Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of opening Voice Up – a youth forum run by young people in Otara. I had been asked as Chair of the Local Board to set the scene, encouraging young people to take part in the democratic process by casting a vote.
“At the end of the day no government ever paid attention to the people I’ve cared about”.
As New Zealanders begin to learn the full extent of Slater’s corruptions, smear campaigns and how much he and his Whale Oil blog have influenced elections in the last six years, he is being paid, as I type this, to also pedal Israeli propaganda.
At around 12pm yesterday Nadia Filistin, who has been a major organiser in the Auckland protests against Israel’s ongoing assaults in Gaza over the last 6 weeks which has killed over 1900 Palestinians and injured thousands, updated her Facebook status with this…
Clinton is being held up by many social commentators as some kind of vision of ‘female empowerment’ – after all, she has smashed glass ceiling after glass ceiling, and she is a proud self-declared feminist. Hell, maybe she is even a ‘feminist icon’.
This is the lousy state of Māori politics. The highest value and the only end is sitting “at the table of government”.
The words “…like a girl” have been used as an insult to humiliate both men and women for generations; “you run like a girl”, “you hit like a girl” or even “you speak like a girl” are used to shame and put people down.
Saying “not all men” does not absolve you from the actions of other men. It does not mean you get to be excluded from the conversation. It does not mean you get a free pass to not give a shit.
Governmental incompetency allowed for a diplomat to slip away under the guise of diplomatic immunity, this is a classic example of our state system and how it views sexual crimes.
I know this might be a paradigm shifting perspective for some, but violence against women is first and foremost a men’s issue.