Media happy to be manipulated

There was an interesting instance of the way in which the media and politicos operate to meet their respective purposes yesterday.

The Dominion Post ran a full page story profiling Secretary of Education Lesley Longstone, and her views on the state of education in New Zealand.

After a lengthy traverse of various issues (Finland or Singapore?) and re-treading of well-worn paths of some of the shambolic handling of sensitive issues (close Christchurch schools, anyone?), we get to the final paragraphs.

"But just as things start getting comfortable, you note Ms Longstone is also the past master of the casually provocative statement."

You can almost hear the journalist (one Philip Matthews) salivating at the prospect of the print equivalent of TV's 'sound-bite' - a juicy headline!

"This one might get New Zealand's teachers incensed all over again: 'There's no doubt that there is world-class practice in schools but it's not widespread,' she says.

'The best practice is not common practice.'"

End of article.

End of story.

And there you have the mutual back-scratching.

Matthews has his headline. And the chance to "get New Zealand's teachers incensed all over again". Which of course, will increase the readership of his article. And generate more column inches, and more Dominion Post readers. And so meet the needs of his paymasters, who expect him to generate eyeballs looking at Stuff pages, so they can sell those viewers to advertisers. Which, after all, is how Fairfax media makes it's money.

Longstone has her claim in the public domain, and the justification for future policies declaimed. Without challenge. Repeat the claim often enough, without justifying or supporting it, and the public will begin to see it as true, whether it is or not. Keep it simple and the stupid will believe it.

And the mutual back-scratching? Longstone doesn't have to justify her claim, because the journalist isn't interested in the substance, only the headline-making "provocative statement". So there is no effort to ask Longstone anything like: "And what's the evidence for this claim? How did you arrive at this view?" And Longstone doesn't therefore have to defend her stance. Just roll-on with her ideological agenda.

Longstone's next step, of course, is to get her Minister, Parata, to follow the same path, and use the same claim to justify government policy.

Watch this space.

Let me tell you the story of a ...

... girl named Jayne.

Seems she was born 21 years ago TODAY. (I remember it like it was YESTERDAY!)

But looks what's happened to her since:

Oh well, at least the Family Tree doesn't give away her age!

Ice patterns

In the depths of winter, even in our moderate climes, a hard frost can settle and produce dazzling patterns. As happened this morning, on our cars in the drive:

Artefacts from the past

I was recently sent a series of scanned images by a cousin of items from our family's past. And that has prompted another round of investigation and planning.

My sister Barbara has a flute which belonged to our grandfather Francis Humphrys. It was presented to him by the congregation of St Peters Church in Caversham in 1904.

The church, in Hillside Road, was the family's 'local', and Francis (& his siblings) sang in the choir. Most of them attended a church re-union in 1948, at which the photo below was taken.

But the most interesting to me was this copy of a photo apparently of Eliza Jane Madill.

What I find fascinating about this is that I am a 3rd great grandson of Eliza Jane MADILL! She was born in or about 1787, and married Joseph William Mulligan of Ballyhaise, Co Cavan. That means we have in the early 21st century, a photo of a woman born in the late 18th century! And the photo was probably acquired by a cousin visiting Ireland in the early 20th century. I find that amazing!

Consumer Affairs - who cares?

Actually a lot of people. But perhaps, a more pertinent question is: Who DOESN'T care? And the answer to that is, clearly, the current tory government.

New Zealand has a Ministry of Consumer Affairs. According to it's website, "Our main role is to create an environment that promotes good and accurate information flows between suppliers and consumers so that consumers can transact with confidence."

So it deals with consumer protection and the setting of the ground-rules by which businesses interact with consumers.

In the current government's first term, the Minister was from National's support party, the ACT sideshow. Now the ACT Party draws its name from the initials of the 'Association of Consumers and Taxpayers', so appointing as Minister, ACT MP Heather Roy seemed a sensible ploy. After all, her party stands for the interests of consumers, doesn't it?

After ACT began to implode, John Boscawen, also from ACT, took up the reins in mid August 2010.

By mid June 2011, National had taken control of the Ministry, appointing Simon Power to head it. But, when, later in the year, he stepped aside from the political life he was replaced by Chris Tremain.

A further re-shuffle was necessitated by the resignation of Ministerial warrants by Nick Smith, which has meant the the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is now headed by Simon Bridges.

Bridges is a Minister Outside Cabinet. So if we assume Key has a core group who comprise a 'kitchen cabinet' or inner circle, that puts Consumer Affairs at 3 removes from real power and influence.

Add to that, the fact that there have been 5 different ministers within the last 20 months, and that 2 of them were from the government's 'support party' (read: stooges), and it is clear that this government's attitude is one of lip-service to the interests and protection of the rights of consumers.

The Ministerial writ has been used as a sop for flunkies, as a disposable bauble for a support party, as a reward for good behaviour, and as a training ground for up-and-coming junior MPs.

So, yes, we can say the National Government looks after the interests of Consumers. Yeah right!!

The Heart of the matter (5)

The last time I reported progress, I confidently claimed everything was "Done & dusted, … Bar the bruising." Too soon, apparently, and it's been an eventful few days since that last update!

The 2 Stents had been inserted successfully. By Sunday I was ready to make a gentle beginning to some exercise, so Desiree & I headed to Petone Beach for a stroll along the foreshore, followed by coffee at the Jetty Cafe. So far so good.

