Posts by Kerry Weston

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  • Cracker: History Repeating,

    Was she indeed? Were the Kirks Catholics?

    I was a mere adolescent at the time, thought their policies a breath of fresh. Visited one of the ohu later on, the one in Coromandel.

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Cracker: History Repeating,

    Third Labour Govt Amazing!
    The third New Zealand Labour Government (1972-75) under Prime Minster Norman Kirk was known for its strong social conscience in both international and domestic affairs. (Govt Whips Office 1974, Bassett1978, Hayward 1981). On the international front,it had confronted the global nuclear arms race by strong opposition to French testing in the Pacific, and by the sponsoring of non-proliferation measures such as the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone (later embodied in the Rarotonga Treaty of 1986) and South Pacific Environmental programme. It had also ended national conscription and New Zealand’s contribution to the Vietnam War upon coming to power in 1972, and had cancelled the visas of a visiting South African rugby team in early 1974 because of its abhorrence to the regime of apartheid in that country.

    On the domestic front, it demonstrated its commitment to environmental protection by setting up a Royal Commission on Nuclear Power which reported in 1974, and the establishment of the Guardians of the Rotorua Lakes and Lake Manapouri (both 1973).

    In October1974, the Labour Government announced the establishment of the ohu scheme for groups of New Zealand citizens willing to set up alternative communities or settlements in rural areas. Prime Minister Kirk said that the reasons for it were mainly spiritual and social- to reconnect people to the land and to give them a chance to develop alternative social models to everyday New Zealand society.
    * Apparently a Country Calender from April, 1998 detailed the AhuAhu Ohu on the Whanganui river. I can't imagiine any PM since being so broad-minded.

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Legal Beagle: The Inexorable Advance,

    Massey - conscientious objection is ok, $$ goes to charity; you can also apply on hardship grounds and if you succeed, you're stilll deemed a member and postgrads who have already clocked up two fulltime years worth of SA fees, but are still finishing their degrees can be exempt from paying but still members. This info is also published on the MUSA website.

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Up Front: Does My Mortgage Look Like a…,

    The message has to be that women have a right to be safe, first and foremost.

    if I had the skills, I'd remake that offending ad - the girl getting dragged down the alley, after the pub, etc - in fact, make a few interpretations of suchlike ads and bombard broadcasters, schools, sports orgs etc. If one could make a satirical, cutting-but-deadly-serious versions .... any guerilla film makers out there?

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Up Front: Does My Mortgage Look Like a…,

    I didn't get my driver's licence , or a car, until i was into my 20s, so prior to that, I walked everywhere, Like, jackie, I had many close calls - the number of times i hid in bushes, walked up someone's garden path like I owned the place, are many. I took to wearing an army greatcoat (in winter!) and tucking my hair up under a beanie, so I passed for a bloke, and I always, always had a rather large hat-pin in my lapel.

    See, we end up at an impasse. The ladies are absolutely right, it isn't the gals who need to clean up their acts. And it's nothing to do with clothes. But. It's scary out there, more so now. It's cold comfort being right after the worst has happened.

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: No Surprises,

    Well, it just struck me as a bit odd - the rest home circuit when he's patently so busy. And with Winnie gone, that blue-rinse & old codger vote has to go somewhere.

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: No Surprises,

    And Rodney Rhinoceros Hide is coming to Palmerston North soon to ... speak entertainingly at a retirement village! Goodness me, cuddling up to the old folks, shades of Winston, eh?

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: No Surprises,

    Take a moment - just imagine if Key had said "Maori seats on the Supercity Council? Fantastic idea! We need the fresh ideas, creative spirit and energies Maori can bring to the table - oh, and Maori can be in charge of Party Central too."

    Would the world really tilt off its axis?

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Legal Beagle: The Inexorable Advance,

    As a current undergrad, i pay compulsory SA fees and that's ok with me. I don't buy your arguments about freedom of association and Bill of Rights etc, because that brand of "freedom" is individualism. On the page, it looks like freedom, and sounds like freedom when you talk about it, but in reality it isn't. Individuals are simply not equal. The only freedom attainable here is that of privileged persons to cement their privilege and use the corrupted term "freedom" to con everybody else into believing they're liberated and have choice, when in fact they've just been isolated and stripped of power.

    In the context of student associations, like so many other situations, it's when the shit hits the fan that you need them. One example: we currently get free medical care, that's a huge bonus for students and if the university took that away, who would fight for it, if there was an apathetic, unrepresentative SA? Because that's what voluntarism would do - give universities the advantage of saying that SA's only represented a small number of students, not all, so why should they listen?

    Russell's point earlier about his son's education - the Education Act says plainly that everyone is entitled to an education and a FREE one at that to the age of 18. Yet every school in the country charges fees of one sort or another and children who "don't fit' mainstream get hustled out of school all the time. Our own government and Ministry of Education can't even get their shit together to adhere to the law. Whose freedom is that?

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Beautiful Images,

    At last! 7 days - a genuinely funny kiwi show. Loved it. Been wondering for years why Off the Wire never made it to the telly, when it was plainly the funniest show around.

    Saw District 9 last night, but... nah, didn't do much for me. I found it a bit incoherent, possibly not well edited and i just didn't care about any of the characters or outcome. I'm not a great sci-fi fan tho.

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

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