Project for the weekend – strip boxing from recently poured foundations and start assembling glasshouse. The “Instructions” make my brain hurt. Wish me luck…
Grapes, tomatoes and chilies for sure, salad greens, radishes. Mixture of stuff probably from the rest of the garden, to spread the yield over the seasons. Ahh Dunedin – we love your seasons!
I agree! And yet – and yet – they just never taste as good as I remember when I was young. Even farmer’s market radishes are a pale imitation of my memories. I suspect that this is just a consequence of age, and growing my own won’t make a difference, but I’m going to give it a try just in case!
Good luck, went through that and decided to have a woodshed made with clear light instead and delivered.
The assembly of a poly tunnel was similarly daunting and if I screwed it up it was on me so I wimped out or made a wise decision depending on your view.
Getting a glass house was one of the best moves I have made in a long time, I LOVE it and I hope you love yours too !
I have just recently installed LED lighting to extend my daylight hours off season , Im really looking forward to seeing how they perform !
my advise , get into hydroponics (if you arent already ? ) now that you have a protected environment, your yields and turnaround will increase DRAMATICALLY !
hydroponics is a lot less work, so you have more time to enjoy the fruits of your labours,
Im starting to get into flori-culture, my dream would be to get my hands on a corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) , but i dont think the neighbors would appreciate that !
I find hydroponic produce is tastier to, not to mention more nutritious and healthy !
I suspect you don’t have enough brains for anything to hurt so, just get on with it.
[lprent: Let me count the ways.. You are addressing a university prof, a profession known for their intelligence. Also an author. and you clearly didn’t read the post. Banned permantly for being stupid and unpleasant. ]
Why don’t we all pledge to get two more people enrolled to vote this weekend. Check with Whanau and neighbours. If a hundred of us do this it could be the difference between Key and Cunliffe being the PM.
Can I recommend seeing 20000 days on earth?
Not a huge Nick Cave fan myself, but my god I nearly screamed and hollered out loud in the cinema – how very un-kiwi of me……
Abandoned Chocolate Factory To Start Selling Marijuana
This former Hershey factory in Ontario is on track to be repurposed into a weed manufacturing plant. It’s like right out of a fairytale! Smiths Falls town Mayor Dennis Staples couldn’t be more pleased, and Canadian stoners everywhere are rejoicing at the prospect of a hydroponic hub, where weed flows like wine.
Casablanca is a great movie. I have it on VHS, bought myself a VHS player but just need to see if I can remember how to work it. You can buy VHS tapes for 50c to $1 and often find some really good movies. From memory they dont jump or get stuck like dvds tend to.
Got dragged along to the type of movie I wouldn’t usually go to last weekend, and was blown away by it. Fantastic, dramatic, explosive. Special effects like you wouldn’t believe. If it even remotely interests you then go – and make sure you see it on the biggest screen with the loudest sound system ….. almost three hours of being glued to the seat and screen – didn’t want it to end.
r0b’s back in town and that can only mean one thing, Weekend Social! đ
(I hope that OOS has started to improve).
Good to hear about people’s gardens again and their plans for spring. We’ve had a severe attack of grass grub and have no lawns to mow for about three months now. Time to think about revivifying the raised herb garden and planning new projects for summer.
If Anne is around I’d like to know how all her birds are doing. We now have our resident wild ducks visiting everyday. One of the ducklings who is now 3 winters old has returned after a long absence and looks like she is now carrying eggs. She still remembers her name. I was quite surprised about that.
It is a little better at the moment, thanks. On the other hand, so to speak, I have managed to stuff up my left elbow with all the building work this year. Sigh!
Hi Rosie,
I only have nine left now. They are the larger species of budgie and very brightly coloured so they still make a good spectacle. Today I had to remove them and bring them inside because we have yet another major easterly storm on it’s way. The little blighters have become very adept at ‘avoiding being caught’ so the air around the aviary was getting quite blue this afternoon.
Now if Ennui is still around I’d like to know how is feathered ‘ladies’ are doing.
Talking of wild birds, I am feeding a large contingent of sparrows, starlings, thrushes, a few pigeons and blackbirds and an occasional tui comes visiting too. But the most interesting are the grey doves. Every Spring they disappear to have their chicks. Then once the chicks are hatched and can fly they bring them to my garden and leave them with me. I have apparently become the local nursery for the grey dove chicks. Then when winter arrives they all return because food is getting scarce.
