Open mike 08/03/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 8th, 2021 - 117 comments
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117 comments on “Open mike 08/03/2021 ”

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  1. gsays 1
    8 March 2021 at 7:24 am

    I thought I would be cheeky and group-source some ideas for a trip round West Coast/ Malborough. Must visit towns, places etc. Neither of us are enthusiastic walkers. An hour each way at the most (he said a little shamefully).

    We are headed to the Wild Foods Festival In Hokitika then go have a look at Franz Joseph and Fox glaciers. Then we have a week or so to meander to Nelson. (I want to check out a few cideries and find any craft beer breweries).

    Thanks, in advance for any input.

    • weka 1.1
      8 March 2021 at 8:01 am

      not exactly what you are asking, but on the Coast slow down and spend more time in fewer places. If you find the really cool place to stay, then stay an extra night rather than trying to pack it all in. I've lived and worked in remote tourism places and it's the people that are moving more slowly and really getting a place that makes the connections special.

      • Sabine 1.1.1
        8 March 2021 at 9:22 am

        +1

      • gsays 1.1.2
        8 March 2021 at 3:54 pm

        Too true weka. I have made that boo-boo once or twice before, cramming a lot into a small amount of time and you just feel like yr constantly leaving and driving.

        From the suggestions that follow below, we are going to miss a few things. Good excuse to return though.

    • The Al1en 1.2
      8 March 2021 at 8:24 am

      The Greymouth to Westport road is well worth an hour of your time, for the stunning coastal views and scenery alone, not to mention the drive itself. Stop at the pancake rocks at Punakaiki, about halfway between the two, for a 20 minute easy walk to the blowhole and back.

      Pancake rocks

      The Great Coast Road

      The seal colony in Tauranga bay can be got at from two directions. The cape foulwind lighthouse end trek is the longest and more difficult of the two, so look at doing the shorter easier walk.

      Cape Foulwind seal colony

    • Matiri 1.3
      8 March 2021 at 8:26 am

      You will be amazed at how much land is being converted to hops around Tapawera and now starting in Murchison.

      Townshend Brewery and taproom located in grounds of Toad Hall cafe in Motueka. Best beer outside the UK imo. Cafe is pretty good too.

      Hop Federation brewery and tasting room just outside Motueka at Riwaka.

      Free House Nelson – awesome beers on tap in an old church.

      Eddyline Brewery and Pizzeria between Richmond and Nelson.

      • satty 1.3.1
        8 March 2021 at 1:06 pm

        We always go to Eddyline for a beer and pizza after a walk / run. Recommended.

      • gsays 1.3.2
        8 March 2021 at 4:32 pm

        The hop harvest has come up once or twice. I'm keen to check the hops out.

        We are familiar with The Free House from previous cider festivals.

        Thanks for the heads-up of Hop Federation and Eddyline.

    • Rosemary McDonald 1.4
      8 March 2021 at 9:52 am

      We've enjoyed a few trips around The South in our Bus…and your " Neither of us are enthusiastic walkers. An hour each way at the most (he said a little shamefully)." caught my attention.

      Had my man not broken his neck some fifty years ago he would have been an enthusiastic walker. In order to give him a wee taste of what others take for granted we have taken the Bus into the hinterlands and dragged the wheelchair as far as my strength will allow.

      Standouts include "doing" both ends of the Heaphy Track. A river stopped us from the Kohaihai end…and sandflies just about airlifted us back to the Bus. You might as well check out the Oparara Arches on the way. The drive through the valley, (and a visit to the famous Bainham Store) and a drive across the very dodgy looking bridge knocked off the other end. And while you're in the vicinity a visit to Farewell Spit, Port Puponga and a diversion down the west coast through the Little Whanganui Harbour and on down to Paterau would be on our 'must do' list.

      Walking the entire length of the Mole at Aramoana (after literally squeezing the wheelchair through the narrow gate) was fun…but seal shit does pong a bit and gets stuck in the tyre treads. Back in the day they built a wharf and railtrack to load ballast from the quarry a little way back towards Port Chalmers.

      If you're taking a car, rather than a camper vehicle, do buy/beg/borrow a little tent and some very basic camping gear. DOC camps are all over the place, and though basic have what you need for a civilised overnight stay. Biggest mistake is rushing….as Weka says…slow down.

      Enjoy.

    • mac1 1.5
      8 March 2021 at 10:34 am

      Good ideas above. For Marlborough, big selection of craft beers at Dodson's in Blenheim including the Renaissance Brewery beers next door; also enjoy his German style food

      Visit the Omaka Aviation Museum for a great display of war planes. Take a ride on a steam train and visit the Marlborough Museum and displays at the Brayshaw Heritage Park.

      The Sounds- worth a day from Havelock on the mail boat.

      Walk for an hour round the Grovetown lagoon and count the swans and see other aquatic birds there or at the Wairau lagoon where you can also see forty kilometres of Māori dug canals and be on/near the site of Aotearoa's first Polynesian settlement.

      Stop and see the Pou Whenua at the new bridge at the northern entrance to Blenheim and read the history of the area which is truer and more accurate than, shall we say, Michael Bassett's version of pre- and early European times.

      Take a train trip to Kaikoura. Some of the best scenery in the world where mountains and sea are in close proximity- see whales and seal colonies. Craft beer brewery in Kaikoura.

