The Sunday Newspaper Brunch Club

On the Sunday Newspaper Brunch Club today at 11am, Sky Digital 65, with the best political news team on television, AUT media lecturer, Wayne Hope, Bomber from Alt, Ben Thomas, Political Editor of the NBR and the last man to be convicted of sedition in NZ, blogger Tim Selwyn.

News that caught my eye –
1: From calling them running dogs at the beginning of the week, China now says they will meet the Dalai Lama. How about those aggressive pro-China protests, there’s one happening today in Aotea Square.

2: NYPD let off the 50 shots they gunned down an unarmed black guy on the night of his wedding – when you see how American Police treat their own citizens, is it so hard to believe they torture and beat Iraqi’s in their charge?

3: Israel snubs Hama offer of truce – even after that nice Jimmy Carter had done so much to talk to Hamas this week. Is Israel actually interested in peace? Oh and hasn’t the blaming Iran for trouble in Iraq become the theme from the Bush Administration all of a sudden again. Oh and the IDF is looking into a killing of a Reuters Cameraman shoot on film.

4: Environmental canary in the coalmine this week – massive decline in European-African bird migration and the sudden increase in Methane levels after being steady for 10years, we are in a La Nina cycle when we would see the opposite, a methane decrease so its not the traditional sources, it could be the frozen methane starting to melt, which could cause a runaway climate event.

5: Tracey Barnett in the Herald asking where our Olympians are with speaking out against China.

6: Report showing Police are blue – any surprise?

7: Hillary beats Obama – where now?

STORY 1 – ANZAC Day delusions
In the Herald on Sunday, Matt McCarten writes a column exploding our ANZAC Day myths, that many of the soldiers who signed up had been horse riding strike breakers who beat up striking workers, that we actively helped in the brutal suppression of the Boer, that the British Officers were idiots who ended up bombing the only NZ Officer who took the hills, that we don’t remember the Turkish dead and that the whole thing is a sugar pop wrapped Nationalistic feelgood handjob. How does everyone feel about ANZAC Day, does Matt have a point?

STORY 2 – Happy Valley: Spies have fingers in many government pies - sst
THE MINISTRY of Agriculture and Forestry quietly severed its contract with controversial private investigators Thompson and Clark Investigations last year, after the Sunday Star-Times revealed that TCIL's "corporate intelligence" included infiltrating and spying on community groups. Maf initially refused under the Official Information Act to confirm or deny any contract with the private investigators. However, when chief executive Murray Sherwin became aware of the issue the contract was cancelled.
Do anyone of us believe that TCIL weren’t infiltrating Happy Valley for Solid Energy, TCIL’s official position is that they were infiltrating Happy Valley activists because they were frightened for their security – LOL, yeah right that’s why you were infiltrating them.

STORY 3 –Parents use spyware to keep watch on kids - sst
NEW ZEALAND parents are spying on their children with special software secretly reading every Google search, website hit, chatroom conversation, email and MSN message and even every keystroke the child makes. Parents buy the programs, known as spyware, for between $35 and $130 and secretly install them on their child's computer. They can then watch screen shots in real time from another computer or order regular reports on their child's activity, which the program will compile and email to the parent. Some programs also email the parent immediately if they "sense" the child may be in danger online or is using unsuitable websites.
Paranoia or smart parenting?

STORY 4 - Soaring food prices force families to make compromises - sst
A Sunday Star-Times reader survey shows one-third of you are making significant changes to the way you shop, after a shocker of a year at the supermarket. Overall, groceries cost 9% more this March than they did last year. The biggest price rises are happening in the dairy aisle. Cheese is up more than 44%, milk almost 22% and butter an incredible 82%, since last year. Bread costs 12% more than last year and other healthy basics fruit and vegetables and red meat, poultry and fish are each up by almost 3%. Experts blame the worldwide demand for biofuels, and the increasing wealth of huge developing countries.
AND climate change – with the shadow of peak oil and climate becoming more unpredictable these conditions are only going to get worse aren’t they? See in America Wal-Mart has started putting food restrictions on rice sales per person – things are only going to get worse are they not? This is the market working isn’t it Ben Thomas? Haiti is having food riots, Egypt is running out of bread, West Africa is running out of rice, China and India have banned exports of rice. Time to dump bio-fuel subsidies? It is cheaper to buy NZ cheese in Australia than it is to buy it in NZ.

STORY 5 - Stop dithering over tax cuts says union - sst
UNION LEADER Andrew Little is warning of rising industrial action as workers seek to compensate for savage increases in the cost of living. And economists say they can't see any immediate relief for consumers with food, petrol and housing costs picked to keep rising. Petrol prices have rocketed 20% since March 2007 and last week hit $2 a litre for premium grade. Grocery food prices rose 9% and electricity 6% in the same period. BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander says motorists should budget for 91-octane fuel to cost $2 a litre in the next few months and warns it could climb to $2.20 by mid-2009.
Isn’t it time to seriously consider taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables and non-produced food

FINAL WORD – Nicky Hager on the Let’s be Frank repeat 10pm tonight – and Dr Pita Sharples next on Lets be Frank Tuesday 8.30pm and Henry Rollins on Music Wank with Thane Kirby Wednesday 8.30pm