mars 2 earth

I don't tolerate race baiters

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:38:00 +0000

Sometimes an internet exchange can reveal the machinations of deeper issues and show why some issues are difficult to resolve. The example I will detail below (I can't include everything so I suggest you read the threads on the links if you wish to see the full context) gives us an insight into how race baiters introduce their memes into society and the tactics they use to shift the debate when cornered, and how ultimately it is always about them and their disguised views of indigenous people. This is just one example of one person but I think it tells the story.

It started (although that is not quite correct as I’ll show at the end) with this posting on The Standard by a commenter vto (who you may remember from this post of mine).

A curious thing was heard on te wireless Sunday pm which related to an interest in maoridom and its relations with others that I have. The debate at Vic University about the consttitution etc and in particular whether a republic should be chosen in replacement of the monarchy had four people, I imagine of high calibre in these matters, debating this. One was a professor, another another academic, another a law firm partner and another a can’t remember.

The host, a Simon Price i think, asked a question around how the Treaty fits within such a particular question. Every single one of the guests refused to comment. The audience uttered a nervous giggle.

I found this very telling. Whenever issues are raised around here of this world and its issues the accusation of being racist comes out pretty damn quick. Like a knee-jerk reaction. It is as if we are not permitted to question things in this arena, that it is taboo, that certain people are not qualified or of the correct race or ‘status’ to raise issues that are of concern to them. This claim is made by many people in New Zealand (that they are accused of being racist for simply talking race).

This radio debate seemed to pretty strongly confirm this bias in our society. Nobody would dare utter their view. Every single one of the four people were too scared. It was abundantly clear. It was further reinforced by the nervous laughter in the crowd. They risked being labelled for expressing their view.

New Zealand in this regard is immature and needs to grow up.

As you can imagine this raised some eyebrows because the constitutional debate is designed to ask those questions and debate them – why was this not done, why did they giggle and not answer the question.

Weka, another commenter on The Standard did some digging and she found the actual question and it was asked by known racist john ansell – this was the actual question

Given that polls tell us that 80% of New Zealanders are distressed at seeing their country being slowly surrendered to the part descendants of the minority of Maori who breached the Treaty by rebelling against the Crown in the 1860s, could we use a republican referendum process to entrench racial equality?

Oh dear that question is quite leading isn’t it and it is totally understandable why the panelists wouldn’t answer a racist and derogatory question like that – what do you think vto said about that?

Good on ya. Minor mistake but make no difference.

Yep – the fact that a loaded question raised by a known race hater makes no difference to vto because, as he says,

I was not so much interested in the actual question, more in the interaction of peoples and the allowing of the question followed by the refusal to answer and the wider implications surrounding that.

Now you may want to reread the original post by vto to check the accuracy of that statement because it just is not true, remember vto said in that original post that

It is as if we are not permitted to question things in this arena, that it is taboo, that certain people are not qualified or of the correct race or ‘status’ to raise issues that are of concern to them… Nobody would dare utter their view. Every single one of the four people were too scared. It was abundantly clear. It was further reinforced by the nervous laughter in the crowd. They risked being labelled for expressing their view.

So this is how they do it – that is a classic example of how memes get put into the public consciousness and disseminated – I’ll break it down

First you make a statement that pushes a certain line – in this case vto said the question about the Treaty wasn’t debated and this showed that people are scared to debate the issue, even though the panel was made up of respected and knowledgeable people.

Second when shown that the question was biased and from a known race hater and that is why it wasn’t answered, you dismiss that as irrelevant and change tack and say that the questioner and question were not the real issue instead there were ‘wider implications’ in their non-answering.

And third you disregard the facts to continue to push the meme that you want to get out there by adjusting your wording slightly whist keeping your original position intact – everything supports your position even if it is made up and shown to be a lie as vto says,

What I heard was the question. The particular person of the question was immaterial to the question, as I was whistling while I worked and missed it. But mine ears perked at it from thence forth listening more closely. The panelists all declined to answer. That was very odd, given the situation, hence my post.

The mistake aorund the questionnaire is immaterial to the point raised. Once you glean out the flotsam and jetsam.

This approach is pretty common especially with those who have extreme views. Other commenters notice of course such as weka again

Your whole argument was that a good question was asked, and that it was strange that the panelists all refused to answer, and your conclusion was that they were afraid to. You were wrong vto, just admit it and then we can move on to more productive discussion.

You want to draw the conclusion that they didn’t want to answer because of fear of talking about racism, but by your own admission you didn’t listen to the thing properly and missed the context and the person asking the question (and don’t pretend now that the identity of the person answering doesn’t matter). There were in fact some other references in the talk to Maori and the implications of constitutional change (not alot but they were there), which belies the idea that people were avoiding talking about race.

That logic doesn’t get through to types such as vto because he is slippery and has a meme to push come hell or high water.

I asked for a list of what issues he wanted to discuss around the Treaty but vto refused to put a list up, so I put a list up for him. This list was composed honestly in an attempt to cut through the lies and disinformation and get to something that could be debated

1 the Treaty is historical and a new one needs to be drafted to take into consideration the multicultural aspect of NZ society.
2 too much emphasis (money) is on tangata whenua and that they have received enough emphasis (money)
3 Māori were the first here and that could be called indigenous but it is irrelevant in today’s world
4 Māori are inherently violent and warlike
5 No one represents the ‘white man’ who gets abuse and derision when they say something that others perceive as racist
6 Non-Māori who talk about race get accused of being racist
7 Māori are racist to ‘white people’
8 Celts were here before Māori and taught them everything of what they know until Māori killed them all
9 The chinese bought slave-wives here to breed with Māori
10 Barry Brailsford doesn’t talk shit

That list of beliefs is common amongst race baiters and incorporates quite a few memes that they wish to push in this country. Vto considered my list to be a personal attack and changed tack to rally against this attack instead of either answering the points I raised or putting his own list up. This is another tactic of those wishing to spread malicious memes around Māori – it is all about them, it is always about them – they have no empathy or sensitivity to oppressed people – they don’t care about them at all, all they care about is themselves and it is beyond selfish.

So now the debate (if it can be called that) has shifted to the unfairness of the list instead of the unfairness of the memes contained on the list which marginalise and degrade Māori. The debate has shifted from the original post of vto which expressed surprise that the issues around the Treaty weren’t debated on RadioNZ, through the misrepresentation of the loaded question from a known racist to

Making it personal again i see. And plain stupid. You can’t help yourself can you.
Don’t bother engaging arsehole. Go stick your head back in the sand.

That sort of abuse is common on blogs and it can get even worse as vto showed when he went down the following lines - I've just put the abuse in

Go fuck yourself… Answer the issue cunt… To date you have had no answer to this issue cunt… Cunt… answer the issue cunt… the dumb cunt has no answer to the issue, just personal… Answer the fucking issue cunt…

Yes vto has issues with women, he also doesn’t like gay marriage and thinks it’s okay to call the gay Queens Counsel a “queer cunt” and so much more. Why bother engaging with this lowlife you may ask – everytime he leaves a comment potentially some person could read it and actually believe that what he is saying has merit. Some people will grab the meme that he is trying to push and use it to denigrate Māori further – that is how race baiters work. If no one opposes them they take that as agreement with their vile views.

Just on the abuse vto shunted at me – this was my response

on another point your excessive use of the word cunt – it reminds me that there are no demeaning terms for ‘woman’ in the Māori language, and that the first human was a woman – Hine-ahu-one, and that as all come from women at birth, at death the same occurs through Hine-nui-te-pō, and that Papa-tū-ā-nuku is our earth mother and sustainer of life and that women are mediators of tapu. Thanks for reminding me of these things vto even though you were trying to insult.