After many years of dogs and cats, I ‘got landed’ with four parrots a few years ago and am now conpletely besotted with birds. I had always enjoyed birds and encouraged and fed the wild ones but knew little about the different needs, habits, etc of the different breeds. Now my life is taken up with birds.
The parrots live indoors in their own parrot room except when the weather if fine enough to move their (very large) cages out onto the verandah during the day. One is an Australian Bare Eyed Corella (or Small Cockatoo) who is EVIL and drives me, my two dogs and cat, and the other parrots to distraction at times. He is out of his cage for most of the day causing mischief. The others are South American conures and now comprise a pair of Maroon bellied conures and a pair of Sun Conures. Just as well my neighbour whose house is close to the parrot room is elderly and deaf (but does not admit she is)!
Outside, my garden is a haven for a large range of wild birds including Tuis, sparrows, blackbirds etc. But this year, I have not seen the Kingfisher who was a regular for the last few winters. As well I have a daily visit from as a large flock of wild pidgeons – not popular with my neigbours for them.
And finally, (possibly temporarily, but most likely permanently) I now have three chickens, thanks to neighbours who have moved and don’t have the right section for them. They are doing wonders for weeding and cultivating my jungle of a garden – and the daily fresh eggs are out of this world compared to supermarket ones.
I wonder if hens are good on grass grubs? Rosie what’s the story on this. Have you had experience with using them for this job? If they like grass grubs it would be hen heaven, scratch up and chomp. The grubs are quite big if I remember rightly, greyish and curl into a C.
Apparently hens love grass grubs and are one of the best ways of getting rid of them without chemicals etc. Stacks on this if you google “hens and grass grubs”. They also love eating snails and ‘Slaters’ – I had a visual image of giant hens eating a certain one!
Thanks veuto. I thought I had heard about that and it is good information to get out and about. Perhaps it is hens that will save the world, (thanks for all the grass grubs) and not dolphins – thanks for the fish a la Douglas Adams.
Do you know of an organic way of getting rid of bindweed (convulvulus tyrranusis!).
Hens or bunnies digging it up and eating it like pigs eating truffles? I wish.
I had to google that instantly as I have some bindweed in the jungle. From my quick read, chickens don’t like it and should not have it as it is listed in some lists of no, nos for chickens (although there seems to be mixed views on this).
My quick read gave the impression that there is no sucessful way of dealing with bindweed organically. The problem is the deep roots and the only successful way is to ‘nuke’ it with chemical weedkillers such as glysophate.
Really lovely to hear about your parrot friends and chickens veutoviper. Both yourself and Anne sound like you are expert carers of birds.It’s nice to read your stories đ
I’ve only recently in the last few years developed an interest and affection for birds. My grandfather was an ornithologist and reading about his life and the book he published I felt more connected with him and with his love of birds.It was his enthusiasm that got me started.
We really only have ducks around here. There are some real characters, some stand out for their unusual traits and habits. The area we live in is devoid of trees and vegetation but even in the two years we’ve been here the local volunteer planting group who we’ve worked with, have through their plantings encouraged more bird life into the area. They have plans to create a bird friendly environment over the next 20 years.
We’re making efforts in our own garden such as planting rewa rewa, to attract the birds. It’s a long term plan as they take so long to grow. Hopefully we’ll be rewarded one day!
Thats interesting about hens and grass grub. The starlings like ’em but this year they lost the battle.
We only sprayed once but were reluctant to do as the poison is quite toxic, and we have never used any other sprays in the garden ever. In fact our former neighbour who worked for the EPA said the chemical was on a list that was being considered for banning. Mr R kitted up in what looked like a bio hazard suit to get the job done. Won’t do it again as we can’t keep the ducks or the cat off the lawn.
Lovely to get the update Anne. Thats quite adorable that you have been appointed nursery maid by the grey dove council of whanau. They obviously hold you in high esteem, to leave their chicks with you.
I’ve not heard of wild grey doves.I’ll have to look them up later. Are they specific to your area?
Thanks Anne, how interesting. I’m not familiar with them and don’t recall coming across them when I lived in Auckland. I might recognise a bird call so will check that out too.
