Sanity Now!

There is no racism in Australia.

2005-12-17T02:05:00.000+13:00

I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country. I have always taken a more optimistic view of the character of the Australian people. I do not believe Australians are racist.

John Howard - Australian Prime Minister

It's just criminal behaviour, Australian multiculturalism is alive and well.

Kim Beazley - Australian Federal Opposition Leader and head of the Australian Labour Party

Far be it from me, knowing almost nothing about Australian history nor politics, to be able to make an educated statement on the matter.

I'm just going to ask a few questions.

Have these two ever heard of the stolen generation? Does 4,000-5,000 flag-waving, drunken and riotous Australians intent on beating up "'Lebs' and 'Wogs'" not perhaps suggest an underlying issue of Australian racial insecurity?

Clearly not. Don't worry, brave citizens - your leaders know best!

Mmm... Colonial Cola.

2005-12-07T02:57:00.000+13:00

I find myself living in an Aotearoa - New Zealand age where Colonialism (and by Colonialism, I mean the real, true blue British imperial thing, not colonialism in the imbecilic "ISRAEL IS A ~~NAZI~~ IMPERIALIST TERROR STATE" whining western middle-class 'left-wing' champagne-socialist audure, either) is now operating, in new, interesting and disturbing ways.

Allow me to flesh out my perspective. The messy, post-nihil-anarcho-modernist perspective with which I've been cursed, suggests that one of the great problems with global society is not that there always have to be evil people 'behind the wheel,' driving power structures of hate and oppression. To the contrary - the reality is that there is often no-one 'behind the wheel'. What does this mean? In the absence of a human driver, dictator or benevolent leader, or a better system altogether - the immense power of human apathy takes over.

I've heard some of my more dogmatic friends term that apathy as "Post-Modernism." I think a more apt term for it is Nihilism. To me, Post-Modernism is the softening and disruption of absolute concepts - a complete necessity for freedom and the welfare of the inhabitants of this planet, Nihilism is the complete annihilation of those absolute truths.

The most terrible things can occur when people are not actively engaged with the reality around them. An simple and horrifying small-scale example of this "Bystander Syndrome", as Wikipedia calls it, is the murder of Kitty Genovese.

This talk of death returns me to my main point.

The government of the state of New Zealand has engaged, and continues to engage in a process of raupatu: confiscation, of land that was assured in the Treaty of Waitangi to remain under Maori sovereignty.

As of the mid-seventies, there was an attempt at the rectification of the injustices inflicted upon the indigenous Maori of Aotearoa in the form of the Waitangi Tribunal, in their own words;

a permanent commission of inquiry charged with making recommendations on claims brought by Māori relating to actions or omissions of the Crown, which breach the promises made in the Treaty of Waitangi.

Isn't that fantastic? Maori can claim back all the land that was stolen from them, as well as monetary compensation for breaches of the Treaty against them. Such breaches have lead to situations such as the horrific discrepancies in various socio-economic categories - for example, I quote Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples from their press release of his maiden speech via Scoop:

One in 570 New Zealanders is in jail. But for Maori, the [supposedly] priviledged group, 1 in 180 persons are in jail.

Yes, if we could have an organisation which functions to repair such terrible societal imbalances in accordance with the founding document of This Proud Nation then I would be overjoyed.

Allow me to provide an example of this fantastic organisation in practice and in concert with the will of the crown, and the headless 'new colonialism' of which I spoke in the beginning of this post:

K put forward a claim for a large piece of land stolen by the Crown during the European colonisation of Aotearoa to the Waitangi Tribunal in 1986. This claim has not been heard since then meaning that K has spent a total of nineteen years waiting. K has suffered several strokes and is now incapable of reading and writing. This means that K is effectively incapacitating with regard to making this claim. and Ks co-claimant is the sole person capable of seeing this claim through. Ks co-claimant is also old and in very ill health.

The tactic for keeping the land you have stolen is incredibly simple. Ignore and delay attempts at the rectification of any historical injustice, continue along as if nothing has happened, and eventually all the claimants will die.

However, I remember the immortal and reassuring words of a dead aunt who once said, they may steal the land but where are they going to take it?

An... update!?!

