As Fi Bows to Peer Pressure

while I finish exams. Expect posts possibly between now and the 31st, and then it will begin again officially in November.

I’ve always liked the word studious, it rolls off the tongue nicely. Not that I’m a particularly studious person.

I should be studying but things are playing up and I can’t access all the readings (they’re articles on Proquest) so I’m ignoring International Cooperation and Institutions, and enjoying the sun. It’s yummy!

Hmmmm, I should email my essay to Stephen, he will probably give me no mark at all if I don’t get around to doing that, which handily reminds me that I got an A yesterday and I’m feeling very happy about that caus it was for one of my last essays (the ones I was working so hard on up until a week ago). Admittedly it was the 5,000 word one, but I’m still quite happy about it. I might actually pass this year, what an entertaining thought! Almost studious!

New Zealand gives 0.26% of GNI to official development assistance. In 2004/2005, this was $259,228. $14,500 of that went to emergency and disaster relief.

In comparison, the cost of Labour’s student interest write-off plan is $100,000,000 in the first year. Annual operating cost rises to $390,000,000 by third year, and to $500,000,000 after six years, and by 2019 will be $924,000,000.

National’s tax cuts plan was thought to cost a grand total of $1.165 billion

So the $14,500 spent on disaster relief is 0.0145% of the cost of the student loan interest write-off for the first year alone. My calculator failed to calculate what it would be by 2015, it gave up on it (which means it’s a very small number, and I have a very bad calculator).

It’s not that the write-off, or the tax cuts are bad, but I think there’s a few better things we could be doing with our money.

I’ve been having a lot of rants . . . been catching up, I’ve had three months of being polite to everyone I meet. So I sent a very long “this is where I’ve been, where I’m going, and what it’s been like” rant email to my prayer4 and I know they’ll hate me for it, it’s incredibly long!!!! But it’s been good to say it . . .

The thing is I’ve had these two songs on my brain all night and they’re driving me crazy . . . for many reasons. One’s the antithesis of the other, but they both appeal right now. . . odd really . . . one’s a memory . . . and the other is my ‘we’ve still got two weeks to go’ election song . . . want to guess which is which?

Avril Lavigne - Fall to Pieces

AND

Avril Lavigne - Slipped Away

I have been wanted to write this since the election and finally now seems right.

But before I do, I want you to take one minute of your time to say a prayer to whoever you believe in, for the familes and friends of the thousands of people that died in Pakistan and Guatemala in the past couple of days. While you’re at it, consider the families of those that didn’t make it out of New Orleans, those who will never forget July 7, and those who died in the Asian Tsunami last December. Finally spare one thought for those 20,000 people that die from the effects of living in extreme poverty (7,500 young adults die of AIDS, up to 8,000 children perish from malaria, 5,000 parents die of tuberculosis, and thousands more are killed by diseases that attack bodies weakened by chronic hunger and malnutrition). It’s a fragile world.

Now I’m going to use this to fuel an angry rant, and I’m sorry if using this as a springboard offends anyone but it’s important . . . so important that peoples lives depend on it.

So we just had an election here in New Zealand, and 80% of the country voted. I know a whole heap of people who voted specific parties for great reasons, they truly believed in a party’s vision or they offered a range of policies that these people saw as important. Unfortunately, I’ve also met many more people who voted one party for a terrible reason. So you wanted to change the government and you thought ‘National’s the only way to do that and taxcuts would be good too’, so you ticked that box and went on your merry way. Or you voted Labour just ’cause they’ll cut interest on student loans”. If you voted for a party for some pathetic reason like this, then I’m sorry but you suck!! This rant is for you:

Today, we emptied our disaster relief budget, it’s all gone now because there’s been quite a few disasters lately (have you bothered to notice?) and it wasn’t the biggest budget either. Every year 0.26ish% of our Gross National Income is given to ALL aid. A very small part of that goes on giving some assistance to countries who are recovering from a natural disaster, like Pakistan and Guatemala currently. The Government pledged to give 0.7% to aid, 0.26% isn’t even half of that. We’ve run out of money to give to help countries that need help in disasters. Is this not more important than the interest on your student loan? A number of parties pledged to keep pushing the government to increase its aid volume, Greens and United Future were just two of those. But instead of thinking about what the world needs, you thought about you on election day. Maybe you considered your family for a brief second, and then went with what suited you best. Think silly people! Actually know who you are voting for, and consider making up your mind on something other than a bribe. New Zealand plays a crucial role internationally, and even though it’s a world away from here to there, they’re just as important as you.

For those voters who actually thought unselfishly this election - you are truly fantastic people. We need more of you.

If a typhoon hit a Pacific island tomorrow, there’d be no more aid to give them. How much would their lives mean to you?

Last year I spent a little time in Europe, I think most people remember my tales of exploits and entertainment. I also spent a lot of time listening to one cd, which I’m listening to right now. It wasn’t my favourite before I left but it reminded me of my home, friends, a life that at the time seemed a world away.

My first proper day in Madrid was terrible, I have never been so lonely and lost. I’m happy to say that it got much better, thanks to two Kiwi girls in my hostel. But after cruising around the city and looking at some amazing art all day, I went back to my hostel kinda early-ish and lay on my bed listening to this cd. I desperately wanted to be with people, and wasn’t really looking forward to coming home . . . Totally lonely and devastated.

And it was about then that it hit me. The thing is that my God in New Zealand was the same God with me in Madrid. It sounds silly but it’s quite a realisation. Suddenly everything looked up as I realised that no matter what I did, where I went, who I was with, God was there too. That hot afternoon in Madrid, I feel asleep in God’s arms (not in any deathly sense) knowing that God was, and still is, the bestest friend anyone could have.    

And I’m back. Not that anyone really knew I was missing…mostly because I wasn’t actually missing. But this is not the point.

So I had the BEST time running in the election, it wasn’t all totally fabulous, but mostly. Thanks to anyone and everyone who voted for me, there were a lot more of you than I expected. Sooo good!

Tomorrow I will hand in my third 10,000 word essay, and leave the last of my Vic internal work behind. Only exams to go and I’m not that worried! So yeah…anyone that was wondering where I was, I’ve been typing away madly finishing these large final papers. Honours is for silly people, and running for Parliament made it sillier, but the essays were good and they have all been handed in on time. Fantastic! Planning beforehand helped hugely, thanks to all the lecturers that made us write research proposals.

Anyway blogs: this here blog is going to stay, and it’s going to be my personal blog, likely to be quite a bit of ranting on rather random topics here. On the upside this blog will also let you know where I am. Or where I’m not. A must read (oh definitely!)!

My TakingItGlobal blog, which only a few knew about, will be used to discuss international politics, and global issues. We’ll be starting with my favourite topics of poverty and climate change.

My Wellington Central blog - New Zealand politics/United Future/Wellington bits blog. Feel free to keep it in your links, I will be updating it with a tad more regularity now that I don’t need Outlook to tell me where to go, and when I need to be there. As you may have already noticed, many of the posts on the election have been removed. This is because they are simply taking up space. More will be removed. Proper updates will begin on Tuesday.

Right so now I’m thinking about getting some sleep. Now that is something I’ve really missed…