Always good to learn something new! Thank you đ
It was worth watching for its broad stroke overview of history, bearing in mind the inherent bias. Had bad reviews (I read afterwards), but as a piece of filmmaking I found it watchable. It’s mostly told from the perspective of Assange’s partner. Assange himself says the film is full of untruths. I couldn’t find a decent independent critique, so am unclear on how much licence the filmmakers took.
One of the interesting things about watching it is it helped me understand better the people that followed the whole wiki leaks things closely as it happened and who see Assange as a hero and found it difficult to deal with the sexual assault allegations. Wikileaks was an amazing feat, and we’re never very good at understanding how good people might be able to do bad things.
Could moderator please if you have time, delete my long comment above. It vanished after I put it up and I looked for it for a while, then I thought it shouldn’t be here anyway and put it up on Open Mike, where it vanished again. And despite looking and refreshing, couldn’t find it. Now there are two long comments sorry. I would have deleted it myself but I didn’t have it to hand to work the options buttons.
Tomorrow afternoon, if things go really really badly, I may find myself down to one eye. People who used to sneer at me on Twitter will no doubt say So what's changed? Nothing, that's what, you one-eyed lefty.I don’t mean to be dramatic, it’s just a routine bit of cataract ...
A few weeks ago an invitation dropped into my email inbox to attend a joint Treasury/Motu seminar on recent, rather major, changes that had apparently been made to the discount rates used by The Treasury to evaluate proposals from government agencies. It was all news to me, but when ...
All your life is Time magazineI read it tooWhat does it mean?PressureI'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationaleBut here you are with your faithAnd your Peter Pan adviceYou have no scars on your faceAnd you cannot handle pressureSongwriter: Billy Joel.Christopher Luxon is under pressure from all sides. The reviews are ...
After seeing yet-more-months of political debate and policy decisions to ‘go for growth’ by pulling the same old cheap migration and cheap tourism levers without nearly-enough infrastructure, or any attempt to address the same old lack of globally conventional tax incentives for investment, I thought it would be worth issuing ...
The plans for the buildings that will replace the downtown carpark have been publicly notified giving us the first detailed glance at what is proposed for one of the biggest and best development sites in the city centre. The council agreed to sell the site to Precinct Properties for $122 ...
With the Reserve Bank expected today to return the Official Cash Rate to where it was in mid-2022 comes a measure of how much of a psychological impact the rate has. Federated Farmers has published its latest six-monthly farm confidence survey, which shows that profit expectations have fallen and risen ...
Kiwis Disallowed From Waiting Lists Based on Arbitrary MeasuresWellington hospital are now rejecting patients from specialist waiting lists due to BMI (body mass index).This article from Rachel Thomas for The Post says it all (emphasis mine):A group of Porirua GPs are sounding alarm bells after patients with body mass indexes ...
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train⊠if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
âThis might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trumpâs putting on a bloody impressive performance.ââGOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentineâs Day cards!ââOccupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!ââCrikey! I had no idea business was so good.â Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workersâ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just donât know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. âOJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. âBrooke van Veldenâs changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minorityâs birthright, New Zealand the majorityâs possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: Â âHow to Fly a Horseâ by Kevin Ashton (2015) â and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops â simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Armyâs State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
âThe ACT Party canât be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,â Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Governmentâs newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
Nationalâs cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te PÄti MÄori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna MÄori from state care back to te iwi MÄori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willisâ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Armyâs annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Armyâs State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Memberâs Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The âFluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Billâ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Memberâs Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current âEnvironmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Frameworkâ. âThis Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if todayâs announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between MÄori and the British Crown. Initially inked by NgÄ Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this governmentâs failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealandâs opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting MÄori and Pacific people especially hard, with MÄori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between MÄori and the British Crown. Initially inked by NgÄ Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing â National still wonât commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the countryâs public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te PÄti MÄori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymourâs âcost-savingâ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. âWhatâs the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?â Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
The Governmentâs commitment to get New Zealandâs roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. âIncreasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. âToday I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in WhÄngarei will be offering childhood immunisations â the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Governmentâs record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealandâs strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealandâs national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Governmentâs transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. Itâs a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. âThe racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. âThe latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are âstill both very highâ.â The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
NgÄi Tahu wants to introduce contamination charges to address contamination in Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere, the High Court has been told.In the second week of the two-month case against the Attorney-General over wai mÄori (freshwater), Dr Elizabeth Brown, the Rangatira of Taumutu, which sits on the lakeâs edge, told Justice Melanie ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra ASIO chief Mike Burgess has warned that over the next five years Australiaâs security environment will become more dynamic, diverse and degraded, with âmore security surprisesâ in the second half of the decade than in ...