      Travel to Kaikoura from the West Coast via the Lewis pass, Hanmer with its hot springs and then via the Inland road to Kaikoura, then north to Blenheim. Nelson is then only 100 km away and return from there to Blenheim and Picton via Tophouse and the trip down the Wairau Valley.

      Been here fifty years, and there's still stuff to see and do…..

      • gsays 1.5.1
        8 March 2021 at 4:36 pm

        Thanks Mac, Rosemary and Stuart, plenty to choose from.

        Looks like more wage slavery for me as this trip has used up all my annual leave…

    • Stuart Munro 1.6
      8 March 2021 at 2:11 pm

      The Last Resort in Karamea is worth a visit.

  2. Foreign Waka 2
    8 March 2021 at 7:53 am

    Obviously, its retail and hospitality that will have the greatest impact in terms of unemployment. But still, I cant help but think we are going backwards in the evolution of equality for women.

    Not only are they still earning less, they are also first to be "let go" as there is still the dinosaur belief that men are the bread winners.

    So far I haven't seen anyone of the younger generation standing up to be counted on that issue. It was in times past the achievement of "boomers" and their mothers to make progress and it took decades to make inroads only to see this now eroded in a very fast pace.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300244506/were-all-in-this-together-but-women-taking-the-burden

    • Sabine 2.1
      8 March 2021 at 9:25 am

      when we stand up to say something about this 'inbalance' we are shut down with 'identity politics'.

      We don't even mention that women have a higher unemployment rate, nor that on average we earn less, and in the current rejoicing about wages going up, we don't mention the fact that we have lost so many jobs on the bottom that the average goes up while nothing has actually changed, other then a lot of people – err women – have lost their low paid, part time, casual, temporary min wage jobs.

      so as long as we can shut down discussions about parts of the population with calls of 'identity politics' it will not change.

      • DukeEll 2.1.1
        8 March 2021 at 11:28 am

        Wouldn't that be the same identity politics that shuts women down for wanting to be women and treated with equality?

        • Sabine 2.1.1.1
          8 March 2021 at 11:37 am

          Dude, So i guess you too don't want to talk about the fact that female unemployment is 1% higher then the national average (and that was 3 month ago at the seasonal peak of employment) and no one cares to comment on that fact. Nor the fact that women earn less while they work, and those that lost jobs may not even get any benefit at all cause they have a partner or family to pick up the slack, leaving said women totally at the mercy – yes mercy – of whom ever houses, feeds and clothes them and maybe even provides her with petty cash. And those women that are lucky to get a benefit need to bend themselves into a 12 pleat yeast bread in order to get them. And the fact that earning less will take care of us being poorer in old age, less likely to afford a mortgage, get decent health care and and and.

          At the end of the day, let me put it plainly, it sucks.

        • Foreign Waka 2.1.1.2
          8 March 2021 at 12:16 pm

          If we only would! It sometimes feels like the 50's never stopped. The real bastard in all that is that, in todays climate you need 2 earners to live somewhat secure as a family and we wont even talk about singe women and the elderly who most likely have worked more than their fair share but have to continue because it would be bread and water under the bridge otherwise.

          It will be the male population that will bring about the hunger games for the women and children with their demands being first to be met. Reality will soon enough bite.

          • Descendant Of Smith 2.1.1.2.1
            8 March 2021 at 1:23 pm

            Definitely been some improvements since the 50's – DPB means you can more easily leave violent and abusive relationships (though the imposition of state requirements by national and left in by labour has just transferred some of the abuse from the husband to the public/state), benefits got split in half so it didn't all go to the husband and it is no longer legal to rape or beat your wife.

            But yeah lots of things that went forward have slipped backwards in recent years.

  3. CAnker the pig fucker 3
    8 March 2021 at 8:48 am
    • Glad to see the PM has canceled her regular spot with Mike Hoskings. A waste of her time.
    • hope this gives her a few extra minutes with Neve

    have a feeling Mike will be stewing. Hell has no fury like a narcissist/rich man scorned

    • Sanctuary 3.1
      8 March 2021 at 8:50 am

      lol Hosking will be pissed – clearly the government has decided they don't need the ZB audience for successful comms, and a slap in the face for ZB management who clearly haven’t managed Hosking well enough.

      More generally, an interesting move – perhaps a harbinger that social media is regarded as more useful?

      • Enough is Enough 3.1.1
        8 March 2021 at 9:39 am

        I think its a silly move. The only way to counter Hosking and his one sided commentary is to get on his show and give it to him. Like Jacinda generally did.

        Now he gets to preach with no one from the 9th floor countering his bullshit.

        Hosking has the biggest commercial breakfast audience in the country. The Prime Minister needs to be talking directly to that audience.

        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/commercial-radio-ratings-newstalk-zb-and-zm-hit-highest-ever-audiences/2IX4YG6YO4L24HSC4UP2PAAKCQ/

        • Anne 3.1.1.1
          8 March 2021 at 9:49 am

          Except that she will be fronting his show as special issues or developments arise. It simply won't be a regular spot anymore and I think we'll find its going to be more or the less the same across all the broadcasting outlets.

          Sounds sensible to me because she's got more important things to do in these days of uncertainty.

          • mary_a 3.1.1.1.1
            8 March 2021 at 11:42 am

            I shall give you a double thumbs up for your sentiments there Anne.

            Hosking is a wasted space anyway. Since stating she will not appear on his show regularly now, Hosking has gone on a rant, accusing the PM of not wanting to be held to account. Pathetic and petulant on his part.

