New Zealand Election Date Announced

The date for the New Zealand election was announced by the Prime Minister late this afternoon.

The election will be held on 17 September 2005.

Winter Books

My reading has been intense of late, I'm completely nerdy when it comes to books.

I'm an addict.

The library will probably ring up for my card as I have over 10 books out at the moment.

First there is the cooking section - Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess, Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Cooking, Nigel Slater's Real Cooking and a great history book called Food in Medieval Times.

Next comes the enlightened reading like the Bhagavad Gita and The Blooming of a Lotus. This is all getting back to basics and learning about being a human being to say the least.

Then comes the fledging journalist books - The Penguin Book of Journalism (absolutely fantastic - must buy a copy), and Ethics of Journalism (another future purchase).

Finally, politics is taking over all human existance so I'm reading - Articles of Resistance by Paul Foot, Distant Voices by John Pilger, and the Politics of Dispossession - the struggle for Palestine Self-Determination 1969-1994 by Edward W. Said.

Reviews to come.

Winter Birthdays

It's my boyfriend's birthday today and I made him a cake.

Not just any cake, a yummy raspberry and chocolate cake complete with whipped egg whites, and baked in the oven for 45 minutes.

I have to admit that I needed assistance with the egg white whipping from my boyfriend.

We did a spot of shopping for birthday clothes after a disasterous day the previous day downtown, going from shop to shop.

"Oh no, no good" says the girlfriend.

Where are the decent jeans?

Not skateboarder hacks! We want jeans, cries the girlfriend, good old-fashioned bottom-hugging jeans!

Today being birthday day, resulted in an unexpected 10 minute shop ending with one pair of jeans, a pair of grey drill trousers and a very mod powder blue v-neck fine knit jumper.

All because we decided to stop at a shop we hadn't thought of and listening to a radio ad!

It just so happened a 10 min park appeared at the exact right moment.

Thank goodness for moments.

All in a read
The invasion of Lebanon by Israel in June, 1982 is one I never knew until last week.

I have never understood the Middle East situation, and what Palestine is all about.

As a teenager growing up in the 1970's, and 80's, Iran and some place called Beirut took the top news spot on the tv on regular occasions. Bombs, bombs and more bombs.

No history lesson at my school on the Middle East apart from being told about some woman called Golda. I now know she was an Israeli.

My sudden interest in deciding to learn and try to understand what this whole Middle East thing is about came after a visit to town.

A "find" at a book sale resulted in a copy of "Tell Me No Lies", edited by John Pilger.

It is compelling.

Inside are some of the finest journalists writings about political actions around the world from Lockerbie to the Atomic Bomb in 1945.

Robert Fisk's description and account of what he came across in June 1982 in Beirut that day is riveting and errie.

The factual reports by Fisk, Wilfred Burchett, Edward W. Said, Jo Wilding, Anna Politkovskaya and Paul Foot are astonishing and take you right into the activities they encountered.

Any human would be moved by the articles and stories. Enough to want to know more.

My first point of call is to Edward W. Said's two books - The Politics of Dispossession 1969-1994, and The Question of Palestine.

I am already into the Introduction of The Politics of Dispossession and it is hard to put down.

Alliance tell the voters the truth

Local Dunedin North candidate Victor Billot spoke at the Otago University's "Campus Green" debate earlier today.

Candidates from Labour, National, Greens and Act were represented at the forum.

The dull boring event turned into a compelling speech by Mr Billot when he took the floor and told the audience how it really is.

Mr Billot said to the audience "you are the public and we want some good".

He was referring to education as a public good.

Mr Billot went on to say the Alliance will wipe student debt here and now, and it will be paid for by bringing the superannuation back into New Zealand from the international casino it is now in.

The audience of about 60, erupted into clapping and cheers for the Mr Billot.

The Labour candidate spoke about how the party has reduced the length of time to pay back your loan from 15 years to 9.

The debate was held in the main common room on campus, co-ordinated by OUSA.

London bombs hit

The phone went early evening here in New Zealand, Eunice calling to let us know there had been bombs on the underground in London.

We had just got off the phone from Elaine and David.

We rang them back to tell them of the news, which they didn't know.

David said he heard a blast about half an hour ago.

Then I called Jimmy, to let him know they were fine.

The mobile rang, and it was Nat. She called to say she was ok and could I ring Elaine and David to let them know as she can't call across town.

So onto the phone again, from New Zealand to London to inform family are fine in the same city.

