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Politics & Pleasure: TV 2012

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, December 31st, 2012 - 32 comments

We tend to rework reality, included political knowledge and understanding, into a basic (fictionalised) story structure, with villains, heroes, and values absorbed from pleasurable forms of fiction, including TV.  This is a look at the political values embedded in some popular TV dramas.

Beyond the middleclasses

Written By: - Date published: 8:29 am, December 16th, 2012 - 82 comments

Political parties tend to target the middle-classes, while those struggling on low incomes have become increasingly disenfranchised.  The MSM tends to focus on the impact of the recession on the middle-classes, and not those really suffering. Who can provide support over the holiday period?

National Day of action against Bennett’s welfare reforms

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, October 5th, 2012 - 128 comments

Today there have been protests around NZ, against Paula Bennett’s punitive welfare reforms.

Updates: Include ODT article link and extract, photos of Henderson protest, and links to several news articles.

Structural discrimination

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, August 20th, 2012 - 9 comments

Structural discrimination is alive and well in NZ. It makes nonsense of all the right-wing “one law for all” and beneficiary bashing rhetoric.

Out of order

Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, June 4th, 2012 - 79 comments

I’m not a big fan of the whole honours system, with or without knighthoods. But if you’re going to have it, make it mean something. Giving the top gong, which only 20 living people can have, to a guy whose claim to fame is marrying his second cousin and then acting like the stereotype of […]

Creeping elitism

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, April 21st, 2012 - 19 comments

There was a time when you expected higher standards from the senior ranks of the public service. Now, more and more, they are just like private sector CEOs. Elitists. The standards are slipping. This slap on the wrist for the Building and Housing CEO who manhandled a staffer just shows how pervasive the elitist private sector ‘one law for us, another for them’ mentality has become.

The real crims wear white collars

Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, February 25th, 2012 - 74 comments

Directorships are the golden ticket in the world of the business elite. You attend maybe 10 meetings a year, sign whatever’s put in front of you, typically get paid $3-4K a pop, and do it over again half a dozen times or more for various companies. It’s a gravy train for managers past their use by date. But customers and shareholders have to trust what directors sign off on.

Rugby

Written By: - Date published: 8:17 pm, October 8th, 2011 - 51 comments

Just flicked on TV1 to see what’s happening in the rugby. Host is a man who pushed his partner down the stairs. Kicked her as she lay. Broke her back in 4 places. Cause he’s ‘famous’ he got off with only 300 hours CS & a 10K fine. He bribed her to keep it out of the news. Tells me a lot that TVNZ thinksVeitch is an acceptable face of their station and of rugby. Then I switched off. [Fuck, Veitch is on Radiosport. It was Devlin on the TV. My point still applies to Radiosport]

Sleezy old granny

Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, April 22nd, 2011 - 26 comments

The Herald asks: “Is Kate Middleton the best looking UK royal ever?“. I say: what about Mary of Orange? Phwoooar! Get a load of that! Seriously, who gives a fuck that some dickhead who might some day be the nominal boss of our figurehead vice-regent is marrying someone? Why are we meant to swoon like morons over this?

Spending up large

Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, March 24th, 2011 - 24 comments

So what are you gonna do with the 9K of tax cuts you got with your 400K pa job since October? Why not pay 7K to shack up with 65 of the elite and eat a 6 course meal from foreign chefs?… What do you mean you’re not on 400K, you haven’t pocketed 9K in the last 5 months, and price rises ate your ‘tax cut’?  You need a real job.

Overcrowding & undercrowding

Written By: - Date published: 11:20 pm, January 20th, 2011 - 33 comments

Overcrowding is a big problem that drives disease and prevents kids getting the best start in life. Normally, I would say that the solution to overcrowding is more state housing – eco-smart housing, which would also create jobs. But an interesting article in the Guardian recently by George Monbiot suggests another solution.

One Rule for Some

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, January 20th, 2011 - 45 comments

Auckland Grammar School (that most private of public schools) has decided that NCEA isn’t good enough for them and that it doesn’t meet the needs of its community. When 300+ Primary Schools said the same about National Standards Minister Tolley threatened Boards of Trustees with the sack, threatened with extra visits by ERO and a cut in funding.

Richlister calls for huge benefit increase

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, December 21st, 2010 - 25 comments

Mark Hotchin is expected to become a campaigner for beneficiaries if cleared of serious fraud allegations. His assets frozen, the SFO has given him a 1K a week allowance. Not enough for the basics: private school, hire car, mortgage on mansion. A family of 7 needs 360K a year, he says. Not being a hypocrite, he’ll be wanting more for beneficiary families too – eh?

An understanding of class

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, October 17th, 2010 - 52 comments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mYY1QGK0jQ Here’s John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in the classic “An Understanding of Class”, a lovely commentary on one of the pillars of capitalism. Since the abandonment of class rhetoric by Labour a few decades ago, we no longer have a lot of class consciousness in New Zealand. Which is a bit ironic […]