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War and Peace

A review of good work in South Auckland with previously warring groups; the system’s dilemma of how to react to pro-social gang leaders; coping with the tough times when things go wrong (stick to the kaupapa and say your karakia); big inflow of P-related product threatening to wipe out progress of demand reduction strategies overnight; ANZAC has become a day of national unity; Maori and Pakeha seem to get on better when at war than when at peace; Napier Pilot City Trust works on this with Unity Week and builds the Robson Collection as a resource for building communities rather than prisons in a time when our numbers have doubled in 20 years; Governor General Anand Satyanand gives the Robson Lecture on the history of capital punishment and pays respects to community volunteers; a 93rd birthday for Helen Mason.

#97 WW2 Labyrinth Opens

Edge Message #97 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM New Zealanders in Global Headlines New Zealand headlines in this week’s sampling of global media appearing in International Herald Tribune, Artforum, Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Age, Guardian, Anchorage Daily News, The …

#96 NZ Ventures into Robotics

Edge Message #96 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM New Zealanders in Global Headlines New Zealand headlines in this week’s sampling of global media appearing in The New York Times, Guardian, Washington Post, Science Daily, Santa Fe Reporter, Evening Standard, Prospect, …

Easter Edge

In a crowded and diverse Easter calendar on the edge Den encounters suicide and resists a presiding churchman’s self-righteousness “with a quiver of arrows, sharpened arguments based on familiarity with biblical text”. He presents another Hui & Huilli for St Paddy’s Day, celebrating two rebel cultures, before contemporaneously facilitating a community arts festival and a Black Power hui, then visiting Ngati Dread in Ruatoria to confirm the roots of reggae and Rasta in Aotearoa.

#95 Remembering Kiwi Heroes

Edge Message #95 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM New Zealanders in Global Headlines New Zealand headlines in this week’s sampling of global media appearing in BBC, Variety, Empire, Telegraph, Sydney Morning Herald, Playbill, Newsday, National Geographic, The Age, The West …

The Cycle of Life

Denis notes the cycle of life as he gathers together the memories of those who have recently passed, Sir Ed Hillary, Hone Tuwhare, Shirley Smith, Del Adams, Ben Dalton Snr. Then it’s on to life in Aotearoa New Zealand with the Waitangi Day furore over gangs on marae, Shane Jones badmouthing Josh Masters of the Tribesmen and Killer Beez, and the Government's get tough on graffiti intentions means it must be election time. Musical notes around Warren Maxwell, Don McGlashan and the Ragamuffin festival; and grave concerns over body snatching "a new twist on the consequences of miscegany". Read on.

#94 Conchords Take International Award

Edge Message #94 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM New Zealanders in Global Headlines New Zealand headlines in this week’s sampling of global media appearing in The Independent, The Age, Earth Times, Variety, The Washington Times, The Telegraph, International Herald Tribune, …

#93 Jane Campion Recalls Janet Frame

Edge Message #93 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM New Zealanders in Global Headlines New Zealand headlines in this week’s sampling of global media appearing in New York Times, Wall St Journal, BBC, Guardian, Financial Times, The Age, ABC News, Monocle, …

#92 Kiwis On The Edge

Edge Message #92 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM New Zealanders in Global Headlines New Zealand headlines in this week’s sampling of global media appearing in New York Times, Times, Guardian, BBC, Financial Times, Sydney Morning Herald, Toronto Star, Tehran Times, …

#91 New Zealander’s In Global Headlines

Edge Message #91 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM New Zealanders in Global Headlines New Zealand headlines in this week’s sampling of global media appearing in New York Times, BBC, CNN, Guardian, Telegraph,Observer, Variety, Citizen-Times, news.com.au, Melbourne Age,Sydney Morning Herald, The …

#90 Kiwi Duo Re-Invent the T-Shirt

Edge Message #90 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM New Zealanders in Global Headlines New Zealand headlines in this week’s sampling of global media appearing in The New York Times, The Times, Globe & Mail, Salon,Guardian, The Age, Monocle, Undercover, China …

May Peace Prevail

A new change-agent workforce in the making; pro social multi-gang meetings in Mangere at a time of raised activity; New Zealand as a Jansenist society; a bevy of social development bureaucrats but little progress and much procrastination; National Radio relying on television media personalities with ‘make-up deep’ analyses; mourning the dead and paying respects to our living treasures; Rick Bryant’s Jubilation Choir in the Old Church restaurant, “one host and a chalice of wine please”; Christmas Blessings.

