Shield match last year, but denies he mentioned the franchise operated a quota system for Polynesian players.

Riach was adamant that he had not mentioned a quota or a racial selection policy.

He said he was aware that, throughout rugby, there were frequent conversations about race."

Oh really - like what?

Anyway you can see where that all goes - into the black hole of denial.

Of course one of the big reasons for trying to lance this boil is the rugby world cup. Yes everything must be in place to show the world what a country of one people we are. We are? Are we?