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, Bomber from Alt, Ben Thomas, Political Editor of the NBR and the last man to be convicted of sedition in NZ, blogger Tim Selwyn. (note to self to denounce Ben Thomas and his claim that the veroa mite is totally responsible for the 80% death rate of honey bees in America).

News that caught my eye –
1: The way Bruce Holloway from the Waikato Times writes about Lisa Lewis becoming our naked news show suggests that this is the biggest story in Brice’s entire life as a journalist, and the Waikato Times seems to be the only newspaper which offers up beer as part of the subscription deal.

“Channel bosses have stopped Ms Lewis from talking to the rest of the media after stitching up an exclusive agreement with another paper.

They also forced her to cancel a photoshoot for the Waikato Times yesterday.

But Ms Lewis did offer a few comments before she was officially muzzled.”

2: Last weeks pro-China rally in Aotea square – the SNBC were there!

3: Police will be able to use wireless video cameras to spy on crime suspects in their homes for up to three months, as a result of an impending law change and technological advances. Police will normally be required to get a "surveillance device warrant" to monitor people in situations in which they might have a "reasonable expectation of privacy", such as in their homes and offices. But they could conduct surveillance for up to three days without a warrant in "certain urgent or emergency situations". – they can break into your home, install wireless surveillance cameras and spy on you without a warrent for 3 days? And seeing as the cops asked the Ministry of Economic Development to hold a bunch of frequencies especially for them to receive encrypted wireless signals to conduct covert surveillance it sounds like those “certain urgent or emergency situations will be the norm rather than the exception.

4: Happy Birthday to Tumeke – 3 years old, one of the original crop of NZ blogs – had to laugh seeing a press release this week for The Wire - New Zealander, Adam Bryce, voted to have the best blog in the world, has recently returned home to spread the internet phenomenon ‘blogging’ by starting a unique website called The Wire LOL - Sounds like Adam invented the blog.

5: Parliament will debate the introduction of a British-style behaviour order to curb anti-social crime this year. The proposal, which would establish a scheme for Rotorua, has previously been rejected by politicians because its aim - to bar criminals from the city's central business district - had problems complying with the Bill of Rights. But the Rotorua District Council, the driving force behind the proposed legislation, believes it has found safeguards which resolve that issue. The dirty filthy ASBO is back, isn’t Labour wanting to look staunch in election year along with the banning gang colours crap. How will lowering the legal threshold from beyond reasonable doubt balance of probabilities be a positive thing for human rights – isn’t the balance of power between individuals through the civil court right for balance of probabilities where as the police vs the individual demands beyond reasonable doubt parameters?

6: When a strategic asset isn’t an asset – how can the power network for our Capital City not be a strategic asset? The polite Canadians are bad investors and the Largest Dictatorship on the Planet, China are good investors???????

STORY 1 - Support rally for Waihopai activists - hos
About 60 protesters, some popping white balloons, marched in Wellington yesterday in support of three men accused of damaging a protective dome over a satellite dish at the Waihopai spy base. The march was organised by Peace Action Wellington.
A catholic priest, a hippy farmer and an organic gardener walk into a spy base – JOKES ON YOU GSCB! These men are heroes! This is the kind of activism that provokes thought – from axes through Prime Ministers windows to popping spy bases, peaceful direct action is the new black.