2005-12-07T01:30:00.000+13:00

Wait no longer, dear friends! I present to you another fantastic filler post until I get some time to add something more interesting and important!

I could attempt to make the incredibly weak argument that there is in fact a point to this article, however the best I can do is state categorically that this post is a general morass of semi-aimlessness. In mildly interesting news, my Deviantart collection is growing, yes indeed! My gallery now has TWO FULL ROWS of work.

The somewhat-amusing-ironic thing to tag on the end of that is, that I'm looking very much towards leaving Massey and doing my second year of uni at Vic by ~~being an arts bum~~ studying for a Bachelor of Arts in something that I actually care about and with which I may actually be able to HELP people, instead.

And while we're on the topic of that stupendous Chassidic phenomenon whom I need not name, for your visual pleasure I present you with Menachem. I can get away with making an image like that because noone in New Zealand has a clue who he is. And, well, Hip-Hop Chassidut is right where it's at.

He's also appearing on the new album by Christian rockers P.O.D.

I'm seething on something Tino Rangatiratanga-related, too. Watch this space, chaverim.

Am listening to: Autolux - Sugarless from their Future Perfect album. Autolux are like My Bloody Valentine if they stopped mumbling and played their instruments in time rather than in swathes. Don't get me wrong though, I love MBV!

To view

2005-11-06T02:57:00.000+13:00

If you haven't seen it already, please for the sake of your sanity, visit www.uncyclopedia.org. It's hilarious, and indeed pure open-source genius.

Until next post... which I hope won't be too far off!

Peace?

2005-09-14T22:08:00.000+12:00

Inside the front cover of the Shalom Achshav booklet that I picked up on one peace rally or another, the question is asked:

"?איפה 'שלום עכשיו' הפלסטיני"

Which for you non Hebrew readers translates as

"Where is the Palestinian 'Peace Now'?"

Of course the booklet does provide answers... but they're in Hebrew. And given that my Hebrew's not so hot, ~~here's something promising~~ (Note: They've vanished!) along those lines that I read about in this article in Ha'aretz.

There's another article on the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Coalition written by Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo from Le Monde diplomatique available here.

The possiblity of a peaceful outcome to this middle-eastern mess sometimes glints through.

Another interesting thing that happened to me today was a lecture by Moana Jackson, a tireless Maori activist, incredible orator and a relative of mine(yess!), in which he talked about the nature of a Treaty. He was specifically referring to Te Tiriti O Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi, Aotearoa/New Zealand's founding document) but when he spoke about two separate sovereign parties (Maori and Pakeha - European immigrants to New Zealand) negotiating a settlement within a single piece of land, I couldn't stop thinking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And while I remain a utopian anarchist at heart, and from what I understood, Moana sounds a bit like one too (though don't quote me on that!!) the idea of two states, each primarily serving a specific people, while remaining as democratic as possible in their relationships with the minorities dwelling within them, is not such a bad idea, at least in the short run.

Until next time...

Shalom
Rangimarie
Peace
Salaam.

Billboredom

2005-09-02T16:25:00.000+12:00

Hey all - if you didn't catch the first wave of 2005 New Zealand election billboard do-it-yourselfing thanks to the Act party website, here's another billboard maker, only this time it's a little less politically-aligned - or so it seems. That and it acknowledges that these parliamentary elections are largely a two horse race.

National Party Billboard Maker

A call to arms

2005-08-27T02:07:00.000+12:00

Read this post on Jewschool.com. Definitely seems worth a contribution ...and even if you're not Jewish nor ravingly leftist, I'm sure it could turn out to be a very interesting read all the same.

Perfect Pitch Black

2005-08-22T21:48:00.000+12:00

The new album from Cave In... is very different to their last album. It's a little less space rock and more 80s metal, with some kerrazy time signatures thrown in. But then again, that could just be my speakers' fault.

The Disengagement and Tisha Be'Av

2005-08-19T21:41:00.000+12:00

Notice the following.

The Gaza disengagement falls on Tisha Be'Av.

A whole bunch of bad shit happens to the Jews on Tisha Be'Av...

COINCIDENCE?!

If one was religious and the least bit opposed to the disengagement plan, the fact that it falls on such a day would not at all seem coincidental. To so many people, reality is only as true as the way they read it.