#89 New Zealander wins Humanitarian Award

Edge Message #89 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM Aotearoa whanau whanui ki te Aonui Global Community of New Zealanders From Brian Sweeney, producer www.nzedge.com GLOBAL HEADLINES: New Zealand headlines in this week’s survey of global media appearing in The Times, …

#88 New Zealander Shows at Guggenheim

Edge Message #88 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM Aotearoa whanau whanui ki te Aonui Global Community of New Zealanders From Brian Sweeney, producer www.nzedge.com Greetings nzedge.com global community of New Zealanders. For some months we have been publishing our newsletters …

“Pull up, pull up”: The Psychology of Colonisation

Let's deal with the alleged terrorism and Tuhoe issue. The last sounds heard by those at the controls immediately prior to the airship tragedy at Mt Erebus reportedly were "Whoop whoop, pull up, pull up". Erebus was in part due to 'white out' and the same phenomenon - this time 'white out' manifest as the prevalence of a dominant world view rather than as a meteorological circumstance - seems to have metaphorically propelled New Zealand's 'ship of state' into another mountain, Maungapohatu... (2,577 words)

How to Break Out

A headline from gangland: better employment and health; Managing crime and punishment in New Zealand; restorative justice vs the Maricopa Country chain-gang method; the passing of Joseph Roberts, mentor, coach and American Eagle; gang policies in NY (community development) vs LA (suppressive policing); recognition for Ecuador’s Latin Kings Tigilau Ness documentary From Street to Sky; Robert Muldoon and Rastafarianism; social rage directed into art; “music speaks louder than words”; The coronation of Kingi Tuheitia; Bishop Paraone Turei’s sermon affirming “whakakotahi (collective unity) and the desirability of enabling Maori to be unique Papakainga: architecture, whanau housing and the Hawkes Bay village settlement project.

#87 New Zealand Unleashed

Edge Message #87 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM Aotearoa whanau whanui ki te Aonui Global Community of New Zealanders From Brian Sweeney, producer www.nzedge.com Greetings. Update from the semi-regular https://www.nzedge.com/news/. There is a nifty widget called NeoCounter that tells you where …

#86: Country Road, Take Me Home

Edge Message #86 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM Aotearoa whanau whanui ki te Aonui Global Community of New Zealanders 25 JUNE: NEW NZEDGE HERO – SYDNEY SMITH – FORENSIC PIONEER Roxburgh-born forensic science pioneer Sydney Alfred Smith (1883-1969) achieved world …

Looking through a kaleidoscope

Tangis and tributes to two mates; “Maori rhythm”; the edge of thinking and the brink of disobedience; abandoning the drive to criminalize and imprison; Angela Davis visits Aotearoa and finds a faithful following; social activism, and a call to an earlier way of thinking and doing; looking through a kaleidoscope – suppression and wasted human assets, or a criminal conspiracy?; intelligent “Kiwi” policing, no legislation or local by-law needed; loose thinking and moral panic; Zeppelin sightings in the South Island; the need for an inclusive future vision; a good reason to get upset – the grand denial of potential; gratitude, respect and admiration: a ‘celebration of life’ party for Kaylene; prayers, rice and saki to fire up the new kiln at Waiohiki; planting at Mataariki and the promise of a clear sky.

#85: Daily Headlines

Edge Message #85 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM Aotearoa whanau whanui ki te Aonui Global Community of New Zealanders Greetings. We are now publishing on most days www.nzedge.com. See the most recent posts below – and if you wish to receive …

#84: Going Live Daily

Edge Message #84 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM Aotearoa whanau whanui ki te Aonui Global Community of New Zealanders Greetings and thank you for your interest in and exploration of the nzedge.com site, you may have registered in the past …

“Those that have ears let them hear”

Fire-fighting the gang issue in the wake of tumult and tragedy: resolving a problem not mounting an apologia; a stabbing at the courthouse sends scorched emotions tinder dry; warriors gather, tears on tattooed faces, long nights of prayers and necessary korero as baby Jhia is laid to rest in Te Rau o te Aroha urupa; Tipi Wehipeihana's haka calls us to gather and return: "hold firm, hold firm"; MSD's Wannabes report, Spergel's strategy and Baxter's philosophy provide the strategic action headings for our collective action in Aotearoa; "Still want terrorist legislation?" how 'bout: Divert, Contain, Redirect; settler malaise, fear of the natives, indiscriminate spraying of political bullets and the extinction of personal rights; Hori, Hemi, David and Goliath, Utu, terrorism, metaphysical forces and swirling spirits: "We are at a tipping point."