            Well done Jacinda. A poke in the eye for Hosking!

          • alwyn 3.1.1.1.2
            8 March 2021 at 2:44 pm

            "she will be fronting his show".

            Just how will that work do you think? Will she simply demand the time or will she have to plead with him to be allowed on?

            • McFlock 3.1.1.1.2.1
              8 March 2021 at 2:51 pm

              Husk's producers will beg for it in order to keep up the pretense that he's a news personality rather than a shock jock.

        • David 3.1.1.2
          8 March 2021 at 9:50 am

          It is a silly move.

          I tuned in to that part of the show to hear the PM give her views in what was one of the very few unscripted regular appearances the PM gives.

        • Sanctuary 3.1.1.3
          8 March 2021 at 9:57 am

          RNZ has by far the biggest morning audience. Hosking over-stepped the mark on numerous occasions last year with bullying and patronising questioning that amounted to misogyny.

          I would guess that Prime Minsters department has raised the issue of his unacceptable behaviour with his employers and either they can't control Hosking (likely) or they couldn't come to an agreement on how these interviews were proceed in a civilised manner.

          Either way, this decision would be driven by Hosking's behaviour rather than the PM's robustness to debate him.

        • Rosemary McDonald 3.1.1.4
          8 March 2021 at 10:07 am

          Hosking has the biggest commercial breakfast audience in the country.

          Christ, that's a sad and depressing statistic. There truly is no hope for us.

          • woodart 3.1.1.4.1
            8 March 2021 at 12:13 pm

            breakfast radio very much like breakfast tv. most of the audience are only catching snippets as they do there morning routines. therefore to keep audience attention(for the advertisers,the really important part of the equation) the talking heads have to resort to shock jock tactics. while newdorkzb might be the biggest comical radio show, that is still a small percentage of the team of five million. no doubt, the p.m. department has done the sums, and pandering to sad old white whingers isnt a biggie. codgers like hoskings are on a downward spiral from nightly prime time tv to breakfast audio wallpaper to? midnight to dawn with mike lol.even granny seems to have given him the push. advertisers dont want to be associated with sour grippers, dont hear much talk of disintering banks, plunket etc.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 3.1.1.5
          8 March 2021 at 10:32 am

          The Prime Minister needs to be talking directly to that audience.

          Hooray, the PM has realised that there's little point dignifying Hosking's "partisan hackery" with a response. An excellent decision, imho, and the shock jock's reaction confirms this – why have anything to do with such an oily tick, and a lightweight pimple-brain to boot.

          Newstalk ZB breakfast host Mike Hosking says the Prime Minister is "running for the hills" and lacks a backbone after Jacinda Ardern cancelled her regular weekly interview with him.

          • mac1 3.1.1.5.1
            8 March 2021 at 12:48 pm

            The PM fronts press conferences and answers tough questions in the House, as no doubt she will tomorrow at 2 pm.

            Judith Collins disparaged the PM today in a tweet- "all those tough questions". Judith Collins knows how to ask tough questions in the House, after all. "Does the PM stand by all her statements….?"

            • Jimmy 3.1.1.5.1.1
              8 March 2021 at 2:05 pm

              Don't forget, in the house she has Mallard to protect her.

              • McFlock …
                8 March 2021 at 2:25 pm

                pfft.

                Nice excuse for the opposition's crap performance, I guess

              • mac1 …
                8 March 2021 at 2:35 pm

                Oh, it's bias from the Speaker now being alleged, plus a good dose of mysogyny?

                Questions in the House, general debates, written questions, press interviews, post Cabinet briefings, being out and about in the street and meeting constituents and the public, facebook discussions, public meetings with the local Chambers of Commerce.

                Oh yeah, she's hiding alright. That meme has as much credibilty as media criticism causes earthquakes. Pffft, indeed.

                • Incognito …
                  8 March 2021 at 9:37 pm

                  I have to say, Ardern does do a lot less overseas travelling than her predecessors. Why fly when you can Zoom?

        • Jimmy 3.1.1.6
          8 March 2021 at 11:19 am

          I agree, I think it is silly of her to cancel. She needs to be better prepared and actually answer questions and 'give it to him' as you say.

          • David 3.1.1.6.1
            8 March 2021 at 11:58 am
            • 100% agree.
          • woodart 3.1.1.6.2
            8 March 2021 at 12:17 pm

            no, wasting time and effort on a monday morning, only helps legitimize hoskings as someone important. much better to ignore him and talk directly to us.

            • McFlock 3.1.1.6.2.1
              8 March 2021 at 12:58 pm

              I also wonder what effect this regular spot had on his behaviour. If it gave him a weekly reminder to tone it down and pretend to be a serious interviewer, left largely to his own devices I wonder if he go all John Banks and accidentally end his own career anytime soon.

            • Herodotus 3.1.1.6.2.2
              8 March 2021 at 1:06 pm

              That is the problem "Talk directly to us" So who determines the topics and who challenges the PM/govt as to what their actions are ? Or are you happy for the govt to control any and all messaging ? e.g. Sunday last night on the state of the fish stocks within the Hauraki Gulf – Minister declined opportunity to speak.

              We are allowing our leaders IMO to hide and let the problems go away. Another example was our Fin Min pass on the housing problem to the reserve bank. Min Roberston you have been in this position for 3.5 years and had 9 years in opposition to formulate responses, and we belatedly get this !!!!

