UPDATED – 2 MAY

As the risk of a Swine Flu pandemic increases, we should think about how it came about, and what we could do to prevent similar crises in the future. The financial meltdown lead politicians to consider systemic changes – will the swine flu outbreak do the same for the food production industry?
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From the Peru archives

The high life
You don’t see the typical guide book Peruvian – indigenous, dark-skinned and dressed in brightly coloured woven fabrics – at the gym in downtown Lima. Here, the average exerciser looks distinctly European, a combination of natural attributes and money: relatively tall and fair-skinned with an unnaturally high proportion of blondes.
This is where the wealthy come to keep up appearances. Read the rest of this article »

New revelations about the death of Ian Tomlinson highlight the benefits of this media-saturated society, while Bob Quick’s embarrasing mistake shows its dangers.

When a man died at the anti-G20 protests in London at the beginning of this month, it seemed an open and shut case. Ian Tomlinson died of a heart attack; police had done their best to assist him when he fell to the ground. The Independent Police Complaints Commission let the London police conduct their own investigation, and didn’t look into things much further.

If it hadn’t been for the media doing their own research, that’s where things would have ended.

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The cop is in a huff when he pulls over the carload of tourists. He stands in the cold dusk air on the main road into Arequipa scanning the registration and insurance documents. Fernando, riding co-pilot and the only local in the car, answers the questions for the non-Spanish speaking driver. They assume he’ll just nod and wave them on, as other police officers have done so far – the car’s papers are in perfect order. Instead he asks gruffly for the Circulation Card, something they neither have, nor need. The games begin.
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If factories can pick up and move overseas when they want, then why can’t workers? That’s what the US Socialist Worker Party’s candidate for the Presidency, Roger Calero, reckons.

I interviewed Calero a few weeks ago and, on the whole, our perspectives on world affairs were so far apart that I sometimes wondered if we were both talking about the same global system.

But I agreed with what he had to say about immigration.
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How do you conduct a credible study? Well, if you’re looking into the effects of a company’s practices, it might look a little more kosher if that company doesn’t fund the research.

This story in today’s Herald reports on a Dow-funded study into the health effects of a Dow weed-killer factory in Taranaki.

The study concluded that “there is no evidence of increased cancer or disease” related to dioxin exposure at the factory.

But buried at the bottom of the story (page two on the web version), is the study leader’s acknowledgement that the research “incorrectly suggested that health effects had been studied”.

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When Winston Peters holds up his little “No” placard, it makes me want to say “yes”. It’s a knee-jerk reaction, but I can’t help it.

So I say that this free trade deal with China is not the end of the world as we know it.

I can’t help thinking that more than a few of those who give Chinese human rights abuses as a reason not to sign were just using a new wagon for an old band. By which I mean ardent protectionists – who simply don’t want to open the country to a trade liberalisation agreement with China – used the recent protests in Tibet as a vehicle to make their point.
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The sentence: six months home detention
The crime: coming to New Zealand on a false passport, and using a false name (and, one would presume, false documentation) to apply for citizenship and a New Zealand passport.
Now, I’m no Sensible Sentencing Trust fanatic, but to me this story just doesn’t add up.

A Ukranian guy who came to New Zealand in 2004 with a false passport was sentenced to 3 years in jail (on appeal reduced to 18months). In 1997 a woman arrived with a false Dutch passport and claimed refugee status – even she was given three months jail.

The Department of Internal Affairs tells us that passport forgery “ is not worth the risk – don’t try it you will be caught“. But it seems that if you have the right connections, then getting caught doesn’t even land you in much trouble.

What is this guy still doing in New Zealand?
What are we not being told in this story??

What do Elliot Spitzer and Ben Bernanke have in common?
Greg Palast reckons that Spitzer aggravated important people with his meddling in the affairs of banks which were throwing around cash at sub-prime mortgages.
Have a look at this story and ask yourself how the media got wind that Spitzer was throwing around cash at expensive hookers.

I’m all for the wee guy sticking it to the big bully… but I think we need to remember that the wee kid isn’t always spotless (or even particularly good) himself.
I am of course referring to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his aggravation of the United States. The super power has rampantly mixed itself up with Latin American affairs over centuries. But that doesn’t mean that any opposition is good opposition.
So I was disappointed with John Pilger’s documentary “The War on Democracy”, which provides a remarkably un-nuanced view of intra-American affairs.
Chavez good, USA bad: the world just doesn’t work in black and white.
Anyway, have a look at the review I did for the Pacific Media Centre online and let me know what you think. So far I’ve been told that it’s “fair and balanced”, and I must say it worries me that Fox News comes to mind when someone reads my writing…