some pre-anzac day reflections

there's a holiday tomorrow, so you should have a little bit of time on your hands.  here's how you can spend about half an hour of it:

this is an excellent discussion with CTU head helen kelly and MUNZ head gary parsloe, on the ports of auckland dispute, the affco/talleys dispute and workplace safety (or the lack thereof) in nz. another plea from me as well to support affco workers by refusing to buy talleys products and by donating to the NZCTU disputes fund (38-9007 0894028 08).




a few links of interest:

• i had a friend, aliya danzeisen, attend the Women Leaders of New Asia Summit - the only woman from nz to do so.  this report (pdf) related to the status of women in our region was released at the summit.  here's an article summarising the findings:

The 2 billion women living in Asia are still paid less than men for similar work and are extremely underrepresented in top leadership positions, even in wealthy countries such as Japan, according to a report issued Thursday....


While the status of women varies widely from country to country from one category to the next, overall, "to continue in this direction would put in peril Asia's many achievements," said the report ...

• a couple of good pieces on racism in sport - one from the ever wonderful ruth desouza:

This illusion that sport can be a connecting force is challenged in Sara Ahmed‘s critique of the “happy” multicultural film Bend it Like Beckham. Directed by Kenyan-born, Punjabi British filmmaker Gurinder Chadha, Ahmed suggests that the central message of the film is that ”the would-be- citizen who embraces the national game is rewarded with happiness”. The feel good vibe of this film ignores the negative affects surrounding racism and unproblematically represents visibly different migrants as patriarchal, closed, traditional, fixed and unchanging. White people can be inspired and warmed by Jess’ migrant success, as she bends the ball (a metaphor for disrupting cultural barriers) without needing to feel guilty about racism. The film plays into the notion that success is the reward for integration and is also proof that racism can be overcome.

and another in the herald by rawiri taonui, which also very much worth reading.




and finally, i know it's anzac day tomorrow.  but i won't be participating in any ceremonies or commemorating the day in any way.  perhaps it's because i'm too jaded, or just too tired of the jingoism.  perhaps it's because it think we should be focusing more on the problems we have here and now, especially those raised in the video above, and wider issues related to poverty and safety.  we should be putting our energies towards the actual values those soldiers believed they were fighting for: freedom, dignity and a fair society where everyone could earn a living wage.