Werewolf #13 Out Now – The Oil Spill Edition

Enter the ‘Wolf

Hi and welcome to the latest edition of Werewolf. In our cover story this month, we analyse the implications for New Zealand of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and set out the risks the government is running in opening the door to deepwater drilling for oil and gas - off East Cape and down in the Great South Basin in particular. Ultimately, will the financial rewards be worth the risks? Hard to tell when, as our story indicates, we are unable to accurately monitor how much of our reserves are being extracted, and thus can’t properly assess what royalties should be due to us.

Also in this issue, Cushla McKinney outlines all the hoops that scientists must jump through in this country to qualify for a very limited and insecure level of funding support for their work. Despite all the lip service paid to the importance of science, too much effort is being expended by scientists chasing inadequate levels of support. Further highlights of this issue : Melody Thomas recoils in horror from the takeover by Sarah Palin and her right wing minions of the “feminist” label. We look at the age old question of why TV commercials seem so damned loud, and what is now being done about it. The Werewolf interview this month is with Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson, one of the leading lights among the pack of up and coming Labour MPs currently making a reasonably good fist of what looks likely to be a long stretch in opposition.

In Milestone Movies, Brannnvan Gnanalingham celebrates the great Sergio Leone Western, Once Upon a Time in the West which is about to be re-screened in a fantastic restored print at an International Film Festival somewhere near you, and soon. The “Classics” column this month traces the evolution of Daffy Duck, from the unhinged, unstoppable winner of the 1930s to the equally demented loser he became in the Chuck Jones ‘toons of the 1950s. The Complicatist music column features the lost and lonely figure of Connie Converse, and the dynamic new singer/dancer Janelle Monae. who has just done a brilliant new musical take on the old sci fi film ( and former Nazi Party favourite flick) Metropolis. Elsewhere, our resident satirist Lyndon Hood humbly transcribes the work of a naïf balladeer who has just been moved to poetry by the Gulf spill, and by oily, encrusted memories of “The Battle of New Orleans.”

Cartoon Alley this month features reviews by Tim Bollinger and Leo Hupert, and also new work by Ned Wenlock, Brent Willis and Tim Bollinger.

Werewolf exists as a thank you’ to Scoop.co.nz supporters, and to provide a fresh outlet for writers and cartoonists. If you’d like to be part of it, email me at gordon@werewolf.co.nz and we can talk about it. Thanks as always to David McLellan for helping to edit and post this issue.

Cheers,
Gordon Campbell
Werewolf/Scoop

The contents of this edition are:

Big Oil: Rigging the Game
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/big-oil-rigging-the-game/
Do we have the will – or ability – to deal with the oil multinationals ?
by Gordon Campbell

From Begging Bowl to Petri Dish
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/from-begging-bowl-to-petri-dish/
The frustrations of science funding in New Zealand
by Cushla McKinney

Volume Selling
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/volume-selling/
Why are television commercials so loud?
by Gordon Campbell

Sarah Palin Steals The ‘F’ Word
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/sarah-palin-steals-the-f-word/
Feminism is what you do, not what you call yourself …
by Melody Thomas

Labouring in the trenches
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/labouring-in-the-trenches/
An interview with Wellington Central MP, Grant Robertson
by Gordon Campbell

Milestone Movies : Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/milestone-movies-once-upon-a-time-in-the-west-1968/
Sergio Leone’s great operatic Western about death, revenge and endurance
by Brannavan Gnanalingham

From The Hood: The Battle Of No Oil
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/from-the-hood-the-battle-of-no-oil/
Naif balladeer has mandolin, and a story to tell
by Lyndon Hood

Classics : Daffy Duck (1937)
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/classics-daffy-duck-1937/
The duck that turned greed, envy and shameless self-promotion into an art form
by Gordon Campbell

The Complicatist : Mystery Girls
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/the-complicatist-mystery-girls/
The incredible disappearing Connie Converse, and Janelle Monae
by Gordon Campbell

When Tourists Turn Ugly
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/when-tourists-turn-ugly/
Does New Zealand sometimes reap what it has sown from its tourism promotion ?
by Carey Davies

Cartoon Alley: Reviews and commentary #8… Tim Bollinger
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/cartoon-alley-reviews-and-commentary-8…-tim-bollinger/
Great moments in my recent comic reading history
by Tim Bollinger

Cartoon Alley: Reviews and commentary #9… by Leo Hupert
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/cartoon-alley-reviews-and-commentary-8…-by-leo-hupert/
The Beats — A Graphic History and Progress No 8
by Leo Hupert

Cartoon Alley
http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/06/cartoon-alley/
Reviews, commentary and comics from local artists

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