How technology plays a part in the current existance is astounding.

Next, I call Jimmy to let him know Nat is fine. He had just spoken to Elaine in London.

It is now about 10.30pm NZ time.

BBC.co.uk is hard to get onto, the mobile goes again.

Nat. "Jules, can you ring Mark's Aunt on her mobile in Kent, England to let her know we are fine.
She texted me and I can't text back" she says.

I call Jan, who I have never spoken to and pass on the news. She tells me Anna (Mark's sister) is fine, and somoeone else. She is looking for her daughter. I decide to go.

Nat rings again. I can't hear her, she rings again, still no luck.

I call back London, her desk, the phone is jammed.

I decide to turn to email, and let her know I've spoken to Jan.

She gets it.

Eunice emails Victor, has called Yvette's work. Yvette is in Spain.
Her workmate says "oh that's in Central London".

100 casualties at this point, and Blair refers to G8.

A suicide bomber is reported on the bus explosion. If this is correct, this would be the first one except for the bomber 15 years ago who blew himself up by mistake (BBC NEWS LIVE).

Mark is in court according to Nat. She got an email from him earlier.

Nat was at her desk at 8.45am. The first bomb of 6 blasts hit at 8.50am.

All London transport is closed. One train driver is injured according to BBC News Live, speaking to the Transport Union.

Cities, towns, provinces less travelled

I've decided to make a start to record cities and places I've visited.
So here goes.

Any comments may be added as I go.

London
Auckland
New Plymouth
Gisborne
Napier
Hastings
Berlin
Munich
Koln
Dortmond
Amsterdam
Edinburgh
Rio de Janeiro
San Paulo
Buenos Aires
Punta del Esta
Los Angeles
Perth
Sydney
Melbourne
Adelaide
Oxford, UK
Bath
Dublin
Belfast
Gort
Killarney
Inverness
Salzburg
Roma
Nice
Florence
Monaco
Paris
Brugge
Invercargill
Tuatapere
Te Anau
Milford Sound
Warrington
Nelson
Auckland
Bay of Islands
Honolulu
Budapest
Kumara
Karamea
Westport
Ross
Haast
Trentham
Linton
Burnham
Whenuapai
Dorset
Twizel
Queenstown
Arrowtown
Monkey Mia
Vienna
The Vatican

I can't think of anything else at the moment.

East v West

Reading the likes of Pilger, for some reason had me thinking about the Berlin Wall.

I visited it in 1995. It was a mad dash 10 hour journey from a small German village in Central Germany with some German friends, in their lime green Mercedes car.

It was one of the most memorable trips I will make as a human being.

The raw feeling of being in a city not long open for business with the outside world seemed quite astonishing.

A trip to Checkpoint Charlie is one I will never forget, and it is the recent reading of a journalist's story covering the fall of the wall that took me back there.

I remember looking at the small car and the parachute some people had used to escape the East.
It was quite unbelievable.

We drove around until we found the remaining parts of the wall, and stopped to take a photo.
My German chaffeurs had never been to the East before the falling of the wall, and it was quite
a moving experience for them who were in their late teens, and late twenties.


The Brandenburg Gate is a commanding fixture, golden and beckoning with gorgeous statues and an enormous arch.

We took a ride up the Berlin Tower, to gaze over the city below, needless to say I don't feel any
need to do this in any other part of the world.

The journey to Berlin itself is memorable for the endless buildings and one big continuous paddock, no fences, just green grass. The villages were empty, the checkpoint deserted.
All that was left was the green East German car on the motor way, the "Trabbie".

My German friends were as amazed and astonished as I was.

Places to go

I'm reading compelling stuff in the form of Pilger's latest book "Tell Me No Lies".

In a society where human existance revolves around communication, the duty of telling the facts to defend the public good seem a rarity.

According to Pilger(2004), in 2002 the principal media were owned by only nine transnational companies, down from fifty in 1983.

What we read, hear, and see is hardly the god damn truth, let alone two-sided.

The facts are a rare commodity, and it seems the only people to tell the real Hiroshimas, the real Falluja's and future "news" stories are the likes of fellow like-humans, you and I.

Pilger(2004) says the immediate future lies with the emerging "samidzat", the word for the unofficial media during the late Soviet period. Given the current technology the potential is huge.

Pilger goes on to say the world has two superpowers now: the power of the military plutocracy in Washington and the power of public opinion (Pilger, 2004).