I See Red

Obama kills a fly

It's not really politics, but hey, how many times you you tried to swat a fly with you hands and failed?  Pesky things.

Burma: A Global Roar

Update (please sign the petition).

Burma's generals have brought their brutal iron hand down on peaceful monks and protesters -- but in response, a massive global outcry is gathering pace. The roar of global public opinion is being heard in hundreds of protests outside Chinese and Burmese embassies, people round the world wearing the monks' color red, and on the internet-- where our petition has exploded to over 200,000 signers in just 72 hours.

People power can win this. Burma's powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown, if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign on Wednesday, including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers, that will deliver our message and the number of signers. We need 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China's attention. If every one of us forwards this email to just 20 friends, we'll reach our target in the next 72 hours. Please sign the petition at the link below -if you haven't already- and forward this email to everyone you care about:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/t.php

The pressure is working - already, there are signs of splits in the Burmese Army, as some soldiers refuse to attack their own people. The brutal top General, Than Shwe, has reportedly moved his family out of the country – he must fear his rule may crumble.

The Burmese people are showing incredible courage in the face of horror. We're broadcasting updates on our effort over the radio into Burma itself – telling the people that growing numbers of us stand with them. Let's do everything we can to help them – we have hours, not days, to do it. Please sign the petition and forward this email to at least 20 friends right now. Scroll down our petition page for details of times and events to join in the massive wave of demonstrations happening around the world at Burmese and Chinese embassies.

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Galit, Ben, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team

Burma: people power rising

Hi everyone,

Sorry, but I'm too busy to do my own post on this, so here is a cut and paste from a list I belong to...

After decades of brutal dictatorship, the people of Burma are rising--and they need our help.

Today over 100,000 people are on the streets of Rangoon, more around the country. When protesters last marched in 1988, the military massacred thousands.

But this time it can be different--if only the world stands with the marchers. The United Nations summit starts today in New York. Let's raise an emergency global campaign, demanding they press the Burmese generals to negotiate rather than crush the demonstrators. We'll deliver it to Security Council members--particularly China's Hu Jintao, until now the military junta's protector--and to media at the UN this week. Sign our emergency petition supporting the peaceful protests in Burma--click here, then spread the word:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/f.php?cl=20354269&signup=1

For decades the Burmese dictatorship fought off pressure--imprisoning elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy activists, wiping out thousands of villages in the provinces, bringing miseries from forced labour to refugee camps. One-third of children under 5 now suffer malnutrition; millions are down to one meal a day.

But last Tuesday Buddhist monks and nuns, overwhelmingly respected in Burma, began marching and chanting prayers. The protests spread--now they're growing by tens of thousands every day, as ordinary people, even celebrities and comedians join in. They've broken the chains of fear and given hope to 52 million Burmese.

However, this hope is hanging by a thread. While hesitating to attack the respected monks, the regime is reported to be organising violence. Demonstrators have already been beaten, shots have been fired.

This is one of those moments where the world can make the difference: standing shoulder to shoulder with the Burmese people, helping to shine a dissolving light on tyranny. Let's call on powers at the UN--in particular, China (next year's Olympics host)--to warn the generals that violence will have the gravest consequences, and the time has come for change.

People power is rising through the streets of Burma today. Let the demonstrators know the world is with them. Click here to sign the petition, then tell everyone you know:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/f.php?cl=20354269&signup=1

In hope,

Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Ricken and the whole Avaaz team

PS: The government has just threatened the monks--here's an Associated Press article: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iy-MfhLN9Q7MwtQ1VlrvexLjr2dA

And we've just heard this from the international Burma Campaign: the military has reportedly ordered a battalion of soldiers to shave their heads, pose as monks and operate as agents provocateurs. This might be the first first step towards a bloody crackdown. See http://www.uscampaignforburma.org/ for more background.

Bainimarama should get lost

Telling Bainimarama to get lost would be the undiplomatic way of saying what Winston Peters says in this article.  It's a very good statement.

A nice police story for a change

My friend sent me this email, and he said it was ok if I shared it with the world.  It was nice to hear a good news story from the Police:

I was travelling home from work, some lunatic shot a red light at speed, hit my car and spun it twice so I ended up very close to taking out parked cars. He kept driving. I saw nothing. It was so quick. Bystanders said they thought a bus driver may have seen the car. The police tried to get some info from the bus company but they never got back, so he went to see them. To cut a long story short, after a significant lapse of time he not only found out all the info about the driver and his car but located and charged him, he appears in court in the new year.