What was the question that he was upset that I didn’t answer? It was another meme designed to degrade Māori and the tiny gains we are making towards equality and he wasn’t even focused on the correct target of central and local government, no it is much easier for vto and his type to attack Māori – usually few argue. And yes, sure I bait him a bit because I believe in giving people plenty of rope and one of the reasons I started blogging was to counter the views of people like him, in fact I remember a post from 2009 from him that actually inspired me to start

Or a bit like the smaller step-brother, the maori party..
“Our new bro likes to get in your face he has no work but comes home pissed but only for some eggs he ignores the bitch, yells at the other bitch and kicks the kids on the way back to the pub to meet his mates still more bevvies and some P most nights he gets to ogle/grope the fat slag behind the bar and then smashes some innocent person walking home, gets picked up by the pigs and ends up with his mates in the klink no gropes of his missus now so has to play with himself, which comes naturally to him being a labour voter”

The vto’s are everywhere spreading their memes like a disease – I am not interested in tolerating them.

saving people

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:39:00 +0000

Some statistics are stark in their brutality and suicide statistics tell a story that is appalling and a blight upon our society

Stuff

11 people every week commit suicide in this country

NZ has the highest rate of youth suicide in the OECD

New Zealand's suicide toll is 50 per cent higher than the road toll.

More New Zealanders under the age of 25 die from suicide than from all medical causes combined.

Suicides of 10-14-year-olds increased 60 per cent between 2007 and 2010.

New Zealand's youngest known suicide victim was a 6-year-old.

Suicide rates of Maori and Pacific youth are 70 per cent higher than those of other young New Zealanders.

The most common age for Maori and Pacific people to take their lives is 15-19.

Source: CASPER (an organisation for those bereaved by suicide)

A 6-year old committing suicide beggars belief.

What a nightmare - for those who decide this is the best option, for friends, family and whānau left behind and for communities and the country as a whole. Many of us have been there - in so much despair, so much pain that we think the best option is to end it. What to do? Talking about it and understanding the pressures that cause people to go there are valuable and an excellent initiative is underway for the deep south

Stuff

Suicide prevention strategies for Maori will be discussed at a hui in Bluff next week. Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Trust Maori health promoter Leoma Tawaroa said the "silent issue" of suicide needed to be discussed so appropriate prevention strategies could be developed to help address the issue.

A Kia Piki te Ora Maori Suicide Prevention Hui will be held in Bluff and will be open to the public on Wednesday. It will include presentations on suicide prevention from agencies and people such as comedian Mike King and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene. The Ministry of Health, the Mental Health Foundation, district health boards, Lifeline Aotearoa, Kia Piki te Ora sites and other professionals and community will attend.

Kia Piki te Ora focused on suicide prevention, raising awareness and highlighting the fact everyone had a place in the world.

The Southern District Health Board last week said there was a suicide in Southland every three weeks.

This initiative is so needed and thank goodness that there are good people working in this very important area. We must give our young people hope and that hope has to come from kaupapa and tikanga and creating a sense of worth, of value. Our society is focused on the individual, on profit and exploitation, on capitalism and neo-liberalism and all of those factors contribute towards out appalling record in suicide.

The Maori youth suicide rate was 35.3 per 100,000 Maori youth population which was more than 2.5 times higher than non-Maori youth. (13.4 per 100,000)

It is too late to save them when they have gone - we need to save them NOW, we need to give people hope NOW and we need to talk about this disgusting blight on our society NOW. Do your bit and connect with those young people around you, your friends, your family your whānau.

Do it NOW.

the simple truth

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:03:00 +0000

Sometimes the simplistic approach is valuable and other times it becomes a mockery. Newbold the so called 'academic' and 'top criminologist' says,

Stuff

there was a "direct association" between Maori and violent offending.

The more Maori you get in an area, the more violent crime you get - that's a fact of life.

A fact of life he says but of course his statement is so simplistic as to be meaningless.

We know that Māori get targeted by the police and apprehended more and we know they receive more prosecutions than other people. That actually means that any statistics around this area are biased to show Māori as worse - whether they are or not. If there is bias in who is apprehended by the police and in prosecutions then there is bias in the statistics and whatever those statistics are apparently saying.

But putting that to one side, there is no 'direct association' as Newbold claims, instead as weka eloquently says on The Standard, "There are correlations between poverty, colonisation, and institutional racism, and violent offending."

Māori have suffered more violence than any other group in this country because they are indigenous. That violence was state sanctioned, systematic and total. The tearing down of belief structures and the ridiculing of a people. The smashing apart of Māori social structures, the ripping of tangata whenua from their land via lies, deceit and Government supported destruction whether through just taking it or helping the rightful owners die early so the land was magically made available. And the murder, rape and killing of tangata whenua whenever they tried to stop the land stealing.

This process of violence against Māori continues today in obvious and subtle ways, for instance a subtle version of violence against Māori is this statement from newbold

There are hardly any Maori in Dunedin and not many in Christchurch,

That statement, used in support of his other statements above, denigrates thousands of tangata whenua who live in these areas and is a violent statement against Māori . Why you may ask is that violent, wikipedia gives us the answer

Violence is the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against a person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation.

Why do you think newbold believes there are "hardly any Māori down south? IMO it is based on skin colour - not brown enough = not Māori. Southern Māori have heard this stuff for a long time and we laugh at it as we discuss and remember our lands, our histories, and our ancestors. Some though, who are not connected, suffer psychological harm, maldevelopment and deprivation and that is what newbold's statement does as it furthers the colonisation agenda and deprives many tangata whenua from their rightful heritage.

Manawa Hou - great initiative

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Sun, 05 May 2013 22:11:00 +0000

Tangata whenua face many challenges in today's world and one of them is how to instill cultural knowledge in our youth, many of whom live away from the rohe and their traditional tribal lands. Ngāi Tahu have developed a great initiative to facilitate this called Manawa Hou

a youth initiative designed to pass on knowledge of traditions, history and stories, to help rangatahi get a sense of their Ngāi Tahu identity.

These rangatahi are immersed in their culture and

learnt about Takahanga Marae and toured the historic Kaikōura Peninsula. They stayed on Te Ati Awa's Waikawa Marae; and they visited the ancient Kaihinu Pā site in Tory Channel – the first Ngāi Tahu settlement in Te Waipounamu.

as Tā Tipene O'Regan says

The idea of the hīkoi is to take them to a few places of our forebears and ancestors and help them to develop a sense of who they are as Ngāi Tahu. To let them practice and enjoy some of the cultural traditions and be participants rather than observers. It's also important that the rangatahi meet each other, so that the inter-relationships within the tribe are on a personal level rather than just on a theoretical, academic basis - so they know each other as people.

What an awesome program and so very important to help our people reclaim their heritage and build their relationships with the iwi.

Te Karaka

Manawa Hou is a long-term programme with the vision of eventually having four per year in different parts of Te Waipounamu. Place-based learning is the main characteristic of Manawa Hou, with learning taking place outdoors on marae and in other places of cultural significance.

Check out the videos

underreported struggles 73

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Sat, 04 May 2013 22:19:00 +0000

More essential underreported struggles from Ahni at Intercontinental Cry.

underreported struggles 73

The USDA Cibola National Forest Service (CNFS) issued a controversial Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to Roca Honda Resources (RHR), for a proposed uranium mine on Mount Taylor, a stratovolcano in northwest New Mexico. The DEIS openly states that uranium mining at Mt. Taylor–which is held sacred by several Southwest Nations including Dine’, Hopi, Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni– “…would result in the disruption, alteration, and displacement of traditional cultural activities that are critical to the continuity of cultural beliefs and practices of these tribes."

