"See what you miss if you don't stay alert"

image credit: Shelley Hedges

"Hey guys someone said something important and we missed it. DRINKS!" so said  Zaphod Beeblebrox as it slowly dawned on him that he and his fellow travellers might not be dead, and before the full realisation they were indeed at Milliways the restaurant at the end of the universe.

Over the week I've been busy try to find ways to make my life suck a little less. So I've been a little too preoccupied to write of the evils of rightwing and paranoid politics that befallen many of us.

The week  started off well with New  Zealands first legally sanction same sex marriages. 30 couples tied the knot, with one couple having their ceremony  on a flight to Queenstown. I wonder if the reception involves jet-boating the Rakia river or bungy jumping. It is good to see someone has reason to celebrate but lets not be too distracted.

Today our National  led government push the GCSB bill through parliament 61 to 59. someone in opposition abstained. A poll that contacts people by cell phone as well as land line giving more accurate results has shown a 9% drop in support for national, meaning that if an election were held today, John Key's smile would be looking for a job tomorrow.

Also today we learn Bradley Manning has been sent down for 35 years. Not as bad as the possible sentence he could have got, but plenty bad, he's eligible for parole in 9 years. It is funny how authorities are so keen to spy and reveal the misdeeds of Joe Citizen, but if Joe does the same to the authorities he gets totally screwed.  Bradley should not spend one more day in custody. Meanwhile support is growing for his Nobel Peace Prize nomination, and deservedly so.

On Sunday a new group, had it inaugural meeting. Calling it self "Off the grid Wellington" six people came together to exchange ideas for sustainable living, some of them were even good ideas for businesses, while some want to do things at home that may require at team effort to construct, like a chicken coup.

On Tuesday Oil Free Wellington and Mana Wellington organised a showing of Bidder 70, the story of Tim deChristopher, how he "monkey wrenched" and illegal land rights auction, and the drawn out legal process that led to him spending 2 years in federal prison until April this year. Tim started something, a movement for non-violent civil disobedience against big carbon, America has not seen anything like this since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. This documentary is well worth seeing.