Grid of posts 2×3

  • It’s the right thing to do

    Excerpted from the Spark discussion list http://groups.google.com/group/thespark-discussion  grant_brookes wrote: So are demands that no-one else supports “better” than ones thatachieve reforms within the framework of capitalism? Where’s the logic in that, unless the purpose of campaigning around “radical” demands is to brand a group, for recruiting purposes? Don Franks replied: Are political demands really like garments Read more

  • Hypocrisy, lying and double dealing and double standards

    Excerpted from the Spark discussion list http://groups.google.com/group/thespark-discussion Is there any sanctimonious law and order or religious fanatic that doesn’t have a secret past full of transgressions? A lot of people will be asking this after the exposure of Act’s law’n’order heavy David Garrett. Act is not a major political force or threat, and it really Read more

  • LEFT LOSES STAUNCH ANTI CAPITALIST FIGHTER

    by Don Franks Staunch anti capitalist fighter Jim Delahunty died in his sleep last night after over sixty years of uncompromising activism. Born into a working class Auckland family, Jim grew up to the sound of his dad’s Irish rebel songs. This laid the foundation for a lifetime of left activism often set to music. Read more

  • Book review “The Laughing Policeman – my brilliant career in the New Zealand Police”

    by Glenn Wood ( Shoal Bay Press) reviewed by Don Franks I noticed this book in an op shop. Its back cover blurbed: ” the hilarious account of Glenn’s adventures as a police cadet…a warm and funny book that will appeal to all New Zealanders”. Harrumph I thought, but  the first sentence – “I always Read more

  • Smash the anti-worker laws! public meeting, Hamilton

    Wednesday September 22, 1pm Waikato University, Student Union Building, @ Guru Fabians room Public meeting organised by Hamilton Left Initiative in response to new round of government attacks on working people. Come along, support or help build student involvement in upcoming union/workers actions. Speakers representing Greens on Campus, Unite on Campus, Workers Party on Campus, and Unions Read more

  • Book Review: Encircled Lands: Te Urewera, 1820 – 1921 by Judith Binney (Bridget Williams Books, 2009)

    Reviewed by Mike Kay One of New Zealand’s leading contemporary historians, Judith Binney, has written a major study on the story of how the people of the Urewera came to be parted from their lands. This book deserves to be widely read. However, at over 600 pages long, it is unlikely to reach the audience Read more