Esquimalt First Nation, in an effort to reform the monetary system, unveiled a new barter currency on their territory known as Tetlas. Similar to a gift certificate, the Tetla was developed by the organization Tetla Tsetsuwatil to assist economic development in the S’amuna’ Nation and other native nations, and to encourage trade with non-natives and among non-natives. So far, 35 businesses have signed on to the Tetla system, but wit the constant problems first Nations have with the Canadian economy, you can be sure there will be more.

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights issued provisional measures to ensure that the Ogiek people of the Mau forest cannot be evicted by the Kenyan government, while the matter continues before the court. The Ogiek case is the first indigenous rights case to come before the court since it began in 2006 and sets a strong precedent against the eviction of Indigenous Peoples from their lands across continental Africa.

The O’odham Nation is taking action to officially oppose Kinder Morgan’s proposed Sierrita Pipeline, a project that could harm up to 60 “sacred and significant” cultural resource sites, village sites, trash mounds and quarries, according to a resolution approved by the Tohono O’odham Legislative Council. The pipeline would also harm Baboquivari Peak, an area central to the O’odham Peoples creation story.

An anti-indian conference was held at the Lakeway Inn in Bellingham, WA about ten miles from the Lummi Nation. The April 6th event, which went by almost completely unnoticed, was dedicated to teaching people how to fight casino gambling, water rights, fee to trust, land acquisitions and sovereignty. The event was sponsored by Citizens Equal Rights Alliance or CERA, one of the most prominent Anti-Indian organizations in the United States. Three additional conferences are now being organized by CERA in Massachusetts, New York and Northern California as part of a new national offensive to end tribal sovereignty.

In northern Chile, Environmental groups and indigenous Diaguita communities celebrated a court decision to suspend the controversial Pascua Lama mine owned by the world’s largest gold mining company, Barrick gold. The court suspension was in response to a legal action that was brought forth by the affected indigenous communities who warned that the mine threatens their water supply and several local glaciers. Lorenzo Soto, a lawyer representing the Diaguita, said the suspension will remain in effect until the company addresses the pollution issue and properly consults the indigenous peoples.

Peguis First Nation along with Fisher River First Nation and several local cottagers blocked a road leading to the Berger Peat Mine in the interlake region of Northern Manitoba, Canada. The action was in response to the Manitoba government’s decision to uphold a license to Berger Peat Moss Ltd. and Sun Gro Horticulture Canada Ltd. despite a failure to adequately consult the first Nations about the many impacts that peat mining would have on their culture and Treaty Rights. Immediately after the government’s decision, Berger began to clear the forests and build roads in the project area; however, according to Peguis First Nation, the company did so despite key provisions in its license which stipulate that no land clearances or road construction can take place until a required plant study and inventory, including for medicinal plants, has been carried out.

Visit Intercontinental Cry to read about these issues and many others.

look over here not over there

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Fri, 03 May 2013 22:37:00 +0000

A revealing article on Stuff about Tikorangi – ” the most heavily explored and developed oil and gas area in New Zealand”

key spoke to 100 in Inglewood

“On Thursday he told an audience that the amount of wealth that exploration could release meant it was in everyones best interests to build respectful relationships with the oil companies.”

No key it is not in everyones best interest just the greedy and money-hungry exploiters best interest.

On Tuesday the council’s request to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment that urban areas and land near New Plymouth Airport to be excluded from future oil exploration was turned down flat.

Yes they will be drilling near where people live and the effects of that are serious

Greymouth has stated it is drilling just one well but has applied to drill eight. It has also bought 30 hectares of land despite only needing 1.4ha.

Any assurances from them are worthless when the truth is obvious

Like so many other media-shy companies, Greymouth requires questions in writing which are answered in kind.

Just like Key - what a surprise, not.

Todd Energy, the other big player in Tikorangi oil and gas and operator of the massive Mangahewa C production site, has started issuing full-colour community updates.
Featuring pictures of smiling rig workers and the top-echelon management team casually splayed out on a grass bank at Womad…

Manipulation is easier when it comes in a nice glossy full colour update

“The fact of the matter is the easy oil is gone, and now exploration is being brought closer to humans,” Todd Energy operations general manager Mr Clennett says.
“Our main focus is how we can build a sustainable operation within the community. Because the skills we are building here, we want to be able to use in other places."

Easy oil is gone and fracking and other destructive practices are just kicking on and they will be used here and in other places as desperation grows.

Mr Clennett’s frankness, the printed updates, the millions in funding to the Len Lye Centre and support for other community projects have another bottom-line benefit for Todd. In a world market scrapping over a limited supply of oil and gas experts, reputation is money.

key and these companies are singing from the same songsheet and they are raising their voices in a cacophony of manipulation designed to drown out opposition to their exploitation, but it won’t work because they ignore people.

“This doesn’t feel like home anymore,” he told his parents Clare and Alan.
“The noise. The rigs. The powerlines. All the lights. It’s taken away the night sky. It’s pretty sad really.”

Expect plenty of glossy brochures and smiling pictures to come because that is all they have got to counter the truth of their activities.

exposed throats

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:53:00 +0000

Gordon Campbell at Werewolf has written a significant article on one of the exploiter companies who will be drilling around this country. I recommend this article, here is a snippet

Werewolf

In the light of such findings, concern about Anadarko’s activities off the New Zealand coast seems utterly reasonable. Similar concerns seem appropriate about New Zealand’s ability to monitor Anadarko’s operations here, and to respond adequately should a major spill occur off our coastline. Much is being taken on trust, with crossed fingers that it won’t happen here. And that’s before mentioning our capacity to reliably monitor any subsequent uptake from the wells drilled, and our ability to negotiate a fair royalties rate truly commensurate with the value of the deposits, and the risks being undertaken. On all such counts, there are serious grounds for objecting to Anadarko’s activities off our coastline – and given the troubling aspects of the company’s recent environmental record, there is no valid reason for criminalizing those who might wish to protest its presence here.

It is interesting to note that

Barely a week before our last general election in November 2011, Prime Minister John Key found time to divert from his busy campaign schedule for a meeting back in Wellington – purpose unknown – with Anadarko’s then-CEO, James Hackett.

The Werewolf article shows very clearly the type of corporate animal that these exploiters are - they don't care about the people they poison, they don't care about the environment, safety or the law - they care about profits and making money. By inviting these predators into this country we are offering our throats to the worst of humanity. The question isn't if a disaster will happen it is just when it will happen and the politicians who have colluded with these corporates will be held to account where ever they are, even Key in his holiday home in Hawaii.

planning to exploit

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:47:00 +0000

The government are ramping up the oil exploitation and have recently made an area the size of Te Waipounamu available for this, that is a total of 1,500 square kilometres of onshore exploration territory and 190,000 sq kms of offshore territory. When you look at the map of these areas being opened up you can really see how big their plans are.

Prime minister key has said that he thinks the regulations will keep the cowboys out and Economic Development Minister steven joyce has said that the poorest regions of this country, the 'backwater regions' should rethink their opposition to mining and get on board because it will boost economic growth. Well firstly key is a liar and cannot be trusted so anything he says must be taken with many grains of salt - gives us something to rub into the wounds and as for joyce, I'm afraid he is cut from the same cloth - cannot be trusted and he proves this with his myopic focus on the mythical benefits of growth. This government is only concerned with making more money for them and their mates - do not be under any illusion - and the absurd aspect is that the potential growth is just that, potential and not even likely, just made up numbers that bolster the exploitation and potentially increase the profits of the international mining companies.

The opposition to these moves will need to remain focused to stop them and we must stop them because as shell says it would take 14 days to cap a major oil leak but remember the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico took 87 days to contain and the Montara oil spill and gas leak in the Timor Sea, off the northern coast of Western Australia took 74 days to contain so those assurances mean little, they are just dreams and hopes. My dream and hope is that tangata whenua with like-minded people will work together to halt their plans.