Nga mea o te ora (“The stuff of life”)

Hui & Huilli: Respect to the twin steams that contribute to the cultural flow of our land at Waiohiki for the global phenomenon of St. Patrick's Day; a sparse church service and the Hamuera Ratana Silver Band; Sir Tipene O'Regan's long and hilarious account of an historic whanau liaison; the Governor General offers nation building words and lays down a wero; a Maori Celtic Art Auction; Guinness, music, whiskey, Ceili, Kai and cultural synergy; toasts "To who we are", a call to party and an exchange full of wit and wisdom; hard news at Wellington hospital; the tohunga and the priest; it's and/and Father, not either/or; a hui in Jerusalem at Easter, a gathering of apostles and "a sense of intergenerational transfer".

Arohamai (Forgive Me)

Feeding the soul at Parihaka a century since the passing of Tohu Kakahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai, "the human pillars of passive resistance in New Zealand"; a Festival with 7000 people clustered in campsites; the formalities of powhiri and the beauty of korero and waiata; remembrances of confiscation of land, imprisonment of people, rape of women, looting, invasion, forcible ejection and illegal arrest in 1881; postering about P ("beware of P and seek help if hooked"); "start with bringing peace to your house, to your street and onward"; meeting up with Te Ringa Mangu Dun Mihaka; Unity Pacific, Batacuda Sound Machine and Kora; and the St Patrick's Day Maori/Celtic Hui & Huilli at Waiohiki Marae Napier with Governor General Anand Satyanand, Lady Thea Muldoon and Sir Tipene O'Regan in attendance for long festivities.

#83: Island To Island

Edge Message #83 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM Aotearoa whanau whanui ki te Aonui Global Community of New Zealanders We welcome new friends to nzedge.com from Boston, Brisbane, Cambridge, Chicago, Colombo, Columbus, Durban, Glasgow, Hong Kong, Izmir, Laie, Little Rock, …

#82: Putahi (Interconnectedness)

Edge Message #82 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM Kia Ora Aotearoa whanau whanui ki te Aonui Global Community of New Zealanders See our new ad: “There are five million New Zealanders in the world. Some of their stories are at …

#81: Reaching Round The World

Edge Message #81 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM Kia Ora Aotearoa whanau whanui ki te Aonui Global Community of New Zealanders Welcome to new friends from Bergen, Berlin, Boston, Canton, Dallas, Darwin, Dubai, Exeter, Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kaknda …

Manaakitanga and other matters

Years ago, it would have been the late 70’s, and I was working on an arts employment project with Para Matchitt and Jacob Scott at Otatara, the arts campus of the then Hawke’s Bay Community College, I ran into an …

Reo of the Nation

From P to Parihaka and the Pentagon, Den travels the inspirations and issues that make us lively in Aotearoa 2006: the continued exposure to te reo Maori and the repetitive cultural rituals that refuel the soul; the Parikaha Interational Peace Festival and a debate held on the site of Te Whiti’s house about an alternative approach to methamphetamine; a new sense of cultural fusion in Taranaki; new projects at the Waiohiki Creative Arts Village in Hawkes Bay and the Mokai Whanau Ora project in Wellington; Maori Television; media tripe; and Kiwi or Iwi? – “will we be brave enough to use a bicultural approach to create a sense of place and space rather than a division?”

#80: Counting The Beats

Edge Message #80 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM Greetings to new friends at NZEDGE.COM from Toronto, Melbourne, Saskatoon, Hollywood, Sydney, London, Perth, Vancouver, Santiago, Munich, Singapore, JinHua, Chaterlault, Monteria, Abu Dhabi, Manchester and Dublin as well as Wanaka, Wellington, Whakatane, …

Crime and punishment

9,000 New Zealanders will be imprisoned by the 2010. About a billion dollars is being spent on building more prisons. Denis notes Finland had a higher rate of imprisonment than NZ, but halved it. Via a Whanganui gang scrap between the Mongrel Mob and Hells Angels, a run-in with Mayor Michael Laws, and a salute to Robert Muldoon’s “intelligent pragmatism and genuine humanitarianism”, Denis makes a challenge for sustainable strategies that are inclusive, that invest in people’s lives and help them find what is more meaningful in their lives than substance abuse and self-defeating behaviour.

