Out Now: Werewolf 54 - What’s To Commemorate?

Enter The ‘Wolf

Hi and welcome to the 54th edition of Werewolf. In our cover story this month we ask whether New Zealand really can commemorate the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli without perpetuating the same bone-headed militarism and imperial nonsense – “it was the price of being a member of the club” – that made the debacle possible in the first place. No disrespect to those who fought, but they deserved better of our leaders then, and their memory deserves better of us now than the sentimental tosh and commercial /political exploitation of their memory that’s been rife for the past few months.

What’s really real? Elsewhere in this issue, New Zealand writer Richard McLachlan (he’s based in New York) has contributed two excellent stories from the frontiers of (a) artificial intelligence (including an analysis of the science behind the science fiction movie Ex Machina ) and (b) the new business developments and scientific advances in the field of virtual reality. Convincing, compelling AI and VR are closer than you think.

In other stories, we analyse the politics behind the vastly different responses that John Key and Tony Abbott have towards the vaccination of children – an issue involving parental choice and the wellbeing of children that’s readily comparable to the anti-smacking debate. This time round though, the parenting habits of largely middle class and Maori/Pasifika voters are not the issue - instead, wealthy white voters opposed to vaccination seem to comprise the main group putting their own children at risk, and everyone’s else’s kids as well.

Given the harrowing media stories about refugees – reportedly, about 20,000 people have died since the year 2000 making the North Africa to Italy crossing – its timely that human rights advocate Anne Gallagher analyses the moral issue of people smuggling. While it suits governments to depict smugglers purely as monsters, are they a necessary evil in getting refugees out of war zones? Elsewhere in this edition, as California heads into (at least) its fourth year of drought, Oakland-based NZ writer Rosalea Barker updates the responses taking place within the dry zone.

In his film column this month, Philip Matthews chooses the best war/anti-war movies and turns the spotlight onto the best of the bunch : Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory. Elsewhere, we choose some of the best full length movies available for free on YouTube – so go crazy, and make your own film festival. In our music column The Complicatist this month, we track the career of the uniquely gifted Sufjan Stevens, and the Christian values that permeate his work, up to and including his autobiographical new album Carrie and Lowell…In his satirical column this month, Lyndon Hood treats the whole Gallipoli fandango as a courtroom drama….

Thanks once again to Lyndon for helping me post this 54th issue online. If anyone out there ever wants to be involved and talk over some story ideas, contact me at gordon@werewolf.co.nz

Cheers,
Gordon Campbell
Editor, Werewolf

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