We will not listen to their bland promises of growth or environmental protection, we will fight them all the way. I look at that map and see how close to Farewell Spit Nature Reserve they will drill and I am very concerned, very concerned indeed because that beautiful, important area will not be able to take 70 days of oil spewing near it. The only way to ensure protection of Onetahua is to make sure they are not able to begin.

same shit, same shit

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:27:00 +0000

Well we knew Susan Devoy was going to struggle in her new role - and so far it has proven to be. Her latest speech, described as a "slow motion train crash" shows just how far from being able to fulfill her role she is. I'm starting to believe that when devoy says stuff like "same shit, different day", when asked about the nature of her new work, that she is being deliberately provocative.

The big issue is that it becomes all about her and not about the role itself which is not only needed but needing to have a strong, understanding and empathetic person in there. Susan is not that person and I cannot see how she will make it very far in the role, especially when she describes the Wellington staff as "difficult". It seems that the drive and determination of a squash player are not so transferable to the Race Relations role, but those qualities could be useful in creating a fairer society - it depends on the person really.

The lack of insight by devoy and the lack of tolerance from many people over her lack of insight will make devoy very gunshy - she won't speak up, she won't advocate, she won't put herself on the line against the almost constant racism we find here. No, we will have a fake role with fake concern and fake action - meanwhile life goes on for the disadvantaged in our society, as devoy says, "same shit, different day".

bitter bob

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 05:23:00 +0000

It is pretty disappointing when someone rips into a good initiative for Māori. In Tauranga ex-MP bob the builder clarkson is having a go at some excellent much needed housing for Māori. The initiative is great but bob shows his real agenda and it is one we have seen many times before. But first the initiative

Bay of Plenty Times

The community housing project at Mangatawa Marae was officially formalised in July 2010, with stage one of the project, 16 small homes for kuia and kaumatua (elderly), completed last year.

The project's next stage involves 12 three- to five-bedroom family homes built and infrastructure for eight more.

The 12 houses will have affordable rents, calculated by the tenant's income and the last eight will be kaianga whenua, or personally owned.

When the project is finished there will be 36 houses in the Papakainga housing project.

We need so much more of this community housing. It is the way of the future - live near each other in housing suitable for purpose with shared areas and community areas. The money has come from a grant

It has come from Putea Maori, a $13 million capital grant fund available to Maori for the purpose of increasing affordable rental housing. Putea Maori is part of the Social Housing Unit, which has set aside $104 million during three years (2012-15) to help people get good quality homes through community housing.

It is great that there is dedicated finance for this although obviously the amounts should be much much more to really make a difference and alleviate suffering. Now bob has started off on the wrong foot

"It's bloody lovely. I've got nothing against Maori but...

It's always the but isn't it? It doesn't occur to this dim that it is not the fault of Māori that they were able to secure funding dedicated to that purpose. They should be praised not attacked. Bob then rants on about how it should be open to all and so on but really it is about his pet project being rejected - he is bitter.

But Mr Clarkson said it was not fair for one section of the community to be eligible for funds when many in the wider population also suffered.

The city council last year "shot down" his plan to provide 1000 affordable homes for $280,000 each. Everyone should be able to access affordable housing, no matter what colour their skin was, he said.

and there he gives us the whole picture - skin colour. People like clarkson are insidious in their racism - it's all pretend, pretend, pretend whammy! pretend, pretend ad nauseaum - it is an old game and relatively successful which is why it is so common. You can't argue with these people or rather there is no point because they cannot be truthful and honest, they prefer to hide and pretend. But the truth comes out obliquely, they slip and they say things as clarkson has above. There are many people who think like clarkson, hell we know some of them and the online poll shows currently

Ridiculous. This should be available to non-Maori, too 83%

It's fair. It's much harder for Maori to afford a home 17%

Nice that stacked question isn't it not? Just more of the same. Meanwhile the houses are getting built for Māori and that is a great effort. Kia kaha.

the headlights get bigger

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:03:00 +0000

The pressure on John Key is showing as it does for all liars that get caught. He is starting to slide down the rabbit hole now, and funny as that is, it has awful consequences for some groups in our society. The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) has been naughty. They have illegally spied on NZ citizens because they didn't agree with the legislation that governed them or they just interpreted the very clear words incorrectly. The Kitteridge Report has shown how low things have got to. Changes have to be made says key so he is going to make their illegal spying legal and then it will all be good. And now he has come out with the most pathetic excuse - WMD's - weapons of mass destruction!!!

TVNZ

there have been covert attempts to acquire New Zealand science and technology for programmes relating to weapons of mass destruction or weapons delivery systems.

Terrorists!!!

While the terrorism threat in New Zealand has remained low, there are people within our country who have links to off-shore terrorist groups

OMG!!! key has just rattled off the same lying meme that killed so many in their wars.

But it isn't funny because middle NZ will believe him. They will lap it all up and ask for more because it suits their often do-nothing, selfish attitude. They won't remember the last time the terrorism word was used in anger and the devastation to community, to peoples lives, to the innocent charged and dragged before the court system and to the political prisoners who did their time as a protest against the system that wrongfully imprisoned them. They forget but we don't forget, because the groups that will be spied on are us, they are Māori, and all others who oppose so much that is happening - those against the mining, the political corruption, the dirty TPPA deal. Those groups who care, include indigenous rights activists, fighters against poverty, injustice, inequality and fight for the disadvantaged and the environment. These are the people who get spied on for all sorts of reasons, very few of them valid. The branding of terrorist will begin and the sullying of reputations will begin and the eternal battle for mana will continue. All of this nastiness began because John Key is trying to hide and bluster his way out of his lies. And yes, he really is that low.

police state obvious

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 02:15:00 +0000

Anyone who knows anything knows that Māori get targeted by the police. The release of the latest police statistics shows that, not only are Māori youth being apprehended more in most categories but, they also have more prosecutions against them. Think about that, what a terrible indictment upon a group of young people in our country and for no reason other than the way they look - because sure as hell they won't be checking whakapapa records will they.

JustSpeak have released the following excellent infographic where the picture tell a thousand stories of hardship and discrimination.

Good on them for putting the data out there in such an understandable way. The hard data is compelling too I recommend you go here to read the numbers of apprehensions which have alarming consequences for young Māori. In general more get apprehended and more definitely get prosecuted - that is a double whammy right there. The sickest thing is, guess who gets blamed for this - that's right young Māori do. And sometimes to spice it up they blame all Māori.

The real blame is hardly ever attributed to the correct place, but as Anthony Robins points out in Poverty Watch on The Standard when describing the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCCC) 2012 report “Child Poverty in New Zealand evidence for action" - the truth doesn't pull any punches.

"OCC report pulls no punches at all.

Mäori poverty needs to be considered against the backdrop of colonisation. Recent research documenting the experiences of Mäori whänau living in financial hardship notes that any analysis of the financial and material deprivation of whänau is incomplete without understanding Mäori economic development pre-colonisation, and the impact of land confiscation and war (Baker K., et al., 2012). The alienation of land and resources saw the loss of a cultural, spiritual and economic base (Cram, 2011). It has had a long-reaching impact that continues to shape attitudes towards Mäori in New Zealand. The devastating effects of racism and discrimination in health and elsewhere have been well documented (Reid, 1999; Robson & Harris, 2007; Mills et al., 2012). The legacy of colonialism has been the ‘differential distribution of social, political, environmental and economic resources and well-being within this country with Mäori bearing the brunt of disparities in many areas’ (Cram, 2011, p156)."

