Did you know that each time we buy a new smart phone or tablet we are condoning rapes, mutilations and murders in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Tanya and I certainly didn’t know about the coltan mining industry destroying familes and villages in the eastern Congo until we met Lema Shamamba, a refugee from the area, […]
Auckland’s future? or more grey men…
December 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Project Auckland, a 20-page supplement published on December 9 2014 by the New Zealand Herald, shows clearly why progress in developing Auckland as a truly liveable city is so slow. Of the 23 key people commenting, only four are women, only Paula Bennett is obviously Maori. And I’d be surprised if any of the commentators is under 40. […]
Media Minutes…
November 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
We do find time for some media indulgence – more often the media seem like a penance. Each month we’ll try and mention something outstanding – where posible with a link to something we think is specially worthwhile. Grandpa Herald… The front page of the NZ Herald, most days, is repulsive – another celebration of violence […]
living in different worlds
September 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
This month we’ve been living in three vastly different worlds within Aotearoa Read more in the other postings : ..a cooperative community ..a city of contradictions ..an election
a cooperative community…
September 19, 2014 by 1 Comment
Marmalade and Miso Making A batch of marmalade is an hour of shared chopping, stirring and interesting talk when three of us gather for the task in the Earthsong Common House kitchen. Learning to make miso with Yuki is even more exciting as we try to toss lumps of the mix from hand to hand […]
a city of contradictions…
September 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
beauty … The kowhai around Ranui are in full flower now, and visited daily by dozens of tui which hurtle with aerobatic skill through branches, and chortle and warble their spring invitations. Piwakawaka – including a rare pale cream one (leucistic is the technical description) discovered by Earthsong resident Melody – flutter around the trees in […]
Women’s Suffrage Day: VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
September 19, 2014 by 1 Comment
Today, September 19, is Women’s Suffrage Day. Women have had the vote for 120 years in New Zealand, and yet this is the picture of all the political leaders on offer in this election. OR IS IT? Metiria Turei, co-leader of the Greens, and Number 1 on their party list, and Laila Harre, leader of the Internet […]
Left…Right
September 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
I wonder how different our elections – and our governments – might be if we abandoned the metaphors Left and Right. In English, as in French and Latin, right is seen as good (right, droit, dexter), left as somehow inferior (left, gauche, sinister) Why should these labels, left and right, be used in politics in Aotearoa in the […]
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