Fighting Terror With Terror

I guess Europe and the US will never learn when it comes to the causes of terrorism.

Instead of pontificating about how it's all Islam's fault, or claiming that "they" just hate our freedom or digging your heels in when it comes to helping refugees, here are some tips that might just work:

Stop arming other countries and propping up their militaries

Stop acting like you have no responsibility for the thousands of refugees fleeing the countries that you armed and fortified.

Get some enlightenment about what Islam is and learn about the Koran. One of the first things you might notice is that, like Christianity, Islam is interpreted and practiced in many ways.

Stop persecuting people who want to express their faith by wearing a certain item of dress

Stop fobbing off large communities of ethnic groups into impoverished ghettos and thinking you can get away with forgetting about them

Start looking at the causes of poverty and discontent instead of using the ignorant reasoning that people are just "lazy" or "evil."

Stop using terror attacks in Europe and elsewhere to bomb the shit out of Syria. The recent attack was orchestrated by someone who was born and grew up in Belgium. The seeds of discontent were sown there.

Don't complain when your borders are crossed by even more terrified refugees from Syria who are now having to flee conflict coming from inside and outside their own country.

Things Get Ugly in Parliament

Australia has been having a great time lately paying Indonesian smugglers to turn away refugees from its shores and indulging in its usual mix of racism and conservative paranoia.

If people arrive in Australia seeking asylum they are likely sent to the festering hellpit known as Christmas Island to be mistreated and forgotten about.

A related issue has hit New Zealand and caused some ugly behavior from the Prime Minister and his supporters.

Australia has a lot of kiwis working and living there and putting their hard earned cash into its economy. While Aussies working in New Zealand are entitled to health care benefits, the same right is not given to kiwis in Australia. Australian citizenship is not easily attained. You can work your whole life in the country and build a family there and still only be a visitor whose stay is subject to onerous terms.

Recently, Australia has decided to get tough on non citizens who have committed any number of offenses and put them up for deportation.

This has included a number of kiwi non violent offenders who had minor convictions when they were younger and have since gone on to become productive members of Australian society.

The drag net recently picked up a former kiwi soldier who had served honorably and moved to Australia in 2012. He was put into solitary confinement for belonging to a motorcycle gang which is not an illegal offense in the area where he lives. He has not been charged with any criminal activity in relation to his membership.

It is examples like this that have cause many to criticize John Key and his supporters for not speaking out for the citizens of New Zealand who are being treated this way in Australia.

Instead of listening, processing and responding with a level head, the prime minister shot off his mouth in parliament saying that those criticizing him were "supporting rapists."

This lead a number of women MP to stand up parliament and try to speak about there personal experiences with sexual assault. The power to their microphones was cut off by the speaker of parliament and they were kicked out. Other women followed them out in protest.

The point they were trying to make was that John Key was being unreasonable and that they, as victims of sexual assault certainly did NOT stand with rapists.

Watching the women try to speak and get shut down was painful and rage inducing.

Asking the leader of your country to speak up for the rights of his citizens abroad is not tantamount to siding with rapists and murderers.

Key's words were shameful and he should apologize.

In the days following his outburst MRAs and a former female president of the National party, Michelle Boag, have come out to chastise the women for speaking out and act as if they were basking in their victimhood.

I'd like to think that I live in a progressive country where people (and especially people of my gender) are better than this but then idiots like Boag open their festering gobs and it gets a bit depressing.

No one who has been raped and had their power taken from them exults in their "victimhood."

If some people are too thick to understand why victims of sexual assault would be offended by the commentary of the PM then I feel sorry for them while still feeling they should sit down and STFU.

Maybe this latest incident will cause Key's party to lose votes and someone with the will to stand up to Australia will take over.

We can only wait and see.

A Good Birthday

Nick is an awesome gift giver.

For my recent birthday he gave me a fishing rod, moleskin notebook and pencils and a bird book.

He knows me well! I am now well equipped for my research trip out to Arthur's Pass in December.

He also gave the NPR some change so she would buy me something and I got a lovely candle from her.

Nice.

Good News Tuesday

I got my acceptance letter for the University of Canterbury School of Law today.

I am so excited!

I can just imagine myself, the greying elder student sitting in the front of the class with my notebook and number 2 pencil.

Woot!

Now I have to get some funding and balance my classroom and work schedules.

A Town Called Otira

Nick and I went to Arthur's Pass so I could finally complete the climb to the top of the Temple Basin track.

Just past the track is a small town called Otira. It was a booming hive of activity during the twenties when the rail tunnel was being built and the train station was in heavy use.

The entire town was purchased by a couple in 1998 for $80,000.00

Today the town consists of an historic hotel and a collection of cute cottages built during the boom days.

It had a school, heated swimming pool, tea rooms and post office once but they have all been closed or converted into something else.

There are about 80 residents (though where they all live is a mystery to me).

The town hasn't really been a destination spot for a while and it has a quietness that I love.

I guess most people know of Arthur's Pass with it's two cafes, reasonable accommodation and easy access to multiple walking tracks.