              To many out there on the left – Just be wary what we accept today one day will pass to National.

              • woodart …
                8 March 2021 at 2:02 pm

                dont think that any morning radio host has uncovered anything and made it stick . they might have ruffled a couple of feathers, but mostly its a wasted five minutes. to actually do anything worthwhile the interview needs to be 20 minutes plus, like morning report etc. hoskings morning phonecall is a soundbite, worth more to the shows advertisers than the gov(any gov).

                • Herodotus …
                  8 March 2021 at 2:57 pm

                  I am sure about a year ago the owners of businesses benefited from Mike Hoskins insistence that council and govt agencies were feeding the PM and others fause info about the road works on Hobson street and that there was no remediation awarded to those business inconvienced by the continual works that limited foot traffic. From memory it was found that what the PM was being told regrading all businesses be communicated was not the case. Just 1 case of where the small people benefited from these morning phone calls.

                  • Herodotus …
                    8 March 2021 at 5:10 pm

                    "But, when pressed again on the issue yesterday, Twyford was unable to provide much detail as to what that meant.He told Newstalk yesterday that his advice from CRL was that it had been talking to affected businesses about the issue.

                    When asked how many, he said a "handful" bit was not able to answer with any more specificity as he didn't know."

                    I think once Mike Hoskins brought this to the attention of our PM eventually the matter progresses after as few weeks of having the PM having this brought to her attention.

                    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/delayed-city-rail-link-taking-enormous-toll-on-businesses-impacted-by-its-construction/F5H27YDGNZW7AXFDRW7TZ4X56I/

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    8 March 2021 at 5:14 pm

                    Just 1 case of where the small people benefited from these morning phone calls.

                    If there was just one case over the course of a year, then either the "small people" (?) need a better shock jock than Hosking, or the legends of 'Teflon Jacinda' are true.

                    Ardern quickly dispelled any establishment fears that she was about to storm the citadels of capitalist power. For Ardern, ‘transformation’ merely means tinkering with the policy settings of neoliberalism, not overturning it. While this might still upset hard right wingers like Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking, it has caused few ripples elsewhere.

              • McFlock …
                8 March 2021 at 2:47 pm

                It's not like Ardern has just invented the concept of not continuing previously-frequent interview slots.

                John Key with Morning Report, and Helen Clark with John Campbell post-corngate come to mind.

    • AB 3.2
      8 March 2021 at 9:42 am

      Has Mike started whining about being 'cancelled' yet? As the holder of an extraordinarily powerful platform that is undeserved in the first place because it is not underpinned by any record of journalistic achievement, insight, investigation or even by mere rationality – it will he highly amusing if he does wheel out the "c" word.

      • Robert Guyton 3.2.1
        8 March 2021 at 1:28 pm

        The Prime Minister kept away from Sean Plunkett as well and he wheedled about it endlessly, delighting his wheedle audience but impressing those who voted for Labour and The Greens (if any were listening) not one whit! Peter Williams went full-wheedle when Grant Robertson said, "Sayonara" and probably won't stop until he too is retired from his position on Magic Radio (not a recommended listen).

        It's the same old pattern of behaviour. The PM will have known/been advised that the gains from snubbing Hosking would be greater than any harm done. In my opinion.

        • CAnker the pig fucker 3.2.1.1
          9 March 2021 at 1:52 pm

          I see Kate H has an opinion piece in the Herald which isn't paywalled, Headline "Why Jacinda and Meghan are the same" or some such nonsense. Didn't read as wouldn't want to give her a click.

          Maybe Mike feels affronted that Meghan snubbed him and went with Oprah instead!!!s
          How dare these women exercise some choice and control! Fancy snubbing Mike!

          Oh dear, what a shame, never mind!

    • Herodotus 3.3
      8 March 2021 at 12:36 pm

      I was commenting last night as we watched the documentary regarding the health of the fishing stocks within the Auckland harbour and that how ministers do not front or make comment anymore. Not since Holmes and to a lesser extent Cambell did we have government ministers fronting, and the comment was passed that perhaps programmers should make time available to The Greens, Act and National to embarrass not fronting ministers to front and not hide (In the current govts case, the PM's cult of personality)

      So who is to determine what "Instead, Ardern says she and and other ministers will now appear on the country's top-performing commercial radio show "as and when issues arise". covers or is warranted ?? FFS we really don't want to challenge any government to change do we 🤢

      Will this government do anything to arrest the path that we are currently travelling down ??? We are left with such soft reporting as.

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/irish-schoolgirls-letter-from-new-zealand-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern/5I7OFM6BXTXI2DUSO7DFXAUEH4/

  4. Anne 4
    8 March 2021 at 9:43 am

    It's not the most pressing issue to face the world, but I love the way everyone is passing judgement on the Sussex's interview with Oprah Winfrey that nobody has yet seen.

    • Sanctuary 4.1
      8 March 2021 at 10:10 am

      No one has even seen….

      • Anne 4.1.1
        8 March 2021 at 10:20 am

        Lols.

      • Ad 4.1.2
        8 March 2021 at 10:59 am

        Personally looking forward to the US west coast MSM steamrolling the British MSM – with the US backing its adopted own to the hilt.

        This is going to be Independence Day redux.

        • Sanctuary 4.1.2.1
          8 March 2021 at 11:47 am

          Well let's face it – Harry and Megan's biggest sin is to expose the imperial fantasyland of pomp and pageantry inhabited by the UK ruling elites for the wizened fairyland of tat and tinsel it really is.