There is certainly plenty of room for better police training for dealing with protest activity that starts with a rights-based approach to ensuring people can fully exercise their human rights. ...
âWe are thrilled that this Bill is making its way through the House and looks set to become law,â said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University Gumbariya/Shutterstock The Reserve Bankâs decision to cut interest rates for the first time in four years has triggered a round of celebration. Mortgage holders are cheering the fact their monthly repayments are now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Housing supply in Australia will be a key battleground in the election campaign. With home ownership more and more out of reach for young and not so young Australians, red tape and low productivity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Korolev, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, UNSW Sydney The United States and Russia agreed to work on a plan to end the war in Ukraine at high-level talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Ukrainian and European representatives were pointedly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock Sleep is the holy grail for new parents. So no wonder many tired parents are looking for something to help their babies sleep. A TikTok trend claims ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ranjana Gupta, Senior Lecturer, Accounting Department, Auckland University of Technology Jirsak/Shutterstock The profit made on every breakfast bowl of weet-bix is tax exempt, giving Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an advantage over other breakfast food companies. ...
A closer look at some of the homegrown talent currently commanding television screens around the globe. The new season of The White Lotus hit our screens this week, and with it a familiar face in New Zealand actor Morgana OâReilly. To secure a role in one of the worldâs most ...
"This is a crisis of the Governmentâs own making and the unit is another sign of desperation," said PSA acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Perugia, Senior Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University Australiaâs housing crisis has created a push for fast-tracked construction. Federal, state and territory governments have set a target of 1.2 million new homes over five years. Increasing housing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ash Watson, Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock When weâre uncomfortable we say the âvibe is offâ. When weâre having a good time weâre âvibingâ. To assess the mood we do a âvibe checkâ. And when the atmosphere in ...
Whatâs up with the man from Epsom? The leader of the Act Party has been in plenty of headlines in the last two weeks, ranging from a controversial letter to police on behalf of constituent Philip Polkinghorne (written before David Seymour was a minister) to an attempt to drive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Australian National University Newly published research has found clear evidence that openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer+ (LGBTIQ+) Australian politicians were disproportionately targeted with personal abuse on social media at the ...
Gilmore Girls, Schittâs Creek, even The Vampire Diaries â theyâre all set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. So what is it like to actually know your neighbours? My favourite television shows are set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. Characters attend town meetings where they debate local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide IMDB On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Seaâs Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and ...
Wellington travellers say their buses are so hot theyâre often forced to get off early and walk. Shanti Mathias explores the impact of non-functioning air conditioning on public transport. When Bella, a young professional living in Wellington, thinks about taking the bus, her first thought is âUghâ. The bus might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Kroen, Research Fellow Planning and Transport, RMIT University The cleanup is underway in northern Queensland following the latest flooding catastrophe to hit the state. More than 7,000 insurance claims have already been lodged, most of them for inundated homes and other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Subha Parida, Lecturer in Property, University of South Australia Carl Oberg/Shutterstock Houses and fire do not mix. The firestorm which hit Los Angeles in January destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings and forced 130,000 people to evacuate. The 2019â20 Australian megafires destroyed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania Tasmania has been burning for more than two weeks, with no end in sight. Almost 100,000 hectares of bushland in the northwest has burned to date. This includes the Tarkine rainforest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Loosemore, Professor of Construction Management, University of Technology Sydney This week, the Productivity Commission released its much-awaited report into productivity growth in Australiaâs housing construction sector. It wasnât a glowing appraisal. The commission found physical productivity â the total number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago Royal spoonbills are among several new species that have crossed the Tasman and naturalised in New Zealand. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA When people arrived on the shores of Aotearoa ...