For me though, a quiet spot with cottages that back up to a national park forest and are available for short term rent is a dream come true.

The town is two hours from my house so it's accessible on weekends. It is the perfect place to establish a study base for the areas various kea populations.

Nick and I  popped into the hotel for lunch and I was fascinated by the antique decor.

There were some creative examples of taxidermy in there including two hairless rats that had been given bird wings. A stuffed possum was graced with a pair of horns and fangs.

There was a fire going and a brass bucket full of coals sat nearby.

There was a canary in a small cage by the window and an Australian Galah in a large cage opposite of it.

While I whispered to the larger bird, an old man in the corner told me the bird's name was Scottie and that he could talk.

This man was quite lively and had a twinkle in his eye.

He decided to get out of his seat at one point and it took him three tries to get up the momentum to stand.

"I'm as old as some of the things in here," he chuckled, nodding toward the ephemera of yesteryear.

As I whispered to Scottie he set his crown feathers up and asked how I was doing.

"His name is Scottie," a younger man said to me.

The older man hissed out an aggressive "Jesus Christ!" at him.

I guess when you grow up in a place you feel you've earned the right to tell the outsiders all the good stories.

How dare some young upstart swoop in a steal your glory! The cheek!

The younger man then proceeded to tell me everything the older one had just explained.

Nick and I were given a tour of the hotel. Several of the rooms held giant ornate wooden beds, including one Queen Elizabeth's father had used when he had visited the place back in 19-humdee hum. And they are still talking about it like it was yesterday.

I liked that town. I felt an immediate connection to it and looked forward to returning soon.

Recently, I contacted the family who own the town and they have agreed to rent one of their cottages to me after Christmas.

I can't wait to get down there with pens and notebooks and wander off into the woods to study kea.

The lady who runs the pub and hotel told me there are three keas that like to come to the window and stare at Scottie.

Maybe I won't have to venture far to meet my first study subjects.

The "My Life" Update

I am now working full time for a law firm that handles mostly conveyancing and wills.

The buying and selling of property is mostly straight forward but the wills have taught me that humans beings get rather cruel and finicky towards the end of their lives.

I applied to the law school at the University of Canterbury and I plan on taking basic courses while working.

If all goes well I should be a barrister/solicitor in five to eight years.

At that rate I should have about ten good years of practicing law before I retire and reminisce about the good old days from my small cabin in Arthur's pass where I am surrounded by keas and beech trees.

I will have a birthday in two weeks. I don't really care about this. I used to but I don't anymore.

I am finding that as I get older things that once amused me and mattered to me no longer do.

I used to want to be popular and thought of as clever Now I want to go unnoticed.

I also daily thank the powers that be that the internet wasn't around when I was younger.

I'm started to feel distant from young people. I have to mentally refrain from starting sentences with "in my day..."

I have given up heels for sensible footwear with ample arch support.

I have many plants growing in pots at the moment. I also have a rickety raised garden bed where I am growing cauliflower, tomatoes, basil, cilantro and some cornflowers.

For some reason this damned feral cat keeps getting in there and turding it up. I want to rig up some sort of water spraying system with sensors so it gets squirted every time it tries to drop a poo bomb.

The library is having a Diwali celebration next Saturday and I want to go. I am still holding out hope that one day I will make the effort to enroll in a Bharatanatyam class but in the meantime I will watch others and feel inspired.

The baby is saying "no no no" now and pointing at things he wants. He is fascinated by the vacuum cleaner. So...normal baby things there.

I have taken up coloring in those adult coloring books. Nick is not impressed.

The same guy who wages war on imaginary villages on his iphone is exasperated by my coloring habit.

Tomorrow is Labor Day and I am going to Arthur's Pass to hike up the mountain trail to Temple Basin. I will be heading over to Otira for lunch and checking out the view from Death's Corner. Nick has accused me of going so I can "secretly feed the Keas,"

Pshaw!

The Weekend in Pictures: Glacier Edition

Nick took me over to the West Coast so we could visit with some of his friends and so I could fangirl over the abundant bird life.

We passed through Arthur's Pass and I was required to go and squee over  scientifically observe two groups of keas.

The drive from the pass to Whataroa was lovely even though it was peppered with Nick's commentary about who drove off of what cliff and who stole what from which pub and what sort of injury he sustained on which rugby field.

The man has lived a full life.

Alex napped quite a bit in the car and was pretty cheerful when he woke up. He especially enjoyed going in and out of the sliding door at our motel.

We had some awesome steak and venison for dinner and took a soak in the local hot pools.

The next morning Nick dropped me off at the foot of the Franz Joseph glacier trail.

Look at my smug face. I was about the hike the hell out of that terminal moraine.*

Pokey ice sheets make for some interesting rock formations.

We can all learn from stickman's misfortunes.

The glacier in all its bumpy majesty.

Another view of the glacier with the dirty bits at the bottom. No one said nature was tidy.

Behold the abrasive power of slow moving ice!

The shy Tomtit.

*Nick would like you to know that he taught me about "terminal moraines." Apparently his geography teacher was a bit obsessed with them.