  5. Anne 5
    8 March 2021 at 10:11 am

    Picked up on this:

    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/brian-tamaki-suggests-criticism-his-lockdown-flee-caused-earthquakes-tsunami-warnings

    And talking of raving lunatics:

    A small booklet was left in my letterbox called "National Sunday Law" and written by an American, A. Jan Marcussen. It's the most grotesque load of garbage I've ever seen. It revolves around a theory that “The Papacy” is really Satan and we are all going to die terrible deaths etc. etc. etc….

    Its dangerous stuff and no doubt the kind of people who revel in such conspiracies are feeling enabled by recent developments in the US.

    I'd be interested to know if the book is being spread elsewhere in NZ.

    • Janice 5.1
      8 March 2021 at 10:44 am

      I got one in Waiuku. It went straight in the recycling as I realised that there must be conservative religious money behind it.

      • Anne 5.1.1
        8 March 2021 at 10:58 am

        That's interesting Janice. I live in Auckland. Looks like it is being distributed widely. There are many gullible people out in the community and we have seen how much trouble and confusion they can cause. Indeed the ChCh massacre is a prime example of what can happen when stuff like that is allowed to spread far and wide.

        I know it would be fraught with problems, but I think broader based legislation preventing the distribution of such damaging hate material – be it religious or whatever – is overdue.

        • Nic the NZer 5.1.1.1
          8 March 2021 at 11:23 am

          Let me just stop you there Anne, but who are you claiming should not be able to distribute such material. Especially as most did not receieve it as a pamphlet from the Tamaki's (or their Church) but read it on RNZ. Should we prevent RNZ from writing about this incident?

        • Rosemary McDonald 5.1.1.2
          8 March 2021 at 12:59 pm

          ….but I think broader based legislation preventing the distribution of such damaging hate material – be it religious or whatever – is overdue.

          I guess you're going to sit in judgement as to what constitutes 'damaging hate material'? You'd start with the Book itself, right?

          https://www.gotquestions.org/Lots-daughters.html

          The bigger threat is that twerp Hoskings enjoying such popularity.

          https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08-03-2021/#comment-1782246

          Silencing/banning/deplatforming simply won't work. These tactics merely cast an aura of mystique … encouraging folk to actually go looking for such material. Oh the thrill!

          (And I'm not entirely sure it is entirely PC these days to refer to folk as "raving lunatics". Akin to using 'retard' methinks.)

        • Robert Guyton 5.1.1.3
          8 March 2021 at 1:30 pm

          Riverton too.

      • alwyn 5.1.2
        8 March 2021 at 2:48 pm

        It was distributed in Wellington as well a couple of weeks ago.

    • Ed1 5.2
      8 March 2021 at 11:53 am

      I got it in Wellington; I read enough to see that there was no obvious NZ organisation inviting people to enquire . . . then straight to recycling collection.

      • greywarshark 5.2.1
        8 March 2021 at 11:56 am

        Yes Nickthenz there is a difference between Tvnz and RNZ and their worth to thinking people. Vive la difference. Long may it continue but beware says Tom Frewen about the dullards in politics who don't know the value of anything the country has but only what their salary and perks can buy.

        On the state we are in with Radionz – Tom has written 1-5 series about this. Here is #5 which will lead you to others.

        https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2103/S00022/concert-bungle-the-sequel-part-5.htm

    • Graeme 5.3
      8 March 2021 at 12:50 pm

      Got one in Queenstown RD too, which would have helped the RD contractor’s cashflow. So can presume most letterboxes in the country got one delivered (if the postie was conscientious) as well.

      The world is probably pretty safe though, I found it the almost completely unreadable, so I doubt many would take much notice. Granted reading time waa less than time taken to walk directly to the recycling bin with the rest of the junk mail delivered that day.

      • RedBaronCV 5.3.1
        8 March 2021 at 10:56 pm

        Judging by the above posts that is a lot of copies distributed over a wide area. It can't have been cheap so who on earth actually funded it?

    • mac1 5.4
      8 March 2021 at 1:05 pm

      Unbelievable. Brian Tamaki says the cause of the earthquakes and tsunami warnings was criticism of his fleeing Auckland.

      Equally valid would be the assertion that the Bishop caused the earthquakes etc by fleeing Auckland……..

      As for Marcussen's polemic, it arrived in Blenheim, too. It says that 36 million copies have been printed. That's big money.

      Amused by the assertion of this Seventh Day Adventist minister that "Vicarius Filii Dei" adds up to 666, and that therefore the sign of the Beast applies to the Pope, I read that the name of the founder of his church, one Ellen Gould White, also adds up to 666.

      That's as far as I want to go down that rabbit hole.

    • McFlock 5.5
      8 March 2021 at 6:28 pm

      Tamaki's promoted himself to "Apostle", now? And seems to be claiming apostolic infallibility? It took hundreds of years for Catholicism to get to that level.

      He'll be god by 2030, cult mass suicide a few years after that.

    • Incognito 5.6
      8 March 2021 at 9:46 pm

      Yes, I got it too. I thought it was from Brash and the Brethren. Haven’t looked at it yet.

  6. Tiger Mountain 6
    8 March 2021 at 11:53 am

    Air NZ link to recent COVID outbreaks?