That was my little bit of conspiracy theorizing for the day. Thanks for reading.

The Disengagement

2005-08-18T21:19:00.000+12:00

Evening folks. In order to put off doing my homework I've decided to write a short (and inevitably incoherent) piece on the disengagement plan.

It's easy enough to say that the settlers must leave Gaza, and I do believe it's the right thing to do. I'm surprised however that it was Sharon that ultimately ended up doing it. It's not like they're suffering any irreperable trauma - they are receiving financial compensation and they will, no doubt, build beautiful moshavim (communal settlements/villages) in the Negev (the most stunning part of Israel in my opinion). Naturally there is a "however" to follow - what of the settlers geniuinely wish to stay in Gaza because of an honest love for the land, rather than out of animosity for their Palestinian neighbours?
And if we are to ask that question, what of the Palestinians who wish to live in their ancestral homes within Israel's '67 borders?

I think that unfortunately only realistic situation to the conflict now is a two state solution, with Palestine in all of Gaza and hopefully the West Bank, and Israel within the '67 borders. These states will also, unfortuately be based on the same ethnocentric national-preservation ideals that both "conventional" Zionism and elements of Palestinian nationalism espouse. That is bad news for the minorities who live within each country as the proverbials glass ceiling for preventing minorities from reaching "sensitive" positions within the hierarchy or each society.

This isn't ideal, but a state which is 80% democratic is a whole lot better than no democracy at all.

I've strayed a little, and returning to the original thread, and the two questions I've asked, about the settlers staying and the Palestinian right of return - in theory, and in the ideal and only truly just situation, Jews and Palestinians would be free to live in any part of the Land of Israel/Palestine that they so desire.

This is where my anarchism comes from - it is impossible to fulfil the desires and needs of Jews and Palestinians in this situation where the current rule of violence and state power is the ultimate arbitrating force.

So first we need two democratic states for two peoples and at the same time, and the building of deep personal connections between the people of those two states. Perhaps a genuine and lasting peace could emerge from that, or lead to it in the first place. If that peace is ever to be achieved, then so could the freedom for either people to live beyond the confines

That's the utopian vision. Whether it could ever be realised, even on a small scale is sadly very unlikely.

In other but related news, if you haven't already seen it (then you suck!) but do check out Banksy's West Bank Barrier bombing campaign... err, "bombing" as in the slang those hip street-wise youth of the day use to refer to graffiti art. Yeh. There are a whole slew of links to articles and other stuff available at posts here and here on Left And Lefter and Orthodox Anarchist respectively.

Oh, and listen to this song from On The Download. Looks like Cave In's new album will be fantastic.

Don't Click It!

2005-08-14T21:59:00.000+12:00

Welcome to the next step in the evolution of computers and GUI!

Yes it's a big call and this site claims to live up to it. I'm not sure if I completely agree but check it out for yourself. It is pretty phenomenal.

http://www.dontclick.it

Apologies!

2005-08-08T21:54:00.000+12:00

Hey folks,

Huge apologies for the lack of blogging, I blame my uni workload but really there's no excuse. I'll try and get a post with some decent and interesting things up really soon...

If you're looking for a band in the Wellington region and like music by bands/musicians like Isis, Opeth, Jakob, Gramsci, Tortoise, South, Portishead, Team Sleep or Stina Nordenstam... then leave me a comment.

If that doesn't apply to you, then in the meantime check out Isaac's blog, Emet v'Shalom (Truth and Peace) an insight into another Jewish perspective on Israel, Palestine, Zionism and Social Justice. Great stuff. Cultural Zionism never died!

Hik does art!

2005-06-22T02:56:00.000+12:00

If you wish to see my latest foray into the world of visual culture, and what I've been up to at uni for all this time, then follow this link. There's more to come as soon as those ##I$@$@ tech supportists fix that pesky problem with the missing images.

Until next post...

Yo, Winston!

2005-06-05T01:43:00.000+12:00

On those wintry evenings when there is nothing to do but pray that this is the last time you'll ever have to put up with Winston Peters' imbecilic drivel boring its way into your brain, do yourself the favour of visiting a blog by the name of Yellow Peril. It's far too funny and politically ass-kicking for me to sum up in a sentence, so just visit it already!

