In the midst of an election campaign

Who cares about the Rugby World Cup?

2005-11-18T14:53:00.000-08:00

It appears that last night, or this morning, or some time in the last 24 hours, New Zealand was granted the right to host the Rugby World Cup in 2011. That's right, six years from now! From the moment we turned on the radio, at 05.00, well, from the first news bulletin at 06.00, I've heard on NZ radio, about nothing else. I have heard men insisting that the whole country cares deeply about the game. That we are all obsessed with it. That this is the greatest day for New Zealand in the whole of the last 100 years. That rugby is the most popular game in the world.
Needless to say, none of that is true. I have noticed that the more educated, and the more intelligent a New Zealander is, the less interest he or she has in rugby. Rugby players are smelly, no-neck, knuckle-dragging, drunk-driving losers.
That Sheik Al-Maktoum has said that we will be able to host the A1 GP if we build a suitable circuit, is of much more moment. (Still not vitally important, but.)
What is vitally important? That the Americans (foolishly) admitted that they did use White Phosphorus in Fallujah last year. That George W Bush is losing some of his lustre. That the madness of King George the W., the Chimp in Charge, might be losing its thrall over the world. Maybe.
Regarding the white phosphorus, look at this truly excellent article in Daily Kos.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/11/9/174518/797
This splendidly skewers arguments in favour of this barbarity.
There are no books to recommend in this entry.

Aftermath

2005-10-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are, where are we? It's three weeks after the election, and Winnie is promising to hold things up again, by bringing an electoral petition against Bob (I love my testicles) Clarkson. Ain't that just great? (Said in a John Travolta voice.)
There has been a horrible earthquake in Pakistan, and the great Pat Robertson has expressed himself of the opinion that it is a Sign of the End Times. Personally, I don't think so. Earthquakes, check, wars and rumours of wars, check. But even so, only God knows the hour or the day... and we mustn't let ourselves fall into the trap of thinking we don't have to care about the world and its parlous state, because it's all going to come to an end any minute.

Today's recommended books: Hex and the City by Simon R Green
Wolf in Shadow by David Gemmell

Scary stuff

2005-09-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

Here we are, it's not the night before Christmas, it's the day before we get to choose the temper of the next three years. I've made up my mind - a tactical vote does in fact seem the best way to get the L-P-G government we want and need... Jim was scared, he said, and I showed him Matt McCarten's article in the Herald on Sunday, sent to me by the Greens, and so, I've decided.
I find it hard to believe anyone really is genuinely undecided at this stage of the election. I hear people on Right Wing radio saying they are, but it's easy to tell, anyone who says 'Dear Dr Brash', and then refers sneering to 'Helen', well, let's just say, they're not voting for the Left!
I would love to be able to hibernate for the next three years, if it all goes tits-up... however, absent that, if it does all go wrong, I suppose there's nowt to do but tough it out.

Recommended books:
Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky
Corbenic by Catherine Fisher

It's nearly upon us...

2005-09-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

Today, I sat in the offices of the Engineers, Printers and Manufacturers' Union, reading a leaflet entitled The Working Voter. Excellent! Everyone with a life in New Zealand should read it - it states the truth about tax policy, the 1990s, and the plans of Don (&) Key... Could the prospect be more scary if it tried? Maybe. National + Winnie Peters + ACT = an outpost of Hades, no question.
I have always wondered whether it is better to expect good (with the risk of being brought crashing down when it doesn't happen) or to expect bad, with the satisfaction of being right, but the problem of missing out on joyful anticipation if things go right (for once). However, I thinbk it's probably best to expect the worst in this respect - that we may well wake up on September 18th with Mr Burns as Prime Minister.
In other news, I have submitted three stories for competitions/publication this year. I am cautiously optimistic about at least one of them - but none of them will see print.(Radio broadcast or electronic publication, maybe.) There's something so satisfying about holding a printed copy of one's own fiction in one's hand - and I haven't had that satisfaction since 1987. Time for that to change.
Today's recommended books.
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Born of Empire by Simon Brown

Meeting the 'evil one'

2005-08-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

Which is what my son experienced. He was in the computer lab at the medical school where he is a student, and guess who should walk in, followed by a bunch of reporers? Yes, Fatty Hide, whose real name is Rodney, and who is the ACT candidate for Epsom, Auckland. Jim planned to heckle him, or at least talk, but after watching while Fatty poured his 'why you need a tax cut' poison into the ears of the IT people, and formulating the questions he would ask Fatty, he logged off, gathered his books, and ran, but he was too late. The Mr Hide of the right-wing, had gone. What would he have said?
He would have asked if Mr Hide really believes that New Zealand has a high tax rate. (It doesn't). He would have asked why any student should take ACT's policy over Labour's. Last but not least, he would have asked if Mr Rodney Hide was aware that in our family, his name is Fatty.
Still, missed opportunities... we wonder if the IT guys at Auckland University Medical school were at all impressed by ACT's tax policy.

A note on books. Overjoyed, I picked up a new Robert Holdstock from the library yesterday, only to realise that I'd already read it. I am so sad! It isn't physically possible for Robert Holdstock to write enough to satisfy me.
Recommended. The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
The Keys of Power series by Simon Brown.
The Allies of Light by Simon Green (warning - effing and blinding).

In the midst of an election campaign

2005-08-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

So, here we are with approximately four weeks to go, and I have learned (if there was ever any doubt) that the story about the left-wing media are just nonsense. The media (or meeja, as some call them) are solidly behind the National party, and would like to see it in coalition with the lowest bidder on tax rates. I can only assume that being a "talking head" on radio or television here is very well paid indeed! Of course, they all see things from their own point of view. They have a shedload of money. They want tax cuts. So, they preach voting National/ACT. That annoys me greatly. There have been two televised debates (that I know of). The commentators on TV and radio, even on commercial radio, are all agreed that things happened a certain way on the debates, and those who didn't see them (the majority perhaps?) will just accept that everything is the way their favourite radio personality says it did.

Meanwhile, I am negotiating about dinner. What a laborious process!

Today's recommended books. Non-fiction = A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson.
Fiction = The Accuser by Lindsey Davis.