No one is suggesting that we go back in time to right the wrongs that occurred there - we can't, but we can move forward and to do that requires a few changes. The big one is that Māori have to be trusted. The evidence is that we are a long way away from that today. The destruction caused by young Māori being targeted by the police by apprehension and then getting prosecuted more, is felt within all Māori communities and this country feels it too. It is too foolhardy to believe the police attitudes will change any time soon, they won't. They are a reflection of the Government attitudes to Māori. Will middle NZ change - I don't think so, they may adjust their cushion but that's about it from them. No, the change has to come from Māori and people who support the kaupapa through belief in equality, whānau, love or for whatever reason we support the kaupapa, that is where the change has to come. We must talk loudly about this injustice against these youth, the mana must be reestablished for our rangatahi.

the crackle mirror

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:42:00 +0000

Those who care about poverty and the people, especially children, who find themselves in this desperate situation, they know - they know the consequences of Paula Bennett the Minister of Social Welfare and her bill, they know the downstream effects of creating more desperation and more poverty. Yep Paula Bennett is really getting into her work now and that work is demonizing and making life impossible for the poor and beneficiaries in our society. The most vulnerable, the most in need, those that should be looked after are going to be dealt to by Paula, she doesn't care,

as Hone says,

the reality is there’ll be huge downstream costs for the people and families involved and ultimately for us all. Saving a buck here to then spend mega bucks later on dealing with things like homelessness and ill health is more than pointless. It shows a lack of thought and care that is simply disgusting.

Sue Bradford says "I am really fearful of what is to come" and "The results of all this will be tragic and costly.." So true and everyone knows it. Our society is going to be sorely tested by this because it further widens the gap between the haves and have nots. It is deliberate too, that is an almost unbelievable epiphany to have. Paula Bennett is doing this to the most disadvantaged in our society deliberately, because she wants to and is ideal for the task for many reasons, as Sue Bradford states

Much better to have a Maori woman, a former solo mum, taking the lead, than a former school teacher from the white South Island heartlands.

And Bennett knows what she’s doing.

She knows it even more than someone like Shipley, which makes her leadership role in this even worse. Paula Bennett’s seeming naivety and smiling, bubbly front mask a long, deep commitment to National’s ideology – a belief in helping the already-rich get richer while the poor are forced into ever deeper poverty, no matter the downstream social and economic costs.

Our most disadvantaged are being tossed aside and many will be Māori. The recent UNICEF report on child poverty in NZ showed that this country ranks 21 out of 35 for levels of child poverty. We know it is beyond bad and that the government is pretending to ignore the issue while adding to it, as we see with the Bill above. Hone says

what the report clearly shows is that when governments are fully committed to and invest in reducing child poverty, it does reduce. And what the report clearly shows for New Zealand is that child poverty is not reducing.

No it is not reducing, not even slightly and the reason is clear - they don't even measure it - they can't because. as bennett states in the video, "there is not a Government measure for poverty." You probably won't find that funny but Paula Bennett thought it was hilarious as The Standard and NRT and the short version with Mickey show. That was no nervous giggle - sure she was chased down, completely flustered the whole way, until Jacinda Ardern got her. She was caught with no where to go and so she just giggled. You work it out - to me it says that she just cannot be bothered with any of that stuff - you know the stuff about people and real lives. She is totally living in a bubble of aloof disconnection deliberately maintained against evidence, morality and a belief that people mean something, individually and collectively.

I don't think Paula Bennett likes people.

instead of a handshake

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 07:16:00 +0000

Sometimes the bigots are so over the top that they parody themselves and just sound funny and well a bit idiotic and such is the case with a recent visitor, "the right-wing (Krarup is a member of parliament for the Danish People's Party, which is described as a very right-wing party by political commentators)" Danish politician, Marie Krarup.I added all the bits together to get the point across - this is from a "an opinion piece in Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende",

Stuff

" ...dubbing the powhiri an "uncivilised" ritual, and marae a "grotesque" mark of multicultural worship." "When we came to a naval base, we were not received with a handshake or salute by uniformed men as usual," she wrote. "No, we were welcomed with a Maori dance ritual, with a half-naked man in grass skirt, shouting and screaming in Maori." and she said the man performed "strange rituals and poked his tongue out."She said she felt like an "idiot" when giving a hongi, When it was time to sing, Krarup said the waiata sounded like a Danish children's song about a happy ladybird. She said it was accompanied by a "kindergarten-teacher-guitar-accompaniment".The marae, or "Maori temple", was a form of cultural self-destruction, according to Krarup."It was decorated with God-figures with angry faces and large erect penises," she said."It's a mystery to me how the poor naval officers could endure both the ceremony and the surroundings."

a happy ladyird - hmm okay, large erect penises - hmmmmm oKay now we get it. And it is quite alright for this Danish person to have her views - who cares - it is just funny to see them all in a pile, sitting together, stacked up. It is also useful to know that these extreme right wing funny thinking people are in many countries not just here.

the cut key

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:09:00 +0000

Prime Minister John Key has been caught telling lies. It sounds bad and it is bad. Politicians are often circumspect with the truth, they weave and dodge as the case may be - but lying is bad form and being caught lying, even worse, and then telling more lies to get out of the first lie, oh dear things start unwinding then. That is what is happening to John Key at the moment, he is under pressure, so much so, that he has taken a desperate gamble - He has said he will no longer take anything other that written questions lol - he has packed a real sad.

Stuff

he will no longer answer questions about his actions without warning, following controversy over his role in the appointment of spy boss Ian Fletcher.

During an interview on Radio Live, Key described those reporting on the story as ''knuckle heads'' and said he would change his approach to answering questions both in Parliament and to the media.

Without warning? What is that - the sound of one hand clapping. That just shows he is vacuous, vain and full of hubris, he is.

Denying accusations that he had lied by omission, he said he had only had ''15 seconds, with no warning, on a process that happened 18 months ago'' and he should have taken time to research the answer.

''What I should have done, and what I will be doing in the future, is saying, well, the member needs to put that down to me in writing, and I'll be doing that to the journalists as well,'' Key said.

''Coz if you want perfection of everything I have done, two, three, four, five years ago, I will get you all that information for you, but I'll get you the whole lot and give it to you,'' he said.

Hey! we aren't talking about 2, 3, 4 years ago, remember your mate, the one you rang to let him in on the job as our top spy? Remember how you said you knew him vaguely but then we find out you've sat and ate with him three times, and you were pushing for him to be in on a top job in 2009? And we're not going to forget Kim Dotcom.

I hope the public take a long hard long at our Prime Minister because as they will see the truth about him, that will tilt their ship enough that we can stop there exploitative agenda and force them to back down on so many important issues.

I think The Standard have done a great job with revealing details and facts to really question the appointment entirely. Eddie with Cronyism got it rolling, plus Vance asks the right questions on Key cronyism and then Karol posted some really good ones, The CV of a Spy Boss, then, Rennie: Key vetoed the shortlist?, and Fletcher GCSB Change Manager - and QLD.

Rob too with Key needs time to egt his story straight. That is the way to deliver the information and all of it quality. The Standard is one of my favorite sites - the debate is robust and sometimes very funny, identities get irritated by each other and sometimes end up if feuds, then a post comes along when you find enemies agreeing on something else and away it goes again. There are the fact finders, the stirrers, the trolls, and the regulars, semi-regulars and the many lurkers. A lot of fun and jeepers you learn a lot, most of it very interesting. So if you don't already, go visit the site I recommend it.

I also saw a really good roundup in NBR by Bryce Edwards in NZ Political Daily on the scenario that unfolded. Highly recommend that one, although I was disappointed that The Standard wasn't even mentioned yet others were, who were frankly not really up to it. Bryce misses a few key bits that are there when you read The Standard bloggers. Anyway, don't want to give any that visit here a swell head and all that, it can often be irritating and can make you really shake your head..