    Frank Macskasy has put together a damn good, and rather convincing, citizen journalist style piece. He sent an OIA to the Ministry of Health and constructs his article around their reply and many other sources. Did you know about the Heartland Hotel Air NZ used in proximity to the airport, and certain cool stores linked to other COVID cases?

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2021/03/08/does-oia-evidence-confirm-possible-air-nz-link-to-recent-covid-outbreaks/

    • RedBaronCV 6.1
      8 March 2021 at 12:19 pm

      Yes I read that. Appears to confirm that AirNZ would rather run lax covid protocols than increase the number of people employed at relatively small cost so that quarantine can be correctly observed. After all it's so much more important that the bottom line is good and those executive bonuses keep flowing when the costs of covid in the hundreds of millions fall on the rest of the community.

      It's frankly unbelievably selfish and at this point the majority shareholder could perhaps look at sacking the board and all the executive management.

      • Tiger Mountain 6.1.1
        8 March 2021 at 12:47 pm

        NZ Taxpayers have contributed many millions over the years to the airline, including a $900 mill COVID loan, and Govt. still have 52% ownership–hopefully that means they should understand if they are read a “safety card” involving MIQs.

      • greywarshark 6.1.2
        8 March 2021 at 2:39 pm

        Maybe what would be good is to request all possible AirNZ executives to give thought to assisting the country by giving to the blood bank which is often in need. They are well paid and should be healthy and well fed and this is a thing that money can't buy, but goodwill provides. Put something back where the people need it I think. It would be a good look if the execs could give an example of caring to our needy nation.

    • Sabine 6.2
      8 March 2021 at 3:32 pm

      why was this isolation facility secret? Heartland Hotel? And do we have other secret isolation facilities?

  7. Byd0nz 7
    8 March 2021 at 11:54 am

    Looks like the Americans proxy rabid dog israel is getting set to start WW3 with their anti Iranian threats about Irans non existant nukes. This is pure hypocrisy by a loose cannon nuclear weapon State.

  8. greywarshark 8
    8 March 2021 at 12:04 pm

    Heart sinks once again about our poor standards of dealing with polluting waste. Our disdainful attitudes to the quality of management of our resources are irresponsible beyond understanding.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/437878/plastic-clips-from-freezing-works-washing-up-on-beaches

    [Auckland University biotechnology researcher, Dr Emily] Frost, who studies plastic pollution, has herself picked up the clips from beaches in Wellington and the Firth of Thames.

    Most cow stomachs are rendered to make fertiliser or animal feed. Because a small amount of plastic contamination is allowed in these byproducts, some of the clips get ground up with the offal in the rendering process, Frost says.
    The rest should be caught in freezing works' effluent traps.
    "But some are obviously getting through," she says.

    A champion NZr for the environment! Perhaps every traveller can do a bit of picking up and have a bag ready for it like carrying a doggy bag?

    Since early 2019, [Des] Watson’s been circumnavigating the country’s coastline, picking up rubbish to highlight the level of plastic pollution in our seas.

    After collecting a small haul of oesophagus clips from Hawke’s Bay beaches last month, he rang the regional council’s pollution hotline. When he didn’t get any satisfactory answers, he rang the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

    “MPI said they would investigate,” he says.
    MPI did, but decided it’s a matter for regional councils to deal with.

    A good snappy slogan for that answer from MPI – Bulldust and buck passing!

  9. greywarshark 9
    8 March 2021 at 12:47 pm

    This book sounds interesting.

    Leah Kaminsky
    The Hollow Bones
    Vintage

    Cover image for Leah Kaminsky’s The Hollow Bones

    Your book in your own words: The Hollow Bones is based on the bizarre, true story of Ernst Schäfer, a little-known zoologist and explorer, who was chosen by Heinrich Himmler to lead an expedition of young German scientists into Tibet in 1938. Although their official aim was to explore the local flora and fauna, charting hitherto unmapped terrain, the secret reason behind their SS-funded mission was to find the true origins of the Nordic Aryan race, in a bid to claim more territory for the Reich.

    The story brings together the perils of pseudoscience, cultural fascism, humankind’s relationship with nature and our obsession with the categorisation of all sentient beings. It explores the small missteps taken that lead to a slippery slope of perilous moral decline. At the heart of the book is the romance between Schäfer and his loyal childhood sweetheart, Herta, who becomes dangerously entangled in her lover’s obsession with furthering his own career. She is the true voice of compassion and beauty, a constant and uncomfortable reminder to Schäfer of the Faustian bargain he has struck.

    What were you reading when you wrote it? I read widely while researching the novel. I was particularly taken by Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See and the way it examines the internal terrain of human beings caught up in the vagaries of war, exploring the moral choices they make.

    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/17/carrie-tiffany-ean-higgins-dominic-kelly-and-more-on-what-theyre-reading-in-march

  10. Muttonbird 10
    8 March 2021 at 1:12 pm

    'I might get cancelled': Collins in disbelief at Ardern dropping weekly interview with Hosking.

    Umm, she was cancelled. On 17 October, 2020.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/03/national-s-judith-in-disbelief-at-jacinda-ardern-dropping-weekly-interview-with-newstalk-zb-s-mike-hosking.html

    • Robert Guyton 10.1
      8 March 2021 at 1:33 pm

      She limps on, all crooked and pinched.

    • mac1 10.2
      8 March 2021 at 2:13 pm

      She was cancelled, by an absolute majority, despite fronting the public with Ardern who answered her 'tough questions'. That same majority had access to Hosking's 'reckons', Hannah Tamaki's nuttiness, J-L Ross's stupidity, and Billy Te Kahika's sermons from a rabbit hole.