#79: Work to Make

MESSAGE RECEIVED AT NZEDGE.COM DEC 05 Country: Aotearoa Age: 25 Occupation: Studing on a Te reo n tikanga course Comments: Kia ora bro. P iz ripping our people to shredz if you ever come here tell everyone tha pitfallz of …

Each Atom of the Stone

Denis traverses the 125th anniversary of Tareha Te Moananui MP and the continuum of Maori cosmology, the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, the “P-Promise” in the Hawkes Bay, Chris Tremain’s maiden speech in Parliament, and a Massey University report into methamphetamine use in New Zealand. “The nature of my effort is to mitigate harm and to maximize potential, reduce drag, increase sail, turn criminals to legitimate taxpayers, whatever little shibboleth best sums up the current call to action. Maybe I’m tired and its pre-holiday blues. I’ve had this notion of Sisyphus finishing one haul with his rock up the hill and getting ready for another. On the other hand, that’s what I do so I need to find satisfaction in my travail.”

The Darkside

With $750m going into building new prisons, a 15% projected increase in prison populations, an 85% recidivism rate and 61% of all offenders being Maori, Denis calls time to “whoa!”. There’s got to be a better way, he says, so in tandem with NYNZer John Wareham, Denis starts growing a cadre of change agents. He charts a debate with Wellington’s Darkside and TelecomNZ executives on the subject that “That Pakeha owe Maori a decent living” - and concludes with a Kevin Tamati story from the sidelines of Hawkes Bay rugby league.

Road Trippin’

Denis welcomes his new mokopuna to the world, reflects on the bedrooms of the nation, looks up Muldoon and reminds us there’s no kiwi without iwi. A road trip down south for a special family occasion precipitates a journey through family memories and New Zealand’s history. Graduation day, Paddy O'Reilly's Store, Operation Hurricane, Darksiders, the communes and the co-op movement, Black Power and Baxter.

#78: Dancing In The USA

Edge Message #78 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY America is my second favourite country to be in. It both magnetizes and repels through its dichotomies of excellence and excess, creativity and craziness, invincibility and …

#77: Generation Edge

Edge Message #77 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM To the Global New Zealand Edge Community Whanau whanui kite au Nui Pull up a chair and a coffee… ADDING SISOMO TO THE EDGE Our new front page www.nzedge.com presents you with …

The Things that Bind Us

Globalisation has allowed us greater access to cheaper labour, products and services - this unfortunately includes drugs such as 'P'. Community and 'social' development have been identified as one way to counter the effects of an increased domestic trade. Denis heads back to school, hits the books, and along with the latest research findings, outlines recent health, education and employment initiatives. And, if you wanted a history lesson on Rugby League, look no further.

#76 Always Take The Weather

Edge Message #76 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM To Members of the Global Network of New Zealanders Greetings to all and especially people who are newly registered at the site, from Auckland to Atlanta and Adelaide, Brisbane to Bogota and …

The Space at the Edge

The Tui sings for contemplation, and Denis reviews the peaks and valleys of the past few months. The importance of attending Tangi, the passing of a Pontif, a visit from the P-Funk Allstars, Napier's Pilot City Trust and Policing in an election year. An indepth run down on the attendees, readings, gang engagement, and uplifting success of March's Heretaunga symposium “Self, Race, Drugs & Justice in New Zealand”. A reflective poem of farewell and new beginnings.

Self, Race, Drugs & Justice in New Zealand

Denis and John Wareham (NYNZer who coaches leadership in the world’s top corporations) team up with Black Power and the Mongrel Mob, the Eagles Foundation of America and the NZ Sensible Sentencing Trust for a transformational symposium “Self, Race, Drugs & Justice in New Zealand” at Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga, Hastings, 4-6 March 2005. Plus a tour to the frontline of methamphetamine, and to Waitangi 2005.