To watch

2005-05-21T12:59:00.000+12:00

It's time for another injection of mass culture.

This week, the theme is anti-capitalism...

The Yes Men (Haven't seen it yet, need to see it.)

The Corporation (ditto...)

The Weather Underground (A look at a radical American protest/terrorist movement in the sixties. Both frightening and thought-provoking and as ~~Salient~~ Lucid puts it, "it may make you think twice about blowing up that building. May.")

There's more... if you can remember what I've left off this list, just chuck it in a comment.

Gramsci and Jakob

2005-05-21T00:33:00.000+12:00

Am going to see Gramsci and Jakob at Bodega tomorrow night. Judging by the quality of those two bands, it'll be an excellent gig. If you're a fan of Isis and ambient, soundscapy rock then you'll definitely like Jakob, and Paul from Gramsci has an incredible voice not to mention a great band. Both acts are well worth seeing and hearing.

http://www.gramsci.co.nz
http://www.jakob.co.nz

A thought for the day...

2005-05-19T22:12:00.000+12:00

"Democracy in its simplest form of sharing power, listening and gathering information, is the only sustainable form of self governing because nobody likes being told what to do by others"

- Arnold Mindell in Sitting in the Fire: Large Group Transformation Using Conflict and Diversity

Apologies...

2005-05-18T00:27:00.000+12:00

Hey, you crazy kids...

Sorry about the lack of posting. I've been busy. In the near future you can expect articles on Tino Rangatiratanga vs. Zionism and Post-Modernism and the new age of Nihilism (aka why you should give a damn). There might also be a little bit on the resurgence of conservative religion, and some suave graphics some time soon.

Lemon.

Anzac Day

2005-04-26T00:08:00.000+12:00

When I reflect upon the nature of the Anzac Day holiday that has just passed, I think of two tragedies.

The first of these being the futility and the horror of war. Numerous accounts of World War I recall the fact that soldiers from both sides would, during pauses in the battle, join each other in the no-man's land between their front line trenches not to kill each other, but to play soccer.

Does that show us a group of human beings who are truly intent on killing each other? I don't think so. Events like that show me the true absurdity of the situation - the soldiers themselves had no real intent to kill each other... they were simply serving their respective empires, and delivering justice to the 'enemy'. They were doing their duty, what they were told to do. There is no glory nor honour to be found there for me, only sadness and regret for the generation of lives and potential lost for no just cause.

I reflect secondly upon the following statement: "[the Gallipoli campaign] stirred within our people a new sense of national identity."
Subsequently I find myself asking the following question: can a national identity ever be formed out of anything other than bloodshed? History has shown me that nations, states and their identities are without formed from bloodshed.
This is something irreconcilable for me - I cannot conceive of being a part of a "nation" when that nation requires meaningless murder as the catalyst for its existence. This is the terrible cost of nationalism and imperialism.

Did these soldiers really die for us? Perhaps they did, but only as a sad and horrific warning to us of things to never repeat.

Lest we forget...

John Tamihere

2005-04-11T22:21:00.000+12:00

Now, I know it might be hard to understand, Mr Tamihere, but the Shoah was actually in my the largest organised genocide in human history. Until someone outdoes Mr. Hitler (something I'm quite sure isn't so far off, 'humanity' has outstanding potential to do worse) on the genocide front, it will stay that way. I really do shed a tear for you having to hear such boring things from those nasty Jews, Roma, homosexuals and the rest of them. Sorry, mate. We'll just try and stay a little quieter next time, and we'll even tell those silly Sudanese to keep their whining to a minimum.

Later, Helen Clark had the following to say:

"Mr John Tamihere has been under considerable stress. By agreement with the leadership of the Labour Party he is now taking extended leave. He will not be attending caucus this Tuesday.

He has made statements to a journalist which are deeply offensive to New Zealanders. The statements are also offensive and utterly unacceptable tothe New Zealand Labour Party.

With respect to the Holocaust, the Labour Party believes it to have been genocide and as such one of the most repugnant and ferocious events of human history.