This was the second time I have been victim to this year! I had my new car only five weeks as my last had recently been stolen.  Without the policeman's help I would have been left to pick up the cost yet again for something that wasn't my fault, not to mention the inconvenience of being without my car for weeks. It was nice to have a victory for the "good guy" for a change. I'm sick of picking up the cost and having my life endangered by drunk and reckless drivers.

In those eternal words, "That man deserces a DB!".Well done to Const. Greg Francis of ChCh City Beat Police. He dealt with me very sincerely given my apparent state of shock after the cash and saw what looked to be a hopeless case through to a just conclusion.

Wage Growth at Record High

Stats NZ is reporting record salary and wage growth - the highest since 1992.  Now we just need to get people to start saving...

Labour Cost Index and Quarterly Employment Survey: September 2005 quarter

Salary and wage rates (including overtime), as measured by the Labour Cost Index (LCI), rose 3.1 percent in the year to the September 2005 quarter, and 1.0 percent in the September 2005 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. These are the largest annual and quarterly increases since the series began in the December 1992 quarter. High growth is also reflected in the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), where average total hourly earnings rose 4.2 percent (to $21.17) in the September 2005 year.

‘Sticks and Stones’ - Hate Speech a frustrating issue

The Hate Speech issue has been pissing me off for some time and given National's appointment of a 'Spokesman for Fascism' it is particularly relevent.  It also gives some background into how the inquiry came about.  It should be read in the context of the debate around Political Correctness and the right wingers attempt to shut down debate simply by labelling things politically correct.  See my past posts here, here and here, and Just Left's very good summary here and here.

As a candidate it was extremely frustrating to have the National, Act, UF, and NZ First candidates saying the (Labour) government was going to ban ‘hate speech’ (which in most cases was actually code for saying ‘you won’t be able to say homosexuality is yuck anymore’) especially when you opposed and knew Labour had no intention of introducing such legislation and the inquiry was launched in part because of a National MP and a religious group from Matamata in his electorate.

And now we have United Future acting like they are the big defenders of free speech in their coalition agreement with Labour: “they will not support any legislative initiatives to place limits on freedom of expression through so called “hate speech” laws”.

It just so happens that no such legislation was planned and it wasn’t in Labour’s manifesto. Too many Labour MPs opposed such legislation (including Tim Barnett) for it to go anywhere. That doesn’t mean there shouldn’t have been an inquiry to look into the issues surrounding hate speech (and more importantly speech that encourages violence against people on grounds of their religion, sexual orientation etc).  It's a shame National's "Eradicator" is trying to shut that debate down. I’ll be interested to see what the final report says.

At the time it was launched the Government made it clear that it wouldn’t support restrictions on freedom of speech.  Phil Goff wrote: "The point of the inquiry cannot be to stop expression of hateful opinion, even if we utterly reject that opinion".

I oppose restrictions on free speech. Let people say stupid things. Let people say hateful things. Brian Tamaki’s march on parliament and his hate filled words did more to win over MPs and the ‘mainstream’ public than anything the campaign for civil unions ever could. The answer to hateful speech isn’t punishing those people or preventing them for saying it; it’s promoting even more free speech. It’s better that the voices of fringe right-wing religious groups are expressed publicly and can be attacked.

The success of the feminist, queer, civil rights, and ingenuous movements have largely been because of their freedom to speak out.  It’s been the forces of the reactionary and conservative that have attempted to ban the free speech and descent of progressive movements.  Language is power, and the dominant male, white, heterosexual discourse didn’t want their power diluted or shared (the still don’t - hence the appointment of Mapp as "The Eradicator").  It would be foolish for the left to work towards restricting the very thing that has led to the liberty and freedom of progressive voices.

Some background: The decision to initiate an inquiry arose from a discussion of the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993.  The Government Administration Committee had received some submissions that said hate speech should be included (including a submission from a religious group from Lindsay Tisch's electorate who were concerned about hate speech towards them and the lack of protection for religious groups).  The Committee didn’t think Hate Speech should be included, but instead decided to initiate an inquiry into hate speech. It was a Select Committee initiated inquiry, not a government one, and was supported unanimously by the committee members - Dianne Yates (Chairperson/Labour), Shane Ardern (Deputy Chairperson/National), Hon David Cunliffe (Labour), Lindsay Tisch (National), and Steve Chadwick (Labour).

Cash rate up

David Farrar and Jordan Carter both point out today that the Official Cash Rate has increased by 25 base points to 7.0%.  David then presents a graph of the Official Cash rate from 2003 to 2005 and suggests that a pattern is emerging.  That is true.  But if you broaden the picture slightly, back to 1999 when the OCR was introduced, a slightly different pattern emerges.