The latest where Key is only going to take written questions is laugh out loud funny - he can't get out of it easily anymore. It is embarrassing in so many ways, to have him as the Prime Minister of this country. We can't right the wrongs with this type of person there. He tells lies in parliament, on camera and to everyone. He pretends to himself. It is not good enough to have a PM who does that and says he will only take written questions thus bringing into ridicule the whole office of PM. Come on, this emperor has no clothes.

Yhanks to all th journalists who's articles I linked to and to Blip for their extensive list of lies from key on The Standard,

comment about Māori not a joke

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:27:00 +0000

If you have lived in this country long enough you hear every vile, disgusting comment made against Māori - every low and slimey slur and put-down and even though we have heard it all, it still hurts to hear another.

Palmerston North city councillor Bruce Wilson has just uttered a disgusting one

Stuff

Councillor Bruce Wilson was speaking at the community wellbeing committee this week about a proposed smokefree policy covering the central city around and including The Square.

He said if the aim was to stop adults role-modelling smoking behaviour, and given 41 per cent of Maori women smoked, perhaps they should be sterilised.

But wait - his defenders say it was all an attempt at humour, you know a bit of a laugh

City mayor Jono Naylor said he was surprised and incredibly disappointed, and thought the comment uncharacteristic. "If it was an attempt at humour, it was a poor attempt."

Committee chairman Lew Findlay said "I don't think he meant it the way it came out. He tried to make out it was a joke, but he did say it in front of a crowd."

National Council of Women Manawatu branch president Audrey Jarvis said that it was "the stupidest joke I ever heard".

You see, just a fucking joke but think about this - what type of person makes an attempted joke about that.

The joke line is often used when someone says something very offensive, they think they can weasel out by pretending they weren't serious, just having a lark, trying to lighten things up a bit. He said it in public - what do you think he says in private?

Only problem with the joke defence is that Wilson doesn't say it was a joke he says

Wilson said he would apologise to people at the meeting, and deeply regretted not thinking much harder before speaking.

"I'm publicly apologising, to anybody, anywhere who is offended, and I'm totally prepared to retract in public if the mayor allows me that opportunity."

Yep he should have 'thought harder' - that means keeping his private thoughts to himself rather than spewing them in public and he confirms this with

He also said it was not something he would say to the media.

Well too late, you have been outed and in any sane world you would resign or be sacked but that won't happen, oh know he will say sorry and then carry on undermining Māori and being a racist representative of the people that voted for him.

We let these people off too lightly - and trying to get out of it by using the 'joke' defence is as bad as using the 'should have thought harder' defence - they are not a defence they are just useless excuses.

underreported struggles 72

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 23:02:00 +0000

More essential underreported struggles from Ahni at Intercontinental Cry.

underreported struggles 72

Representatives of nearly 200 Kreung families in Cambodia’s Ratanakkiri province filed a complaint with local rights group Adhoc, accusing a Vietnamese rubber company of clearing their ancestral land. The government however, says that the Kreung no longer have rights to land in question no longer their land, because it was sold to the company. The government went on to ask the villagers to start applying for private land titles; otherwise, they’ll have nowhere to go when the company arrives.

A small delegation of respected Rohingya leaders unexpectedly showed up at a conference at Mahidol University in Bangkok to halt the further degradation of the history of Arakan. None of the Rohingya leaders nor any member of the Rohingya community were invited to the so-called International Conference on the History of Arakan; a conference whose speakers followed the traditional make-believe story that there are no Rohingya in the history and that the term “Rohingya” was created in 1951. The delegation did their best to set the record straight.

The Shuar stepped up their efforts to defend their culture and way of life against the impending threat of the 25,000 acre Mirador mining Project. They initiated a legal action alongside Environmental and human rights using Articles 71-73 on Rights of Nature in the Ecuadorian Constitution. In their case, the plaintiffs have asked the courts to stop the Mirador Project using the precautionary principle. If the project is allowed to go ahead, it would have a severe impact on the Shuar’s culture, their sacred sites, and the very water and land they depend on.

Traditional owners in Arnhem Land, Australia, issued a petition to Darwin and Canberra calling on the Northern Territory and Federal governments not to allow their country to be fracked. More than 80 per cent of the Northern Territory is now under application for the unconventional oil and gas exploration, including most of Arnhem Land. As a public demonstration, Traditional owners also burnt a letter from Paltar Petroleum who was responding to their objections. As they burnt the document the men called out in unison: “Paltar this is what you wrote to us, and we say no!”

The Enxet community of Sawhoyamaxa announced their return to their ancestral lands which they were expelled from more than 20 years ago. Since the forced eviction was carried out, the community has been living along the side of a road, right next to the land they were removed from. Seven years ago, the community won a favourable ruling at the Interamerican Court of Human Rights; however, the Paraguyan government has thus far refused to act on it, leaving the community to roam around like cattle. No longer. The community resolved to occupy their lands in the hopes of compelling the government to do the right thing. As a part of the effort, Sawhoyamaxa called on call to all indigenous brothers and sisters to express solidarity with their struggle.

The Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (MCCN) was taken to court by Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting (Hudbay) after some first nation citizens gathered for a second time at the entrance to the company’s gold, zinc and copper mine. The peaceful effort was aimed at drawing attention to the fact that neither HudBay or the Manitoba government obtained consent before going ahead with development. The company is suing MCCN for millions of dollars in alleged ‘damages’.

Visit Intercontinental Cry to read about these issues and many others.

land confiscation 2013 style

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 03:39:00 +0000

They are still confiscating Māori land and still pretending to consult with Māori when they have already made up their minds. They are still in the mindset that deliberately marginalises Māori and treats tangata whenua with disrespect. Who are they? In this instance the NZ Transport Authority and through them the Government.

Tangatawhenua.com

Hapu representatives from Ngati Hurungaterangi, Te Roro-o-te-Rangi and Ngati Uenukukopako, as well as various whanau and land trusts, met with NZTA and their consultants Opus International.

Harry Wilson, one of the NZTA Directors stood to make the announcement that the Eastern Arterial Route (EAR) option had been selected for development along the eastern lake side of Rotorua.

They couldn't care less about the people and their wishes

Spokesperson for the 3 affected hapu, Hera Naera, responded to the shock announcement. ”We are disappointed with your decision as it will cut our whānau off from their lands.

This decision will decimate traditional wāhi tapu and disconnect whānau from their papakainga along the Owhata, Ngapuna areas.

Consultation? I don't think so, they have not listened to the wishes of the people - they couldn't care less about the people and that is their shame and this country's shame.

A new formal process had now been initiated according to the Resource Management Act (RMA), that a alteration to the designation process under the RMA would be started and that all affected parties would now be notified by email.

Mr Wilson continued by saying that NZTA and Opus would be meeting with the Rotorua District Council at 11am today to formally make their announcement.

The response of whānau and hapu members was to all walk out of the meeting showing their strong solidarity and rejection of the decision. This land confiscation is what tangata whenua are fighting against and the fight is the same fight that previous generations have fought.

A road is not more important than the wishes of tangata whenua and the decision makers will find that out the hard way I hope.

Hattip: Tangatawhenua.com

just change the nothing names

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 01:32:00 +0000

The renaming of the islands of this country by the europeans has always bugged me. South Island and North Island - it doesn't get blander than that. News that the indigenous names are being considered is good because they mean something, they have context. It is a great irony that I live in Golden Bay, europeans have called this bay Murderers Bay, Blind Bay, Massacre Bay, Coal Bay and then Golden Bay - the Māori name is Mohua which is a golden headed endemic bird on the back of the NZ $100 note. They didn't need and didn't have the authority to change the names - they should have just used the names that were here when they arrived but that's colonisation for you.