Unfortunately, I managed less than 200 metres before I had to call a stop. My right calf was in considerable pain, and I doubted I could make any further distance. So we called a halt, and Desiree went to get the car to collect me. We did go and have coffee and we talked about what to do next.

I dithered, of course, and tried to avoid (or at least delay) the inevitable, but by Sunday morning my calf was in pain even while I wasn't doing anything, action was required. A visit to the after hours centre resulted in a referral to the vascular team at Wellington Hospital. That meant a trip into town, an examination by the Registrar, and arrangements for a scan of the leg.

Turns out the Specialist also works at Southern Cross Hospital, and they could deal with me post haste. That meant I was to go in for an ultra-sound scan the next day (Tuesday). It transpired that what had happened was that a small device used to close the artery at the point through which entry was made to insert the stents, had come loose.

This small device (a collagen-based thing) is about half the size of a pea, but, after traveling into the artery in my leg, was big enough to block major branches of the artery in my lower right leg.

So another round of surgery was scheduled for that afternoon to have the blockage removed. The upshot is that I woke up to a sizable wound on my calf, and the prospect of a couple of days in hospital.

My movement was restricted to hobbling about on crutches, BUT - the first good news in a few days! - I was released in time to be at home to watch the Breakers win the first of their ANBL Finals. I spent the next few days popping pills, hobbling about, and keeping my leg elevated.

A followup visit to the vascular specialist told me that he's happy with the outcome of his work!  The wounds are healing nicely and there haven't been any further complications.  The problem at the moment is pain relief and mobility.  I am having to keep doped up on Voltaren and Panadol, and am still struggling about on crutches, although at the good times, I'm down to a single crutch.

The specialist's advice was that I could drive and return to work 'when I felt able to'.  At this stage that is likely to be a few days, given the extent to which I struggle to get started after periods of sitting or lying, and the need to keep my leg elevated when not walking.  This last one will be difficult to accommodate in our office!

Touch wood, recovery and rehab is plain sailing from here on!

The Ghoul's Gallery

The leg in question, swathed in a 'compression sock' to help reduce the swelling


Rehab on the couch


The scar and bruising

Whatever happened to the Church of The Left?

Anthony Hubbard makes a striking claim in his Sunday Start-Times column on 8 April 2012. He says that "It's the God of the far Right that causes the trouble, and it is striking that Christian politics is so often of the Right."

That's a sentiment with which I find it difficult to disagree.

But it does raise an interesting question: Has it always been thus, at least in New Zealand?

And the answer has to be: No, it hasn't. And in fact one could argue that this phenomenon is only a relatively recent one.

You see New Zealand has quite a history of what in the nineteenth century was called 'muscular Christianity'. And if it didn't always have what could be called a liberal or left-leaning viewpoint, it was at least concerened with social action and social justice or progress.

To illustrate. Some of the earliest 'social welfare' legislation passed by the Liberal Government of the 1890s, was inspired by the preaching and social evangelism of Rev Rutherford Waddell, a Presbyterian Minister in Dunedin. He spoke out, famously, about the evils of 'sweated labour' - of the exploitation of workers, in other words.

Many of the middle-class Temperance campaigners from the same era were members of the Women's CHRISTIAN Temperance Movement, who sought to curb the sale of alcohol because of it's pernicious effects on the lives of women and children, especially in the working classes.

This same late-nineteenth century period also saw the rise in New Zealand of the Salvation Army with it's social action programmes.

These campaigners, and others like them weren't just outsiders, agitating for change. Their views were often echoed by, or inspired, the emerging 'party political' activist class which developed in the early twentieth century.

The Methodist Church's own website says"

"Some working-class Methodists sought to pursue the lessons of their faith through political action. The Methodist enthusiasm for egalitarianism, and for protecting the needy, found a voice in left-wing politics. Methodist missionary Colin Scrimgeour, known as Uncle Scrim, hosted ‘The friendly road’, a popular but controversial religious radio programme in the 1930s. In it he criticised the government and urged support for the Labour Party on humanitarian grounds."

There was a strong Christian presence in some of the union movement, and a number of prominent early Labour politicans had an explicit background in Christian organisations or affiliations. Michael Joseph Savage, Harry Holland, Peter Fraser, Walter Nash, and Arnold Nordmeyer all had clear ties to various churches. A number of Labour politicians were Conscientious Objectors during World War One.

Norman Kirk and then David Lange were later politicians whose political views were deeply informed by their religious upbringing and background.

So what's happened? The overwhelming impression presented by the Christian churches of the late twentieth- and early twent-first centuries is of, on the one hand, a focus on individual salvation, and, on the other, a wish to impose a narrow set of beliefs as the underpinning of social policy. Missing are the champions of social justice, a wish to reduce or reverse social inequality, and undo the perniciousness of modern social alienation and anomie.

It's hard to avoid noting the parallel with the decline or reduction in influence of the traditional 'British' segment of our society and the gradual 'Americanisation' of our society and especially economy. The replacement of the traditional mainstream Churches (Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Presbytarian) with the newer, pentecostal-orentated churches like Arise and Destiny with their mimicry of US 'tele-vangelists' and contrived audience hysteria.

You wonder if Christ is spinning on his Cross.