#75: Taking It To The World

Edge Message #75 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM To Members of the Global Network of New Zealanders Taking it to the world News of international achievements by New Zealanders as reported in the world’s media including The New York Times, …

#74: Global Winners

Edge Message #74 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM To Members of the Global Network of New Zealanders Headlines from the world’s online media FIRST, OUR LAMENTS • Arthur Lydiard – Running Man • Pat Hanly – Pacific Ikon • Peter Bennett predicts extinction …

Embracing the positive

Working the real stuff... a supported housing community at Waiohiki - a place that might have a 'P-free whare' status... the Waiohiki Creative Arts Village... addressing suspicion and distrust... looking for keys to unlock a system set on assuming the worst... the Eagles Foundation of USA... the Mokai Whanau Ora project, Aotearoa... "working for things other than money"... working for a high traction entry into 2005...

#73: NYNZ – Edge Meets Center

Edge Message #73 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY EDGE MEETS CENTER When Kevin Roberts and I deduced the edge metaphor for New Zealand seven years ago and conceived a global network of New Zealanders, …

Joe Walsh – The Sinners Tour

"…At the conclusion of the haka two of the warrior group stepped forward and placed upon the ground a black guitar case. They opened the case and fell back into line. The challenger, eyes flashing, gesticulated to the visitor to pick up the contents. He did so; it was a 12 string Maton 425 "acoustic electric" guitar. The legendary guitarist and rock icon Joe Walsh had just accepted the first challenge of the 'Sinners Tour' a project initiated by Mokai Whanau Ora, designed to raise awareness about methamphetamine use in New Zealand and to bring a message of hope, in that , with help, recovery is possible."

#72: Being Global

Edge Message #72 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY Greetings from our Antipodes, New York City (NYNZ, center/edge) Nga Kupu Aroha: Words of Love This is a love story from Aotearoa, the world’s geographical edge; …

Nga Kupu Aroha Words of Love

"Life was cool, busy, and pretty low stress until when, two years ago, a friend, a Black Power leader, in a bout of methamphetamine induced psychosis took a knife and gutted himself. His death was a shock, both in manner and cause. When the news reached me I drove through the night and arrived at dawn at the gates of his ancestral marae where he lay, in state. There, beside him I stayed, in the Maori way, with his family and child and relatives and friends, and gang brothers, for the days of mourning, speeches and prayers, haka and song, until the time came to return him to his mother papatuanuku, the earth. And the emotion of these days fired my desire for action, kia whakarite, the desire to put things right."

#71: Going Global

Edge Message #71 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY Greetings. A brisk memo today. News of New Zealanders reported around the planet: /category/newzedge/ Obituaries for Robert Burchfield (custodian of the English language), Rahera Windsor (spiritual …

#70: Edge – Every World Needs An Edge

Edge Message #70 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY Welcome to new members at nzedge.com, from Aarhus, Adelaide, Apia, Athens and Atlanta as well as Auckland, Akaroa and Ashburton and other local and global locations. …

#69: Edge Of The Alphabet

Edge Message #69 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY AOTEAROVEANS IN GLOBAL PROFILE Coverage from the world’s online media featuring edge movers and shakers, including: Janet Frame RIP, Peter Jackson and team in Return of …

#68: New World Modernism

Edge Message #68 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY DECEMBER’S LIST OF NEW WORLD MODERNISTS IN THE GLOBAL MEDIA: Director! Director! Peter Jackson’s Return of the King everywhere, Weta Workshop, Wellywood, Russell Crowe Master & …

#67: Whoosh Bang

Edge Message #67 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY night Frank Glasgow sat down at the piano and composed music to describe the English style of play; it went – plonk plonk plonk plonk, plonk …

#66: Get It Wide

Edge Message #66 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY “Back yourself, Give it a go, Anticipate, Draw, Back Up, Re-invent, Challenge, Change.” Lloyd Jones, The Book of Fame. This dictum might apply to the theory …

#65: This Sporting Life

Edge Message #65 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY Our placing of sporting heroes on a pedestal above all others has traditionally been something of a national myopia. A one-eyed view, squinting into the sharp …

#64: Matariki

Edge Message #64 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY AOTEAROA WHANAU WHANUI KI TE AONUI “I have always been caught by a sense of being part of the cutting edge, the edge which guarantees change.” …

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