Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Heterosexual European Commits Crime!

Warning: this post references animal cruelty. Plus cruelty to humans.

Transphobia is alive and well in our nations papers. Caroline King over at The Star started the ball rolling with this:

Fine over dog car death
A 75-year-old transsexual found guilty of leaving her dog to die of heat stroke in her car has been fined $2500...

You see it was a terribly important to point out that the perpetrator was a transsexual and to reference this throughout the article, switching pronouns and talking about sex change operations. It had no actual relevance to what had occurred, but...no wait, how was it at all relevant again? It wasn't. I also doubt that when the information about the case was released that it contained any information about the perpetrators history. I suspect effort was involved to include this.  

The NZ Herald then followed by publishing the very same article but jazzed it up with a new headline to really emphasise the most important issue to the story:

Transsexual guilty in cooked dog case

Though I notice since the article first went up yesterday they have now switched this out to read 'Owner' instead (you can still see the old headline in the search results). Did someone else on staff point out the issues, or did complaints come in I wonder.

Props to Stuff however who showed up the competition with an article that covered the relevant issues, which was that a douchebag killed a dog:

Woman fined for 'cooking' dog  

They not only used the right pronouns though out, they didn't even feel the need to mention anything but the actual case. Amateurs!

So, The Star and NZ Herald. Did they run the story in this fashion because of a) ignorance  b) because they were unsubtly showing their disdain for the trans community with their thinly veiled 'Freak of the Week' approach, or c) because it was a cynical commercial decision to run the story in this fashion in order to up their hit count? Or a tasty sprinkling of all three.

In other news, well done again to Stuff for announcing the engagement between Alison Mau and her partner without sensationalising it, but minus a million points for the use of the term 'dance partner lover' which conjures up images of white suits, copious chest hair and medallions. Aw! to the happy couple, Ew! times a million for that phrase.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

John Key: He Cares About Your Baby When You Wont

I think it's a beautiful thing that finally, finally one-year-olds have an advocate in the form of our very own Prime Minister. For too long babies have been smothered by their mothers, being fed boob milk (ew!), having some burbling women fling talcum powder in places where dignity is impossible, pounding backs and jiggling them about at all hours. You know what one-year-olds do? They start to learn to walk so they can get the hell away from you.

John Key is merely voicing aloud what babies everywhere are thinking: get this woman away from me and get her out of the house! And Key can make this happen! If you have a baby while you're on a benefit you're obviously making poor life choices, so let the government make a good life choice on your behalf by freeing your baby from your clingy, clingy arms and reintroducing you to the workforce. A job market that has certainly not been affected by the global recession and where the jobs are plentiful! Why, you could be packing up the car with your belongings, waving goodbye to your children and picking fruit down in the Hawkes Bay in no time! Plus you're bound to get your 5 plus a day - I think we're all a little jealous!

Key knows that this isn't about saving a few bucks in the short-term, this is about the long-term future of New Zealand. We need to invest in our smallest and wriggliest citizens and the best way to do this is to separate them from their mothers at the youngest age possible so that they can be afforded the best start in life possible. How else are they going to learn if they have someone else doing everything for them? This makes sense, and I for one, and I think all the babies in this fair land, am proud that someone had the guts to stand up and do the right thing.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6496132/Key-Mums-of-one-year-olds-better-working

Monday, February 27, 2012

Beneficiary Bashing: Fun For All the Family

The National Party is a party of Them vs Us, which is evident as if they were actually serious about denting NZ's welfare bill short-term they would have done what had been recommended and increased the retirement age to 67 since about half of our benefits bill goes to Super. Cynically I believe they haven't done so because targeting non-Super beneficiaries strengthens their voting base, while targeting Super will potentially lose them votes.

John Key states that there are plenty of jobs to go around, or that welfare recipients will be able to receive an extra $30 a week for attending courses. He seems to have conveniently forgotten that his government has  capped enrollments at tertiary institutions, are making massive ongoing job cuts within the public sector, have cut funding for community courses and apprenticeships, and oh yeah, most importantly haven't helped create the jobs that would get people into employment in the first place.

