h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am generally proud of this country, and have found it a great place to be raised and miseducated. I also don't mind Auckland. Much. Considering I'm from the Waikato.
But APEC was enough to make me, for the first time, ashamed to be a Kiwi. With every front page news article about what the president of the USA was eating for dinner and what we had decided to give them as a gift (I thought a plastic tiki would be good) and massive American flag sailing above the city, I felt a little bit more like our country really is a fawning, weak and boring nation.
As I grew up the idea of New Zealand as a creative, vibrant and really innovative country was really ingrained into my psyche but when I saw our fearless "leader" pandering around mighty Bill CLInton like he was some kind of magnificent hero this part of my mind started lighting up with red flashing lights. Could it be New Zealand is not what it used to be. If not, why not? Because politicians have sold our souls to the Americans for the price of a few thousand Big Macs.
Then, when finally our friends in the Tibet freedom groups actually had a chance to make a statement for New Zealand as a country who doesn't put a few Chinese dollars ahead of human rights, the government managed to show how truly right-wing they would like New Zealand to be. By getting Jenny Shipley's personal gestapo to remove them out of sight behind a bus.
The police, who, claimed the reason for this was the noise that the protest was creating (and not the orders of 'the Ship'), then parked four squad cars around and turned the sirens on so president Jangles wouldn't have to aware that his countries abysmal practices are having an impact on the world outside of China.

So all in all the only good thing about APEC for me is that it was hopefully Jenny Shipley's last 15 seconds of fame.