Hi and welcome to the 47th edition of Werewolf, published on the eve of Anzac Day. Its become a cliché to describe Gallipolli as the crucible of this country’s identity, yet hold on...Isn’t our national identity supposed to be bi-cultural...and wouldn’t that suggest that the New Zealand Wars of the 19th century is a more important crucible of national identity than those fought on foreign soil ? Yet as Alison McCulloch eloquently reveals in this month’s cover story , New Zealand devotes a mere fraction of its attention span and funding resources to commemorating the New Zealand Wars compared to what it devotes to the two world wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan. In a separate article, Anne Russell traces the evolution of Anzac Day events and protest to the current consensus that has come to exist on Anzac Day , where commemoration has come somehow come to be seen as an entirely positive event on the national calendar.

Given that the Christchurch rebuild is the dynamo of the domestic economy, we analyse this month just how many of the high paying jobs involved will accrue to women . Furthermore, we ask whether training and retraining in the trades may be a more lucrative and satisfying career path for many women than the traditional route to a university degree. In September Scotland will vote on independence – and this month, we consider the evidence that the pro-union side of the debate may be losing the plot . In this month’s story about the uber rich, we make the best case that we can muster for showing a little condescending compassion now and then, for the obscenely wealthy, as they paddle around their swimming pools wondering if it was all worthwhile.

We have three movie & television related features in this issue. Rosalea Barker writes about the documentary film At Berkeley , and what it tells us about the survival tactics of a great university in the 21st century. In our essay about the Iranian film The Past , we wonder how a repressive theocracy is managing to produce some of the most creative and entertaining films in modern cinema. Lastly, Benjamin Neikrie recalls the valuable lessons in civics taught to him by The West Wing TV series, and he argues that we need more of the same idealism to counteract our pervasive cynicism about political life and the positive role that government can play in it. In her travel piece on Moldova Rosalea Barker records her reaction to life on the edge of the modern Russian empire . In his satirical column this month, Lyndon Hood goes suitably gaga over the recent royal visitation . In our music column The Complicatist this month, we briefly examine the short sad life of Jackson C Frank, before homing in on Mark Kozelek , the bard of Middle Aged Melancholy.

Thanks once again to Lyndon H. and to Alastair Thompson for helping me post this online. And thanks to everyone who’s shown an interest in reading Werewolf and keeping it going. If you want to be involved and talk over some story ideas, contact me at gordon@scoop.co.nz

Cheers,
Gordon Campbell
Werewolf/Scoop
gordon@werewolf.co.nz