The pain caused to the Jewish community and to others who suffered in the Holocaust by these thoughtless comments is acknowledged and deeply regretted by the Labour Party."

Never mind, I'm sure Destiny have a space for Mr. Tamihere.

When will it end?

2005-04-05T03:47:00.000+12:00

Those crazy kids at google have done it again.

Fifty five point something percent of all web searches are done though Google. Considering the ridiculous levels of importance that the internet has skyrocketed to, that's a considerable amount of power.

I hope they use that power in a moral way. ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME, YOU MEDDLING CONGLOMERATE?

In the future, your brain will be ruled by colossal open-source encyclopedias and gargantuan search engines. It's only a matter of time.

I think I might go to sleep now.

Mahatma Ghandi

2005-04-05T01:44:00.000+12:00

"The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice."

He sure got some things right...

The books, oh... the horror!

2005-04-04T18:48:00.000+12:00

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?

Something by Chuck Palahniuk... his books tend to be attacks on reality and society. An attack on the world of Fahrenheit 451 would probably end up being something pleasant.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Yes. The question is, can I remember who it was?

The last book you bought is?

1984 by George Orwell. It was a really nice edition too, on special for £2 at HMV just down from Charing Cross Station. Everywhere else I'd looked had it priced at £7 or £8. Ridiculous.

The last book you finished is?

That's tough. I don't remember finishing a book in quite a while. It was probably Sophie's World. Read it. Even if you're too old for it. Jostein Gaarder does a really good job of bringing philosophy to the masses.

Five books you would take to a deserted island?

David Grossman - Ha'Zman Ha'Tzehov: (Hebrew title - in English as The Yellow Wind.) It's definitely worth reading again.
Amos Oz - In The Land Of Israel: I need to finish it at some stage.
George Orwell - 1984: I still need to read it through. Heh... heh. Aw.
Marjane Satrapi - Persepolis: Me and Asher have a deal in which, when it's survivable (and when my Arabic's up to scratch) we'll do a tour of Lebanon, Syria and Iran. Maybe he doesn't know about the Iran bit yet, but I figure a bit of reading on the history of the place can't hurt.
Heart Of Darkness - Joseph Conrad: Always been meaning too, always been to lazy. A desert island's a good opportunity, really...

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?

NO ONE! Death to chain letters!
If you'd like to complete it, feel free to take it. Let me know and I'll probably link to you from here...

The Pope

2005-04-04T15:03:00.000+12:00

My sincerest condolences to the mourners of the Pope around the world.

He achieved some incredible things in his lifetime and I'm particularly touched by his visit to the Kotel (the Western or Wailing Wall in Jerusalem) where he prayed and also apologised for the sins of Catholics against Jews, something which must have taken an enormous amount of courage on his behalf. He was a great man and contributed greatly and positively to Christianity and Catholicism as well as the rest of the world.

...and on that note.

2005-03-28T04:37:00.000+12:00

You may wish to read this. The disengagement plan "Nightmare Scenarios."

Music and more

2005-03-28T04:00:00.000+12:00

Ahh... music. Without it, life would really not be worth living.

You really should hear Frances The Mute. It will blow your ear-drums. It's a little less accessible than tMV's first album but altogether equally rewarding. If I were into naming tracks for you to give a listen to, then I'd say Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus and L'Via L'Viaquez, are good bets. But I'm not, so just give the whole thing a listen. Never listen to the skeptics who tell you that since this album is a bunch of self-indulgent nonsense it's not worth listening to. It may be self-indulgent... absolutely self-indulgent, but it makes for unbelieveable listening. Give it a spin... if you liked the first full-length then you won't be disappointed one bit.

Now, on to politics. Without it, life would be much more worth living.

And now we reach - the almighty Middle East.

It seems to a naive individual such as myself that peace in the fragile Levant hangs once again on the faintest thread of hope. The fact that two West Bank towns have already been relinquished to the Palestinians by Ariel Sharon - Sharon!? - makes things appear if not necessarily promising, definitely surreal and very different to the conventional reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The potential for even more concessions and the possibility of Gaza being given over to PA control is furthermore something so unexpected from someone with Sharon's track record.

