Category: politics

In the battle for control of NZ, Key and Cunliffe wave their phalluses at each other

At Auckland’s Big Gay Out, in a surreal moment, John Key claimed he would “definitely win” a game of beer pong against Labour leader David Cunliffe. “Wouldn’t be any doubt about it,” the PM said. David Cunliffe responded in kind, claiming “I could, I’m sure – if the moment arose – drink him under the… Read More In the battle for control of NZ, Key and Cunliffe wave their phalluses at each other

grahamcameron

Pōwhiri have a purpose; and it is not to dominate women

In a pre-match warm-up for this election year, the Speaker and the NZ Herald have stretched their conservative credentials by cleverly feigning outrage at both the misogynistic and outdated cultural processes of Māori people and the spectre of political correctness that requires Parliament to follow those very processes. All of this apparently began at the… Read More Pōwhiri have a purpose; and it is not to dominate women

grahamcameron33 Comments

I am a lot worse at parenting than I thought I would be: Child poverty and our privilege

When my wife and I thought about having children, we thought we’d probably be pretty good parents. We’d lived with a few people with kids, we’d judged them inadequate and imagined how we’d do things differently. We’d already made sure to judge our parents inadequate and promised not to do what they did. So we… Read More I am a lot worse at parenting than I thought I would be: Child poverty and our privilege

grahamcameron2 Comments

Karl Du Fresne’s The Mysteries of a Modern Life: Reloaded!

More pressing questions for out troubled columnists (a reworking of Karl Du Fresne’s column): Should columnists who abuse parents and kids for difference and divergence in names, language and outlook have a complaint laid against them at the Human Rights Commission? Commodore Frank Bainimarama – the logical outcome of NZ’s economic & social colonisation of the Pacific right in our own backyard? We’ve had Dancing… Read More Karl Du Fresne’s The Mysteries of a Modern Life: Reloaded!

grahamcameron

Spying on the same people who you want to be buying

New Zealand’s involvement in spying on other countries as part of the Five Eye Network represents a form of national schizophrenia. There is a disjuncture between the fervent desire of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Government Communications Security Bureau to be seen as friend of the USA and the passionate drive to open the doors… Read More Spying on the same people who you want to be buying

grahamcameron

Pākehā-fication of Māori Media AKA Stop with the accountability already!

I have just finished listening to Julian Wilcox, head of news and current affairs for Māori Television, being interviewed on Radio Waatea about the storm that has rumbled away in the last fortnight after Native Affairs investigated the mismanagement of funds by Te Pātaka Ōhanga directors and management (who are also, of course, the Trustees of Te Kōhanga Reo… Read More Pākehā-fication of Māori Media AKA Stop with the accountability already!

grahamcameron5 Comments

How I learned to love the violent arm of the State

On The Vote last week, they debated our confidence in the NZ Police. In a result at odds with the Police’s own polling, 56 percent voted no confidence in the Police. Some of the other bloggers I follow called it “astounding,” and went on to say it was, in their opinion, a more accurate reflection of a fundamentally broken and untrustworthy organisation. I… Read More How I learned to love the violent arm of the State

grahamcameron