blogging it real

Mainstream Media:

1) Can't link to this unfortunately but the funniest thing I've read in a while was the New Zealand Herald referring to Nick Keesing recently as a political activist.

Quiz: How does the Collins dictionary define political activist?

A) A person who works energetically to achieve political or social goals.

B) A 40-something-year-old who has done nothing but hang out in the Auckland Univeristy Quad for the past 20 years -- except for those occassions when banned for selling pot.

2) After last week's Sunday Star Times front-page featuring the sad tea party monkey a PDF was sent from Herald on Sunday to SST featuring three monkeys and the caption: Hear no news, See no news, Write no news.

Ouch.

3) Prime Minister Helen Clark is "bemused" by the status of the Indian high commissioner who has fallen out with his government back home.

The Government has not been officially told that India's High Commissioner Harish Kumar Dogra no longer holds his position, Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday. Mr Dogra is refusing orders to surrender his post, although he is reported to have gone on extended leave as controversy surrounds his status.....Helen Clark said at her post-Cabinet press conference yesterday the situation was "most unusual - I can't recall anything like it". She said the Government had not sought clarification of the situation. "It is up to them [the Indian Government] to say who its high commissioner is," she said.

It's most unusual huh?

Can't recall anything like it?

I reckon it's about as unusual as having a Minister running portfolios like Foreign Affairs and Racing, yet who is absolutely and clearly not a part of Cabinet?

4) Cuddly animal story of the week.

5) Anyone familiar with Henderson will be looking foward to the "opportunity" to get involved in water sports down at Tui Glen.

Apparently the Waitakere Council will/has removed decades of supermarket trolleys from the waterways and also removed Tui Glen's dishevelled residents.

The section of cycleway through the reserve is finished and the old council depot in the south-west corner of the reserve has been cleaned up and a lease for this area has been granted to the Motor Caravan Association for the short-term stays of members. The camp kitchen has been demolished, the toilet block upgraded and the toilets are now open to the public.

Around the blogs

1) Kiwi-blog and red-neck mates talk shit about those poor Israeli's and how New Zealand should stop its state-sponsorship of terrorist Palestinians who had the audacity to elect the leaders they wanted.

2) Frog Blog has a interesting post on the Special Raptor's report on indigenous issues in New Zealand.

I'm surprised this report hasn't been covered more in the MSM, perhaps this is because it's actually fucking boring .

I have to go with the Government on this one, as Michael got any gum Cullen told the nation, "the final report of the UN Special Raptor for indigenous issues is disappointing, unbalanced and narrow".

"It's hardly surprising that [the Raptor] has come to selective conclusions when he only spent about eight working days consulting in the country all up."
"As a result the Raptor has failed to grasp the importance of the special mechanisms we have in place to deal with Maori grievances and the progress successive governments have made," said Cullen.

Really, what the fuck did they expect?

3) Russell Brown starts his blog by pointing readers in the direction of a funny kiwi satirical news site and then ruins the week by pre-announcing his next post will be on telecommunications...arghhhh.