The Second Day Of Xmas

It's Boxing Day and has started with a windy cloud scattered day with the sun trying to get through to provide some warmth to Taupo, NZ. It'll be OK later. It was a quiet Xmas which started with hangi stones being heated on a fire outside my son's Hatepe home by Lake Taupo. The wood was kanuka which blazes away without thoughts of burning holes in ozone layers. I wonder about that. All our ancestors used fire for many centuries not to mention those that occured naturally through volcanic action, bush fires and the like. Surely the earth and it's people were building up carbon debts long before cars and coal fired power plants.

Anyway after the stones were hot enough my son and grandsons (it's a mans job this) raked them into a hole already dried out by the embers of the fire, put the food (pork, mutton, chicken, spuds, kumara, in that order) into a round net container and placed it into the hole. They wrapped the container with wet cloths and put wet sacking over it in such a way that when they buried all with earth, they would then be able to scrape the earth off and peel off the sacking and cloth without the dirt falling into the hangi two and a half hours later.

This kai and all the rituals associated with it ( it's hot thirsty work so a few beers don't go amiss) is our traditional Maori Xmas as we celebrate that birth 2007 years ago in Bethlehem. Once the hangi's down then it's back to the house for Grandpa to act as Santa and give out all the presents mainly to the two great grans who are lucky to be present. Then we pulled out the hangi and served it (a man's job). The dessert was woman's work. After that for Grandpa it was a good snooze by the tele.

Well that was Xmas. Later we may go to town to take advantage of the Boxing Day sales. Just a thought, though. What would happen if we had no shops to go to and an electrical storm wiped out internet shopping?

What happened to the terrorists?

What did happen to the terrorists or rather what I and many intelligent observers thought was the story of the year 2007? The mainstream media wrap ups either don't mention them at all or slide past them with a few words before going on to other events less worthy of our attention. Could it be what John Pilger the world renowned journalist from Australia says that the mainstream media simply ignores, hides or disparages anything they don't want the population to focus on? Is NZ or rather our foreign owned media playing that game too? I suspect so. I just can't believe that the biggest story of the year, indeed almost our 9/11 can be ignored in favour of such ridiculous non-events as the rugby world cup losses, tax cut promises, Bell the muderer and his mate Burton released long enough to commit another murder, Trevors punch-up of Tau, etc. The media, government Ministers and every other red neck are plainly embarrassed by the fact that a few gun toting citizens (there's hundreds in NZ) and some peace promoters who wouldn't touch a gun let alone hide one in the compost, were arrested under our new terrorism laws only to be released on bail because the Solicitor General said there's insufficient evidence. Both media, law makers, and beurocrats have become a danger to the rights and freedoms of the ordinary people and seem heavily influenced by the rich and powerful nations and individuals. This takes globalization to its extremes. We have to hate Muslims, pass terrorism laws, and don jackboots to march lockstep to their imperial future. Our sovereignty is threatened not by Tame Iti and Bin Laden but by the creators of paranoia.

Xmas And Politics

Double click cartoon and photos to enlarge

One thing that should be shorn from our thoughts is politics at Xmas time. No more Labour did this and promised that or National did nothing at all and their stocks rose with the voter to 53%. Poor Helen and the centre left who banned spanking and promptly caught one cruel father shopped to the law by a horrified mother; couldn't do anything right. It's their fault for lurching to the right after Don's Orewa now and again. They should have stayed with the workers who weren't getting their fair share and the poor who have virtually nothing after ten years of Labour. And to those who are waiting for a Lotto win to buy a house.

But it's Xmas, aye and we shouldn't be thinking of such things because we become uncharitable towards one another. We should be thinking of the birth of Jesus in a Bethlehem stable and the three wise men who found him by following a star and brought their gifts of gold, frankinsence and mur. On the commercial side we should be asking Santa for something for the kids and we should be giving mainly of our aroha. So before I get too political and start ranting I wish everyone good fortune in the new year and the greatest Xmas possible.

Meri Kirihimete From Sarah, myself, and my Great Grand mokos Tamatea (top left), Rangitaiki (top right) and Ramari (bottom left)

Na Atihana. Note: Click on the cartoon to read it and to enlarge the photos

Minimum Hourly Wage & Taxes

So our minimal hourly rate will go up from $9 to $12. This will please mainly Maori and Pacific Island workers many who are paid that. No wonder 1 in 7 Maori now live and work in Australia where wages are so much higher for much the same jobs and a lot more for tradesmen. As long as businesses and corporates refuse to pay more than ratshit then more NZ workers will go over seas; in the Maori and Island case to Australia. Workers had asked for a $15 minimum. They should stop asking and start striking or go to Australia where they can get more. Australia can pay more because their economy was built on a gradual and sensible reform; rather than the Rogernomics and Ruthanomics of slash and burn, and the sell off of state and other productive assets to some of the biggest crooks in our history. I still think they should be hung up on every power pole in Remuera. As a result their economy grew faster while ours crawled along under some ridiculous ideology of the pure market.

At last Labour is warming towards tax cuts as surpluses become as flush as those finances of the cow cocky who by the way deserve their increased milk payouts. Labour intends to target the poor and the low paid. Good. Anyone over $100,000 don't need a a tax cut. They could also increase old age benefits and bring back the family benefit. They could tax overseas investors more so that some of their profits they made here stay here. They also need to grow the economy by keeping our manufacturing and other productive capacity in NZ. To reduce prices for land they shouldn't be allowed to sell it to absentee land lords. I could go on. We've just got to stop the rich getting richer and the poor poorer. We don't want to have to correct the imbalance with a bloody revolution.

Kia Ora

Kia Ora: Pardon my absense but I think 've finally got this blogging licked after a few tries at it. The "terrorist" threat in NZ has died down for now while the media get frenzied feeds from other distractions. There's always real murders, and murderers like Bell the triple murderer to flip over; in fact anything that doesn't overly tax the brain and stirs the emtions and lift blood pressure to enormous heights. We've had all sorts really; a snatched body from Masterton, an exorcism gone horribly wrong at Wainuiomata, and a fatal stabbing at Panmure. I've forgotten a few other bits of mayhem. Really this weeks been the pits. At least the Ninjas in pursuit of terrorism in Ruatoki and elsewhere had some real live drama and although it did frighten people, no one died as a result. For that we can be grateful. Only justice died somewhat that week. I won't even mention the bombing in Algiers apparently initiated by Al Kayhda. Lets hope next week can be incident free before Xmas so that we can enjoy some peace and salvage the goodwill destroyed by a knucklehead Police Commissioner in Ruatoki.