Episode 44 is now available. You can listen to it or download it through the player at the bottom of this post, or subscribe for free through iTunes here (you must have the free iTunes player installed). You can also listen to it for free through the player on my MySpace page.

There was weird news about a “terrorism-related” raid in New Zealand but, at the moment, it should all be taken with a grain of salt. The local election results are in and I tell you a bit about that. There’s a weird TV commercial running in New Zealand. Leave a comment or send an email to amerinz[at)yahoo.com; if you put “Comment” in the subject line, I’ll know to read it on the podcast.

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AmeriNZ #44 - Weird [ 18:48 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Episode 43 is now available.

You can listen to it or download it through the player at the bottom of this post, or subscribe for free through iTunes here (you must have the free iTunes player installed). You can also listen to it for free through the player on my MySpace page.

First up, I have some bits of good news to report. Then I talk about our local elections, which are drawing to a close. We’ve already mailed in our ballots, but there’s huge concern that many people won’t bother. Why is the turnout low? I talk about that and also about how hard it is to get information about candidates. A little computer talk, then the puppy update.

I then talk about the New Zealand authors who were on the poll on my blog. It asked what authors, if any, people had read at least in part (this last part was for me, because I often fail to finish books).
The results were: Janet Frame: 2, Elizabeth Knox: 2, Witi Ihimaera: 4, Owen Marshall: 2, Frank Sargeson: 3, Peter Wells: 3 and None of these: 12. I talk about all these authors. Then on to comments and we’re done.

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AmeriNZ #43 - Votes and Books [ 35:30 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Episode 35 is now available. You can listen to it or download it through the player at the bottom of this post, or subscribe for free through iTunes here (you must have the free iTunes player installed). You can also listen to it for free through the player on my MySpace page.

I begin today by updating earlier topics. That’s at 1:58. Then at 7:47 I talk about the extended topic for today, New Zealand’s local elections. Finally, it’s comments at 15:05.

The opening track today was by a terrible new recording artist. Bridge music is the same.

On Tuesday I talked about how staff at Air New Zealand apparently edited Wikipedia to make the airline look better in an entry about the 1979 crash at Mount Erebus in Antarctica. According to the Sydney Morning Herald (via Stuff), it turns out that people in Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet made 126 changes to Wikipedia articles to remove things that were damaging to the government of current Prime Minister John Howard. But people in Australia’s Defence Department made 5,000 edits! The article says:

Other curious—though apparently non-political—edits by department employees include adding sentences on various sites, including the additions “Freemasonry is the work of Satan”, “Mormonism is the work of Satan” and “Jesus is god”.

Meanwhille, in Canada it’s been revealed that Parliamentary computers were used to add anti-gay comments to Wikipedia articles.

Back in episode 33, I talked about the religious right in New Zealand, and I mentioned that a secretive right wing christianist group tried to influence the 2005 NZ general election by spending over a million dollars on an advertising smear campaign against Labour and the Greens. That group is called the Exclusive Brethren, and they’re back in the news. Australian Prime Minister John Howard met with them recently, as have other members of his government. He defended doing so, calling them, basically, an “ordinary Christian” group. Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd has called the group and extremist cult and refused to meet them.

The extended topic for today is the start of the campaigns for local government elections.

Leave a comment or take part in the current poll. You can also send an email to me at amerinz{at)yahoo.com.

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AmeriNZ 35 - Election [ 24:05 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Episode 33 is now available. You can listen to it or download it through the player at the bottom of this post, or subscribe for free through iTunes here (you must have the free iTunes player installed). You can also listen to it for free through the player on my MySpace page.

There was no podcast on Friday because I simply ran out of time. It’s possible that I also won’t have time to record this coming Friday.

Should I keep the twice-weekly schedule, or does the sort of limited scope of this podcast make more sense in weekly doses? What do you think? Obviously I’ll do what makes sense for me, but I’d really like to know what you’d prefer, so vote in the anonymous poll at the top right of this blog.

Today I go over a selection of recent news stories about or affecting New Zealand, all of which have something to do with US influence on New Zealand. That starts at 2:03. Then, I’ll go into more detail about one of those stories on the religious right in New Zealand, my main topic today, at 8:55. Finally, it’s comments at 15:43.

Please leave a comment or send an email to me at amerinz[at}yahoo.com, and be sure to vote in the poll at the top right of this blog.

Links from today’s episode:

About travel rules—Democracy Now! for July 31, new rules for travelling to the US. Immigration changes proposed in New Zealand. Copyright law changes in New Zealand. Low unemployment rate in NZ continues. Slap Upside the Head on the Gay Pride Flag. Incidental music this episode by Nick Murray from the Podsafe Music Network.

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AmeriNZ 33 - Religious Right [ 21:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download