The shocker about the 'North' and "South' Islands is that those names were never official in the first place as the NZGB says

Scoop

NZGB Chair Dr Don Grant says the move follows the receipt of a proposal to change the name ‘South Island’ to its original Māori name ‘Te Waipounamu’ and to consider the original Māori name of the North Island at the same time.

“At that time we noted that the existing English names were recorded names, rather than official names. They appeared on LINZ’s maps, charts and other official publications but had never been formalised under the NZGB Act.

So we go to a consultation process and the outcome of that will be a compromise of

meaning that either the English name or the Māori name, or both names together could be used as official.

FFS just change the names into ‘Te Ika-a-Māui’ (for the North Island) and ‘Te Waipounamu’ (for the South Island). Who in their right mind is attached to 'North' and 'South' - it is completely bogus and an insult to Māori.

no place for that

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 01:31:00 +0000

To be honest I'm not really a roller-derby fan and I can say I've never actually seen them do it apart from movies. Sure you have to skate well and be theatrical to succeed but I don't think having the words "Nigger please" on your shorts is acceptable. Some like Colonial Viper on The Standard have used the term to disparage the Maori Party

The Standard

Colonial Viper 22 March 2013 at 9:21 pm
Ahhhh did you hear the house niggers say something?

in an attempted same way as Hone did, but Hone was wrong and CV is wronger in using that term.

So the latest use of the term has caused upset.

NZH

Cherry Carelse, manager of rival team Rock'n Roll Derby Circus, said she'd complained previously when the player wore the offending shorts.

"I saw a couple of families in the stand I was in get up and leave and overheard a 6-year-old girl asking her mother what a ni*** was," said Ms Carelse.

"Children look up to athletes and while roller derby may walk a fine line between appropriate behavourism with suggestive names and uniforms, no one can argue that the word has any place in sport or in public."

Another spectator, who asked not to be named, said she was "absolutely disgusted and outraged".

The classic is the offending person (and I am aware it was used on the shorts as some sort of homage to a band) who wrote on facebook that

The player did not return calls but said in a post on her Facebook page: "having a team of haters on me is kinda weird, but what is awesome about it is all the messages of support in my inbox this morning."

Oh dear the team of haters object to the use of a hateful term - funny that. The Human Rights Commission gets into it by saying

Human Rights Commission spokeswoman Vicki Hall said: "While the slogan may give offence to some, it is not clear that it breaches the Human Rights Act."

Yep you read it correctly - gives offence to 'some', my question is who are the people it doesn't give offence to? Are they part of the group being abused? Not likely.

Here's a hint - leave the term alone - pick another insult, another abusive term or even better use your brains and come up with something new and witty - but leave the racial insults where they belong, in the rubbish bin.

killing me softly with his song

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 23:14:00 +0000

This post covers a range of areas that are interrelated and they are: the adequacy of consultation with Māori and how the current system is another divide and conquer strategy from the Government with a direct whakapapa to past practices designed to alienate land from Māori. It also looks at the proposed exploration process for vast tracts of lands currently in process and adds in the massive job losses at Department of Conservation who manage one third of this country's land.

One very disturbing aspect of the recent Supreme Court decision dismissing the appeal on the Māori Councils bid to halt the sale of Mighty River Power was their acceptance that the Government had adequately consulted with Māori. The actual consultation process was woefully inadequate and a total smokescreen and it reminded me of the way previous Governments used to pretend that Māori were consulted with. The approach is a derivative of the divide and conquer ideal so loved by oppressive regimes and is still being used willy-nilly by the Government to advance its agenda to sell off and exploit the land..

Carwyn Jones wrote about the Supreme Court decision and said

I accept that the technical requirement of consultation may have been met, and therefore understand the Supreme Court’s decision on this point. However, what this does suggest to me is that bare requirements of consultation are not likely to be of much help to Māori when it comes to issues such as this.

Recently Tangatawhenua.com has said this about the exploration permits to advance proposed mining of a very large area of land

Please panui far and wide, because if past or present ‘consultation’ is anything to go by the whanau, hapu and iwi probably won’t ever hear about it, it’ll be quiet meetings behind closed doors with Crown picked and preferred representatives

This proposed mining covers

permits to explore for metallic minerals over 8,261.09 sq km of prospective land in the Taupo Volcanic Zone in the central North Island.

The tract stretches from Lake Taupo to Tauranga, encompassing Tokoroa, and stopping just short of Whakatane.

"This process will ensure exploration permits are granted to the best operator(s) capable of delivering safe and environmentally responsible exploration programmes and will maximise the return to New Zealand from this valuable resource.

and they love putting in the consultation aspect

"At this stage, we are seeking input from iwi, hapū and councils in the area, to identify areas of particular sensitivity."

It is worth considering how the Government in the past alienated Māori land – this is one way they did it.

The Native Lands Act 1865 was a major mechanism used by the Government to alienate Māori lands but how did it actually work. The preamble gives a direct answer to the purposes of the Act where it says the Act was, “to encourage the extinction of such propriety customs and to provide for the conversion of such modes of ownership into titles derived from the Crown”.

Section 48 barred all other interests in the land except those interests named in the title and this was devastating to the previous ownership model used by Māori. Section 23 authorised the Court to issue certificates of title but only 10 persons could be named and if the land did not exceed 5000 acres then the title could not be issued to a tribe, but in practice this issuing of 10 persons was applied to all blocks of land even if they exceeded 5000 acres. These 10 people had full legal authority as tenants in common which meant that if someone died their interests did not pass to their heirs but rather to the other co-owners of the land.

So many hundreds of owners were cut out of their land by these provisions; they were alienated in favour of the 10 named persons. Furthermore only evidence presented in court was considered in any dispute over the ownership. Once notification was made interested parties had to be personally present to lay their evidence down and if they didn’t see the notice, were sick or unable to travel to the court, their rights, even though known by the judges, were discarded and not even considered.

Often many presumptive owners did not even hear about the court date until after the period allowed for appeals had expired.

Customary right-holders were forced into the Native Court Hearing if one of the 10 individual claimants created an application, other presumptive owners were not given notice, the Court refused to consider anything other than the evidence of those present at the hearing. The Treaty made rangatira absolute owners of their land and this Court process took away the trusteeship, kaitiakitanga role, and mana of those rangatira through legislation. The Crown had guaranteed those rights and the rights of thousands of Māori within the treaty and the Courts (as an extension of the Crown) had extinguished them.

The latest job cuts to the Department of Conservation are also related to this issue because one third of the land in this country is managed by them. The Green Party and Forest and Bird are rightly concerned about the biodiversity of our endemic species and they say

"With the department already pared to the bone these latest cuts will mean less protection of our special native plants and wildlife," Green Party conservation spokesperson Eugenie Sage said.

"DOC manages more than a third of the land in New Zealand and the argument that volunteers and a few corporate sponsors will fill in the gaping hole these cuts and continued pressure on department spending create is nonsense.

"National is trying to turn DOC into a corporate entity focused on stakeholders and corporate sponsorship at the expense of its key role to to protect and preserve native plants and animals," Sage said.

More than 265 jobs have been cut from the Department since National took power. Ninety-six positions were cut in the last restructuring in 2012 alone.

John Key the Prime Minister says that DOC are overstaffed lol. He’s not interested in what the Auditor General recently said about DOC

The move came after a report from the Office of the Auditor General praised DOC's structure, saying regional staff were its biggest strength. It also warned of the risks of relying on commercial partnerships, as the department tries to shore up its coffers.

So we have a new land grab by the Government under the guise of exploration for minerals with a dubious consultation process with Māori and we have a reduction in Department of Conservation adequacy to protect our endemic species and the land they are charged with protecting. The exploitation and alienation of Māori and their land continues and the process is not dissimilar to the underhanded and dishonest way it was done in the past.

welded to a stone, sinking

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 20:45:00 +0000

Pita Sharples is a leader who believes in going down with the ship but it is not his job to take the ship down just for hubris or ego.