Despite the fact that I'm a raging lefty (raging, I tell you) I think it's fortunate in a truly unintentional way that Sharon's the one making all these concessions. The fact is, were it to be that either Shimon Peres (Head of the Israeli Labour Party) or Yossi Beilin (Head of Yahad, the party of the Zionist left) were the ones sending the settlers packing, I think the chances of an assassination attempt on either of them would be much higher. The fact that until now Sharon dealt in a far more cordial way with the extreme right factions within the Knesset than Peres or Beilin ever did or would have, means that the far right have (slightly) less of a bone to pick with him now that he’s evicting them from Gaza. Them being less likely to kill him means that this current foray ‘towards peace’ is in a little less danger perhaps. That’s countered however by the fact that since Sharon’s running the show, this ‘peace process’ leans far more to the right than it should be heading.

The sheer amount of blind following that the Israeli left now seems to take part in just in order to see their own goals realised through Sharon reminds me of a piece written by Uri Avnery, a veteran and fiercely independent peace activist, founder of Gush Shalom (who incidentally has an interesting history in the Irgun –briefly touched on here) where he calls the Labour party a whore waiting for the door to be opened for them by the Likud.

Unfortunately, I think, such “prostitution” is necessary as a temporary measure to achieve what is possible within the limits of Sharon’s plan – a complete withdrawal from Gaza (while avoiding an Israeli civil war between the extreme right and …everyone else) and a withdrawal from parts of the West Bank. Which, if all goes to plan, is a good start. There are plenty of positive peaceful steps that can be taken from that position. The nagging concern I have behind all of this is over the building of more homes in the settlement town of Ma’aleh Adumim. Since Ma’aleh Adumim falls on the Israeli side of the Fence/Wall so it becomes clearly evident to anyone who’s spent some time looking into the subject that it isn’t going to be handed over in any plain old peace agreement if it ever is to be handed back at all.

Just suppose we manage to remove all the Jewish settlements from the West Bank (bar perhaps the small minority of settlers who are so dedicated to the land that they would rather become refugees within a Palestinian state than leave it) and withdraw IDF troops. The really tough issues start to rise - like the Right of Return (or compensation) for Palestinian refugees of ’48 and their descendents, and ultimately Palestinian statehood in a territorially contiguous and viable area. Even… the chance for a lasting… shock-horror… peace! Both Israel and Palestine will by then I hope have the capability to vote in far more humanistic and democratic governments respectively.

My conscience and inner utopian romanticist is off cutting chicken wire with the Anarchistim Neged Gaderot (Anarchists Against Walls) but the sad pragmatist within me realises that if the Wall/the Fence followed the Kav Ha’Yarok (the Green Line) then that at least would be a good start. One day, it’ll fall like another wall did in 1989, perhaps we’ll even be around to see it. That I hope will be the seal the beginning of a new era of peace in the Land of Israel and Palestine, and throughout the world.

And now to return to the theme of music in a really heart-warming and serendipitous way, here's a recent update from Ha'aretz. B'libi (in my heart.)

Chag Sameach and Happy Easter....

University

2005-02-24T15:26:00.000+13:00

Never think that getting into uni will be easy. It never is. Especially not at my uni. The one thing that drives me along despite the madness I'm getting from the uni end is the fact that the course is (according to my mates who did it last year) bloody good.

I'm counting on that.

Plus, being in the same place as a few hundred people who are equally into design, art and music is pretty insane. It may not be school or machon but it is filled with a whole lot of people going in a similar direction. I imagine that can get quite inspiring at times... but then again, this is only orientation.

Until next time...

Welcome, Haere mai, Bruchim ha'ba'im

2005-02-23T20:41:00.000+13:00

Hey all,

Welcome to the mind of Hikurangi. I'm a strange young man. I'm a Maori Jew, or Jewish Maori, something of a socialist-anarchist with strong opinions on Zionism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Aotearoa/New Zealand situation and Tino Rangatiratanga.

I intend to throw up some opinion pieces soon, talk about my time in Israel, as well as things of interest I encounter in my travels.

Uni begins tomorrow morning - well at least there's an orientation. The Old Museum steps at Massey University, Wellington. See you there.

In the meantime, you can have a look through my previous blog that I worked on with a friend of mine.