Weather warning
Just so y’all know, I’m like, due to have a baby this week. So if I vanish for, let’s say, 5 days or more you can probably safely assume the imminent explosion has arrived.
Maybe even Asher could tell you all. Since he’s supposed to make some kind of blog announcement if I die, maybe I could persuade him to make an announcement if I give birth?
When will the whole world be watching?
It’s Australia Day today. Otherwise know as Invasion Day. Otherwise (and more recently) known as Aboriginal Sovereignty Day.
So while all the white fullahs run around handing out medals and having barbies, a small minority of people in Australia get together to hold an alternative celebration.
Not a celebration of the day that Captain Cook turned up and declared the place empty and therefore British. Rather a celebration of the approximately 80 000 years of Aboriginal culture on the continent now known as Australia.
They celebrate the oldest known culture on this planet. A culture that has survived despite the ongoing criminal genocide being perpetrated against the First Nation peoples of Australia.
They celebrate the diversity in language, art, song, dance and tradition. Despite the outrageous destructive behaviour still going on today to try and wipe this diversity of the memories of the people and the land.
‘Nobody owns the fire. Nobody owns the Kangaroo and the Emu. There’s no copyright on the boomerang.’ Uncle Kevin Buzzacott
They celebrate the spirit of resistance. Despite the divide and conquer strategies of the State, hell bent on killing anyone that gets in their way.
And they honour all of those who have fallen before.
And they call on the rest of the world to join with them in this celebration. And call on the rest of the world to join with their voices calling for an Australia that ends the Genocide, recognises the Sovereignty and makes a Treaty to honour and protect Indigenous Australia.
Reconciliation is not assimilation. Assimilation is cultural genocide.
Without the culture and without the spirit, the land will die.
Without the land, the people will die.
Please spread the word.
Will they ever get their shit together (not likely)
Today’s Neo-Nazis Have No Respect For Tradition
Oh how I love the Onion!
My favourite line:
You can’t just call yourself the Master Race—you have to act like it, and hold yourself to a higher standard than those you despise and wish to exterminate. Have you seen the way these kids dress? Their idea of a “uniform” is a T-shirt and combat boots. The rural militias are even worse, with their filthy fatigues and long hair and beer guts. Excuse me, but I hardly think hillbilly rejects are what our great Führer had in mind when he dreamed of a world filled with Aryan supermen. I wouldn’t even let them in my front door, let alone conspire with them to blow up a synagogue.
Don’t these people have any white pride?
he he, rock on!
Anarcho-breeding
Warning: this is a looooong post 
An acquaintance of mine was once overheard bemoaning activist women having children because it took them out of the movement. His argument was that there are so few efficient organisers around that it’s a shame when one of them gets ‘taken away’ to have children.
This has to be one of the most anti-women statements I have ever heard. But then look around the movement and see any positive writing about the role of women as mothers and you will notice that there isn’t any. So it’s not very surprising that this attitude exists.
Sure, there is an open acceptance and inclusion of feminist analysis, there are women’s collectives and when we have conferences we (almost) always include childcare in our planning. But the role of motherhood is still sitting on the outside and certainly not seen as a central role of the community. It’s seen as something to accommodate rather than truly seeing the contribution that motherhood brings to political thought.
So why does pregnancy and motherhood take women out of the movement? Because there isn’t room in the movement for them.
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Kiwi!
While still playing around with StumbleUpon I came across Underground Film. There’s heaps of cool stuff there but in particular I just loved Kiwi! by Dony Permedi. Doni isn’t from Aotearoa but managed to capture the essence of ‘kiwi ingenuity’ just beautifully.
I recommend you watch this (not on a dial up though!). And check out other stuffon Underground Film, let me know if you find anything really worth watching.
Getting Hooked: The Craft Revival in Aotearoa
This is an article originally published in Muse, a feminist zine/mag from Wellington. It’s got some interesting bits about the perception of crafts. Which is going to remind me to do a post about the origins of the word any day now… In the meantime, enjoy, and get stitching!
Getting Hooked: The Craft Revival in Aotearoa
Jenn Jones
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, craft seems to be making a revival among the women of Aotearoa. Everywhere I look I see little photocopied flyers for Bitchcraft, notices for stitch’n’bitch groups, and packets alternative cross stitch patters popping up in craft and design stores around Wellington. But is craft really going through a revival, or is there more of a mainstream interest in alt craft?
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For really, really cold necks
The Stitched Up Festival in Wangarratta (VIC, Australia) are making an attempt to break the world record for the longest knitted scarf. Looks pretty groovy so far. The plan at the end is to break it up into blankets for charity so that’s groovy.
So if you can knit and have lots of leftover wool, check them out.
Smart people in Nu Zuld
Anyone else check out the gorgeous sky porn last night? My beloved and I were driving out of the supermarket carpark and we were like “holy shit! that is so wow!”.
Some clever people thought it was a plane crashing. Sigh.
Last night for viewing the McNaught Comet tonight so hope for clear skies.
And it looks like our future generations might get even smarter since Labour doesn’t seem to understand the concept of free education as a basic human right! And can someone explain to me why Kohanga Reo aren’t part of the scheme to begin with?
OK so it’s been a while..
Little known fact: I originally set up this blog because I wanted to get into the habit of writing so I might just maybe start writing better.
Little did I know that I was about to fill a void in the NZ blogosphere by writing about political issues from a Green perspective. Which, at the time, no one else was doing or was better placed to be doing. So after a wee while I noticed that there was a few people not only reading my blog, but continuing to read my blog. So I just kept on writing about what was going on from a Green perspective. But not as much of my writing was as analytical as I would have liked, I just didn’t have time.
Now things have changed. I don’t work there any more. There are other Green blogs. There are other things too but those are the main two.
So I’ve decided that this year I’m going to take some time to get a bit more disciplined in my writing. So consider this me re-enacting a new years resolution from a few years ago. And you can all get excited about seeing me write more! Well, I will anyway…
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