We have the potential 3-way leadership of the Maori Party debacle because Pita won't let go of the leadership or his seat in the house and now he has come out in support of Dame Susan Devoy as Race Relations Commissioner calling it "fantastic" and that was after Te Ururoa Flavell, one of the other potential co-leaders of the party, had raised concerns in parliament about that appointment.

Now both the other co-leaders of the Maori Party have tried to get Pita to bow out so that new people can come in and those calls are getting more direct.

NZH

Te Ururoa Flavell has suggested it is time for Dr Pita Sharples to stand aside for fresh blood to take over leadership of the Maori Party.

Mr Flavell told TVNZ's Q+A programme today that the party had to start thinking about a "succession plan" as far as its leaders were concerned.

but as stated in the article

Dr Sharples has rejected any suggestion he should step aside and previously said he will stay co-leader until he dies.

I used to admire Pita and defend him but I've said goodbye to those feelings and I wish Pita had taken my advice given so long ago, to retire with dignity and mana.

devoy - early bad-taste April Fools joke

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 03:29:00 +0000

So, Dame Susan Devoy has been appointed as this countries Race Relations Commissioner - my view is that this is a shocker but she takes up the role on 1 April so it could be an early April Fools joke - if so, ha bloody ha.

Devoy is on record as saying that Waitangi Day should be ditched as our national day and that we should have a national day that we "shouldn't be ashamed of" - she has absolutely zero idea of the rights of tangata whenua and she is dangerous because she believes that her new role is, "to make it right for every New Zealander" and it isn't difficult because the issues are just like, "disability, gender or employment issues" and that the Human Rights commissioner looks after all that stuff. She has said it is not a very complicated job and that tells us more about her than anything - she does not get it and really why would she - a squash player who supported veitch the scum who kicks and breaks a woman's back, a person who thinks Waitangi Day is an excuse to sit in the sun and have a barbie. I hope Idiot/Savant is correct and that this appointment is unlawful and those responsible are held to account.

This is the way tangata whenua are treated in this country by the likes of devoy and her ilk - how long before the shit is shaken off and tangata whenua decide to take back their rights. Can't come soon enough for me.

Hattips - Kiwipolitico, Frog Blog, The Daily Blog, No Right Turn

get lost keylite

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 05:29:00 +0000

I've tried to keep out of the Labour Party infighting because, well I gave up on them long ago, but the news that their leader David Shearer 'forgot' he had over $50,000 in his bank account and 'forgot' to declare it is too much. Idiot/Savant says it so much better than i can

No Right Turn

Shearer clearly knows the rules around bank accounts, because he already declares one (a term deposit with Westpac). So he can't claim ignorance as a defence. If he deliberately tried to deceive the New Zealand public about his assets, then he's morally unfit to be leader of the Labour Party, or an MP for that matter. But even if we accept his excuse, and ascribe it to sheer forgetfulness (something which I think the New Zealand public would find extremely difficult to believe), then he's too incompetent for the job.

Shearer is a total failure and will, if given the chance, lead the once great Labour Party to another dismal failure at the next election. He is not a left politician he is a keylite and he is a liability to true left thinking people. All of the tribal labour people need to wake up and seek another political party to support. I don't expect they will choose The Mana Party because, well it is too indigenous for them and their privilege but at least they should go with the Greens who for all of their faults at least are honest. This disclosure from shearer about his non-disclosure is the final nail in his coffin I hope.

underreported struggles 70 and 71

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Mars) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 04:51:00 +0000

More essential underreported struggles from Ahni at Intercontinental Cry.

Underreported struggles 70

The Triqui people of San Juan Copala reclaimed their long-held position in front of the Government Palace in Oaxaca City after being forcibly evicted by state and municipal police in December. The plantón (protest camp) was cleared, for the second time since 2011, to make way for the many tourists that would descend on Oaxaca during the Christmas period.

The Khoisan, Indigenous Peoples in South Africa, are opposing the government’s plan to build the country’s first nuclear power station on land that is culturally sensitive to the Khoisan. Eskom, an electricity public utility in South Africa that would build the power station, says that, as long as they build away from the coastline it won’t damage anything.

India’s Supreme Court finally banned all tourists from traveling along the Andaman Nicobar Trunk Road, a controversial highway that was used for over a decade to conduct “human safaris” on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory of India. The welcomed decision arrived one year after a reporter working for the Observer released a shocking video in which a group of Jarawa women and children were being forced to dance for tourists.

The Aotearoa Ainumosir Exchange successfully carried out a major online fundraiser, ensuring that a group of 7 Ainu youth, accompanied by 3 Ainu committee members and 3 interpreters, can study the various ambitious endeavors of the Maori people who have successfully revitalized their rights as indigenous people while living with strength in the society of New Zealand.

The Bribri recovered some 40 hectares of land in the community of Santa Elena de las Brisas in Costa Rica. According to National Indigenous Mesa Costa Rica (MNICR), the land was held illegally by non-Indians, who used it as pasture.

Underreported struggles 71

The Pit River Tribe unanimously affirmed a resolution opposing geothermal and other industrial developments in the sacred Medicine Lake Highlands of northeastern California . The resolution affirms that geothermal development would threaten the underlying aquifer and would result in the injection of toxins into the atmosphere and waters. The Tribal resolution calls upon the Bureau of Land Management and the United States Forest Service to reject all proposed geothermal development in the sacred Medicine Lake Highlands.

Hickory Ground Tribal Town member, Wayland Gray, Muscogee-Creek, was arrested and charged with making a terrorist threat for entering the construction site of the expansion of the Wind Creek Wetumpka Casino. Wayland, who was arrested with three others, entered the site to pray over the desecration of the grounds because it is where 57 ancestral remains were unceremoniously moved to make room for the casino expansion. Wayland has since been released form jail, however, the charge of uttering a terrorist threat remains.

Australia’s Federal Court affirmed that Fortescue Metals Group has an obligation to negotiate with the Yindjibarndi Peoples on matters concerning Yindjibarndi Country. The Mining company has continuously dismissed and attempted to undermine the credibility of the Yindjibarndi, even going so far as to manufacture consent for their Firetail mine by creating and funding a fake Yindjibarndi representative organization. The company have also surreptitiously destroyed Yindjibarndi sacred sites.

In an “unprecedented” ruling, all mining and exploration activities in 49,421 acres of territory belonging to indigenous Embera Katio communities were suspended for up to six months due to a failure to consult and protect the communities in the area. According to the presiding Judge, the six month period will give
the Embera some desperately needed security after being repeatedly attacked by outsiders, employees of the mining companies in the area. The six month term will also give the courts enough time to determine the legality of the Embera’s land titles.

A Malaysian state minister announced that the government will no longer pursue a set of twelve new hydro dams in Sarawak The Minister stated unequivocally that the government was backing off in response to widespread criticism, which has included several protests over the years by the Indigenous Peoples of Sarawak as well as environmentalists.

Approximately 450 Ch’ol women and men initiated a highway blockade to demonstrate that nearly two months into the administration of the new state government, “the communities and peoples continue to experience abandonment, misery, and looting.” They also denounced the government’s “National Crusade against hunger” as “a farce that seeks merely to share crumbs to our communities that experience poverty, while our natural resources are handed over to foreign firms for exploitation.”

Traditional Maya leaders in Belize reported that Texas-based US Capital Energy made numerous attempts to buy support for their oil drilling project on Maya lands including those inside the Sarstoon-Temash National Park in Southern Belize by infiltrating the Maya leaders’ traditional forms of governance. They declared that the company is blatantly undermining and disrespecting Indigenous governance, in violation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Visit Intercontinental Cry to read about these issues and many others.