STORY 2 – The film the Mongrel Mob didn't want you to see - sst
MAORI CULTURE has been linked to criminal gang behaviour in a documentary on the Mongrel Mob, part of an award-winning British series on the world's most notorious gangs. The Mongrel Mob episode will not be aired in New Zealand something which has been widely debated. TV1 is screening the third series of Ross Kemp on Gangs but says it could not buy the episode because it was never cleared for international distribution.
Firstly – this story was broken by the NZ Truth, so pay some respects to them, secondly the very interesting part of this story is some of the things that Crimonlogist Greg Newbold has to say about some of the ridiculous things soap star Ross Kemp says about genetic and historic connections creating a Warrior Maori blood lust – as if they were a tribe of fucking Klingons or something…
Newbold said "the brown middle-class who are tending to revive Maori culture and to some extent rewrite Maori prehistory" would find the links offensive, but they were based on well-researched fact. Other social issues among Maori such as prevalent domestic abuse, alcoholism and violence had historical cultural roots, he said. "Almost every time you hear about a child that's been beaten to death they are Maori that's not new. It's a bloody sad truth. They can keep arguing the point but it's not going to change until people acknowledge it. Everyone who's involved in this kind of work knows it... But very few people are prepared to say it because you are called a racist."
Drop jaws now – if this is what Newbold really believes shouldn’t he not have anything to do with not any Maori parole process?

STORY 3 – Average family in the red just to get by - sst
SKYROCKETING LIVING costs mean the average New Zealand family is going into the red simply to cover everyday expenses, according to detailed new analysis by a leading financial commentator. Where four years ago a family on the average income could each week expect to earn $23 more than it spent on its bills, that figure has now fallen below zero to $15 in the red.
It’s hard out there for a pimp – tryin’ to get the money for the rent. Tax cuts are NOT going to do a damned thing – and how many tax policy wonks were wheeled out this week into the TV media to shut down any debate whatsoever about lifting GST on food – wasn’t that funny, you hardly ever hear from tax policy wonks, but someone just couldn’t find enough tax policy wonks to get on the mainstream media to kill that idea off quickly – apparently National were terrified that Labour might do that this week – it’s not getting better out there, with food and petrol prices as high as they are, Helen Clark could find the cure for cancer and she’d still be 15 points behind National – there are big problems globally that are not going to change quickly, American motorists are deciding between a gallon of ethanol at the pumps or the food supply for a family in the third world for a year, you know they are going to pick filling up the SUV – it’s going to get worse isn’t it?

STORY 4 - Crikey! It's Boris - hos
London's new Mayor Boris Johnson divides opinion like few others - a maverick lawmaker loved for his eccentric wit but often maligned for his abrasive tongue. The uncombed, rumpled suited, former magazine editor boasts none of the professional sheen of New York's Michael Bloomberg, but will lead a booming city that rivals Manhattan as the world's leading economic centre and will host the 2012 Olympic games. His victory over incumbent mayor Ken Livingstone, a left-winger and member of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's governing Labour party, will be seen as a boon for Opposition Conservative chief David Cameron.
How much did London want to punish Labour? How worried did Gordon look?

STORY 5 – China calls Dalai Lama a criminal ahead of talks - sst
China prefaced expected talks with representatives of the Dalai Lama on Saturday by condemning the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader as a criminal, while cloaking the meeting itself in secrecy. China's state media has not mentioned the planned meeting, the first since unrest erupted across Tibet in March. But official newspapers continued their bitter criticism of the Dalai Lama and his supporters, suggesting that the government will not be in a mood to compromise. "Patriotic people of Tibet strongly condemn and vehemently denounce the litany of crimes committed by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and his followers," said the official Tibet Daily, according to the region's official news website. "The Dalai clique's hopes of achieving Tibetan independence are increasingly dim, and at this time when their hopes have been destroyed, the Dalai clique launched a bloody violent event - their last bout of madness," said the paper.
I asked last week if we thought China’s dialogue was legitimate – thoughts? We have Trade Minister Phil Goff coming on Let’s be Frank – is he getting much sleep wondering if China will lash out and cause a seen while the ink is still wet on our trade deal?

FINAL WORD – Dr Pita Sharples on the Let’s be Frank repeat 10pm tonight – and Henry Rollins next on Lets be Frank Tuesday 8.30pm and Jon and Tom on Music Wank with Thane Kirby Wednesday 8.30pm, and don't forget we are now streaming live on www.alttv.co.nz 24/7 - the first NZ Tv network to do it.