    • greywarshark 10.3
      8 March 2021 at 2:27 pm

      National's Judith Collins needs to be careful that the wind doesn't change and set her face permanently in a sour, aggrieved appearance. That old parents response to grizzly children actually applies to the whole Gnashional Party.

      Now Judith is suggesting a report on the performance under the Covid19. Why? Anything that hasn't gone right should be tabled for discussion, but we don't want paralysis by analysis. This is a changing forward-moving situation, and unfortunately National is in reverse. Pity that their gears are stuck so they can't show relevance in these demanding times. And ACT their mouthpiece, flaps all the time yet isn't as useful as an airsock – don't take notice of it when landing on any policy!

      Priceless from ACT! – “ACT says you can’t deliver better public policy if you don’t show humility, and this Government’s arrogance is getting in the way of solving problems and helping people,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2103/S00040/governments-super-majority-creating-extreme-arrogance.htm

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/437856/covid-19-govt-rejects-nats-push-for-outbreak-inquiry

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-national-leader-judith-collins-wants-inquiry-into-latest-cluster/D4WL7SSIJGAHWVKS7ZF4X6RC4A/

    • Drowsy M. Kram 10.4
      8 March 2021 at 5:37 pm

      'I might get cancelled'

      Anyone see what Collins' eyebrows were doing when she said that?

      “I think what you’re seeing is the absolute arrogance of this Government,” Collins told Magic Talk on Monday, echoing Hosking who said the Prime Minister was “running for the hills“.

      I have as much respect for ‘shock jock Hosking‘ and Judith ‘Eyebrows‘ Collins has they have shown for PM Ardern. C’mon Hosking, you brought this on yourself – man up.

    • Incognito 10.5
      8 March 2021 at 10:03 pm

      Yeah, nah. Collins is not cancelled. I see her face and reckons almost as much as I see Meghan Markle’s and she, at least, has a story to sell tell, I’ve been told (by the media). However, I’ve stopped almost completely paying any attention to National MPs and their Leader. Polemics with a parsnip are more entertaining and informative. Is National not overdue for another dead cat bounce on the table? Oh, the report is due tomorrow. Let’s leak it!

  11. greywarshark 11
    8 March 2021 at 2:02 pm

    Seems like NZ needs this? Uninterruptible Power supply (UPS) or have we got one already?

    https://powertec.co.nz/battery-backup/

    'Research firm Venture Insights points out that in south-east Australia’s 2019-20 bushfires, about 88% of the telecommunications outages were caused by loss of power outages and only 1% were due to direct fire damage, which implies that better power backups could significantly reduce outages.1'

    After more than 1000 mobile towers and other facilities were disabled as a result of bushfires last summer, the Commonwealth Government announced a $37.1m funding package to strengthen telco resilience, including $10m for the Mobile Blackspot Program and battery backup solutions.

    Repairs to damaged power lines can take time, especially if many poles must be replaced. So, battery backup solutions are important for maintaining communications in times of disaster.

    The key to a successful backup battery solution is an Uninterruptible Power supply (UPS), which is an on-demand, instant switch battery back-up.

  12. KJT 12
    8 March 2021 at 2:33 pm

    After our discussion about the net affects of covid including tourism and jobs. This from Barry Thompson at

    Powerboat Magazine. Home – Power Boat News (powerboatmagazine.co.nz)

    "IT'S GOOD AND IT'S BAD

    New Zealand trailer boat builders are experiencing their best times ever, but it does come at a cost for consumers. Order a boat today from a dealer, and you are probably going to be waiting 12 months or, in some cases, 18 months more before you get it.

    We are all aware that boat sales, like cars, houses, and swimming pools, have gone ballistic, and when you walk into a boatyard these days, it's hard to find a new boat on display. Plus, if it is, then it's almost guaranteed that it is already sold and await fitout. I talked to several manufacturers last week about their current build situation, and almost everyone had the same answer…maxed out till next year.

    Engine, electronics, and marine equipment suppliers are also reporting delays in obtaining stock, which certainly impacts the boat builders. Air freighting parts to enable a boat to be finished adds cost, and somewhere along the chain, that has to be added into the charges.

    I read somewhere that it was estimated that somewhere around $NZ18 billion had stayed in the country due to Covid-19 and closed borders. I am not sure that was correct, but I know how much I have not spent on overseas trips. I can't say saved, as my wife did find ways of spending it, such as a new bed, bathroom and travels around the country."

  13. Sanctuary 13
    8 March 2021 at 5:19 pm

    Oh my God, if you want an example of a bitter piece of writing from a bewildered boomer reduced to waving his fist at clouds as he struggles with being sidelined for the first time in his life then I can give you Barry Soper…

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/barry-soper-jacinda-ardern-is-treading-water-the-master-of-soft-flattering-interviews/4GKJG4UBCLIKKX4POQWHK4EXD4/

    • Barfly 13.1
      8 March 2021 at 6:35 pm

      Entitled self-righteous prat

      • woodart 13.1.1
        8 March 2021 at 7:32 pm

        didnt realise that soper was still alive.thought he had been pickled and preserved years ago.

    • McFlock 13.2
      8 March 2021 at 7:04 pm

      I'd really like to see his metrics for how many of hosking's listeners switched their vote to Labour last election despite listening to hosking.