Their 'job creation' has revolved around cutting taxes for our highest income earners and this doesn't create jobs, it just creates a higher demand for smaller and smaller dogs and overseas made designer handbags.

This depressing headline says all:

There are plenty of jobs if people look really hard, PM Key says; Uses example of employing overseas workers for harvest work

See, that's the problem, you lazy bludgers. There's plenty of work. Short term, low paid work, located outside of major population centers, but that should be fine, you can park your kids in the plentiful free childcare we offer, use all that extra dole money you have to buy and run a car, and drive around rural NZ picking strawberries for $5 an hour for a couple of months of the year that will surely tide you over for the rest of the time. If it was good enough for Key's Mum and Paula Bennett when they were working out there in the fields (coughing fit), it's good enough for beneficiaries of today.

If that's the example Key is using for plentiful work, we are undoubtedly screwed. On the bright side I hear the Minister of Foreign Affairs post is currently vacant.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Earthquakes and When Vintage is the New Modern

I watched, as I suspect a lot of people in NZ did, When A City Falls last night about the Canterbury earthquake(s). It was hard viewing, particularly the first half set before, and just after, the first September quake where buildings were damaged, and nobody died, and people pluckily talked about picking themselves back up again. I suspect it's rather crass to yell "Spoiler Alert!" at the tv, so I took a deep breath, changed the channel for an emotional breather and watched a woman explain to a SPCA officer that she loved the dog, that she'd allowed to go untreated for two weeks with a severely broken leg, like it was "one of her own children". If only they'd had a shot of the kids in the background looking terrified and holding up 'Help' signs.

Then back to the earthquake and re-watching the February quake strike all over again. The death, the destruction, the tales of survival, courage, sacrifice and human beings reaching out to one another time and time again. It wasn't just the people of Canterbury that were moved, I can tell you that.

That was a terrible sentence that should be struck from history.

If you haven't seen the documentary, and I recommend it, it can be purchased here.


Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Earthquakes and Politics

The one year anniversary of the Christchurch quake brings you the usual depressing array of before and after shots. If you're really feeling down play them backwards and you get to watch buildings appear from building sites.

One thing I found incredibly heartwarming was the response from overseas. America, Japan, the UK...a number of countries sent relief teams, gave invaluable knowledge and equipment, and dug deep to donate money.

2194 people on the tiny Cook Island of Aitutaki gave $25,000 via a radiothon...Botswana, with an average income a little over half New Zealand's, gave $62,000.

If the cockles of your heart are not warmed by that you are truly dead inside. You should hang a pine scented car freshener around your neck to hide the stench.

Special props to Australia who were especially amazing and were the neighbours who sprang over the fence with a shovel, a cup of tea and a kind word. Which almost makes up for them laying claim to the flat white. TO THE FAINTING COUCH!

If the Republicans win the next American election can we officially declare the US a fundamentalist nation and attack it to free it's citizens whose rights are being impinged on by religious nut jobs? My itchy feet keep pushing me to pack my bags and move there where I could hopefully then afford my own home and a dishwasher, but then I'm reminded that I don't want to live in a place where the likes of Destiny Church has got it's hands on political power. And I would like to think that enough rational people would vote so as not to go down this path, but holy shit, George Bush, twice! I worry.

Talking about politics, apparently John Key's highlights of last year was receiving calls from Obama, Gillard and the Queen*. This bumps up nicely with Tony Blair saying that his political highlight was receiving a standing ovation from the US Senate. Notice that this is not about them serving their respective countries, but instead it's All About Them and this egotistical grasping of power and validation from the power elite. And that's why the poor under both their leaderships were always going to be fucked. On the bright side being paid to be fucked is legal in NZ so at least solo mums can supplement their incomes.

* My bad - I jumped in without looking at the source first - that isn't actually how I read it contrary to what was said. But I stand by my take on his personality insofar as the kidlet Key who only ever wanted to be PM was doing it for status and not service.