      But then key invited the press gallery for drinkies, as well as doing swimming shots for metro, so Ardern is awful.

    • In Vino 13.3
      8 March 2021 at 7:28 pm

      Agree. I find it ironic that the iconic commentator Soper commits an obvious English error in the very paragraph where he snidely snipes at her degree in communications.

      "Having worked with the past 10 prime ministers, Jacinda Ardern would be the most removed from the media than any of them." No, Barry Soper – Jacinda Ardern has not worked with the past ten PMs.

      Soper was trying to say that he himself had done so, but incompetently ignored the rule that following a participial clause should be the subject of that clause. He should have written, "Having worked with the past 10 prime ministers, I would place JA as…"

      Poor quality language as well as biased analysis.

      A similar error –
      “As a Leftie, Soper is wrong”
      “As a Leftie. I think Soper is wrong.”
      Soper is not a Leftie, so the first example is very poor use of language, like Soper’s.
      The second example is correct.

      • woodart 13.3.1
        8 March 2021 at 7:38 pm

        soper hasnt "worked with the last ten P.M.s'" running around, after a poli, and interviewing your keyboard isnt working with a P.M. Im sure if you asked those ten P.M.s about their working relationship with soper, they would all say, :who?: way to talk yourself up. must be contract renewal time.

      • mac1 13.3.2
        8 March 2021 at 8:10 pm

        Since we're being critical of one whose career is writing, how's this paragraph of Soper's for making one sentence out of two?

        "She's commanded the Covid pulpit to such an extent that the virus has become her security blanket, without it she'd be forced to face the reality that her Government has been moribund."

        Two main clauses joined by a comma. Tsk tsk.

        What of course is worse is the claim that this government would be moribund without Covid-19.

        What a stupid statement. This government would be far down the track of social reform without having had to deal with a disease that has killed half a million Americans.

        To what country in the world can Soper point that has managed to keep its citizens safe, its economy running and carry out meaningful social reform.

        For God's sake, keeping the pandemic controlled and lives saved is a huge social achievement.

        What does the US Preamble say? "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

        And the first is? Life.

        How do 500,000 Americans enjoy liberty and the pursuit of happiness in their Covid graves, without life?

        Soper says 'moribund' . The word comes from the Latin for death and means dying or expiring, at the point of death.

        Soper is hyper-exaggerating, and has joined others of the media fraternity, journalists, political commentators and party spin merchants in a new attack orchestrated by last year's defeated pundits upon the PM.

        Surprise, surprise. It has to happen, but let's recognise it when it occurs.

        There's more than grammar at stake.

        • Anne 13.3.2.1
          8 March 2021 at 8:31 pm

          "She's commanded the Covid pulpit to such an extent that the virus has become her security blanket, without it she'd be forced to face the reality that her Government has been moribund."

          Ahhh… but dunnit sound awful good. Real clever hyperbole – Covid pulpit, security blanket, moribund. So impressive. 🙄

          Btw, he hasn't joined other of the media fraternity… he was one of the founders some 25 -30 years ago.

          • In Vino 13.3.2.1.1
            8 March 2021 at 8:50 pm

            Quite right both Mac1 and Anne.

            I missed the egregious run-on sentence because I was so outrageously aggrieved by the misrelated participial clause.

            I think what he meant to write was: ",without which' instead of what he did write.

            Can't even proof-read his own rubbish before he sends it in, and, obviously, the Herald can no longer afford to hire good proof-readers. (Unless the humble proof-readers dare not question the linguistic excellence of the most elevated Barry Soper..)

            Yes, obviously, the hyper-exaggerated emotive terms are what counts for approval, and good language no longer counts.

        • Peter 13.3.2.2
          8 March 2021 at 8:36 pm

          It is more than grammar.

          Soper seems pissed off that Ardern hasn't established some sort of 'old boys club' way of working, cosying up to the likes of him, "Jacinda Ardern would be the most removed from the media than any of them. (The 10 previous Prime Ministers.)

          "All of her predecessors got to know the parliamentary media by inviting them to their ninth floor Beehive office, at least a couple of times a year. It puts a human face on the public performer."

          How unsettling, things are being done differently.

          The boys, Hosking and Soper are throwing little NZME tanties.

          'The Prime Minister's press conferences usually begin with a sermon – it took eight minutes for her to get to the fact that she was moving the country down an alert level last Friday. When it comes to Question Time in Parliament her forearm stiffens and her hand flicks to those she'll take a question from. Some of us are left barking from the sidelines."

          It must be terrible to be his age and be pissed off because you're not teacher's pet. At least he got part of it petulant.

          • RedBaronCV 13.3.2.2.1
            8 March 2021 at 11:03 pm

            Given that a lot of the MSM used to feel like the Nat party PR machine – I can understand why the "best buddies " schtick isn't quite where Labour is at. So why does that surprise our Barry?

      • Incognito 13.3.3
        8 March 2021 at 10:22 pm

        Silly Soper sounds so sad since she smilingly soared staring sternly at star-struck Soper.

    • Muttonbird 13.4
      8 March 2021 at 8:50 pm

      The most bitter of alt-right tears.

      Remember, Soper is the one who went into bat for the parliamentary harasser.

  14. greywarshark 14
    8 March 2021 at 10:36 pm

    I hope NZ Farmers are coming together like the Australians are with their practices and learnings so all can move forward together.

    https://www.facebook.com/TheMulloonInstitute/