Stats NZâs head is stepping down over the agencyâs failure to safeguard census data, and more officials may soon be in the firing line, writes Catherine McGregor in todayâs extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. An âabsolutely unacceptableâ failure Stats NZ chief ...
Health NZ is under greater government scrutiny, with the new health minister setting up a unit he says will "drive greater accountability and performance". ...
Can I have fries & a coke with that please……..LOL
Project for the weekend – strip boxing from recently poured foundations and start assembling glasshouse. The “Instructions” make my brain hurt. Wish me luck…
Luck! Glasshouses are awesome. What are you planning on growing?
Grapes, tomatoes and chilies for sure, salad greens, radishes. Mixture of stuff probably from the rest of the garden, to spread the yield over the seasons. Ahh Dunedin – we love your seasons!
Grapes, is it quite big then?
Standard 3.6 x 2.4 I think – not planning a big vine, just a bit to get some early grapes before the main outside vine comes on line.
mmmmm radishes, nature’s most underrated vegetable.
I agree! And yet – and yet – they just never taste as good as I remember when I was young. Even farmer’s market radishes are a pale imitation of my memories. I suspect that this is just a consequence of age, and growing my own won’t make a difference, but I’m going to give it a try just in case!
Heirloom varieties? (for the radishes)
Dunno – I’ll have to look in to that.
Perhaps radishes are tastier when well fertilised the natural way. Follow the politicians with a shovel, and voila.
I dunno that even a fondness for radishes is worth that price!
Good luck, went through that and decided to have a woodshed made with clear light instead and delivered.
The assembly of a poly tunnel was similarly daunting and if I screwed it up it was on me so I wimped out or made a wise decision depending on your view.
I am feeling a bit daunted to be sure, but the thing has been sitting the garage for way too long, the time has come to face my fears!
Good luck !
Getting a glass house was one of the best moves I have made in a long time, I LOVE it and I hope you love yours too !
I have just recently installed LED lighting to extend my daylight hours off season , Im really looking forward to seeing how they perform !
my advise , get into hydroponics (if you arent already ? ) now that you have a protected environment, your yields and turnaround will increase DRAMATICALLY !
plus its a lot of fun to !
Hydroponics and permaculture are both on the list to look in to. Fun – I hope so! – been meaning to get in to this for a long long time.
hydroponics is a lot less work, so you have more time to enjoy the fruits of your labours,
Im starting to get into flori-culture, my dream would be to get my hands on a corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) , but i dont think the neighbors would appreciate that !
I find hydroponic produce is tastier to, not to mention more nutritious and healthy !
I suspect you don’t have enough brains for anything to hurt so, just get on with it.
[lprent: Let me count the ways.. You are addressing a university prof, a profession known for their intelligence. Also an author. and you clearly didn’t read the post. Banned permantly for being stupid and unpleasant. ]
Why don’t we all pledge to get two more people enrolled to vote this weekend. Check with Whanau and neighbours. If a hundred of us do this it could be the difference between Key and Cunliffe being the PM.
I’m in!
I’m in too! (already had one conversation).
Not if they vote this weekend !
be like nats with text voting – vote early, vote often đ
Yes, the pyramid effect would be great in the vote context.
I have exclusive brethren on one side so not too optimistic there!
Nice to have Weekend Social back.
Can I recommend seeing 20000 days on earth?
Not a huge Nick Cave fan myself, but my god I nearly screamed and hollered out loud in the cinema – how very un-kiwi of me……
This one is to good to be true !
Abandoned Chocolate Factory To Start Selling Marijuana
This former Hershey factory in Ontario is on track to be repurposed into a weed manufacturing plant. It’s like right out of a fairytale! Smiths Falls town Mayor Dennis Staples couldn’t be more pleased, and Canadian stoners everywhere are rejoicing at the prospect of a hydroponic hub, where weed flows like wine.
https://roadtrippers.com/blog/abandoned-chocolate-factory-to-start-selling-marijuana-yay
Surely you would want both a cannabis factory and a chocolate factory?
And ice-cream.
One of the rare times my weekend is planned before it happens: a night in with Casablanca, a loaf of bread, a cup of wine, etc…
Casablanca is a great movie. I have it on VHS, bought myself a VHS player but just need to see if I can remember how to work it. You can buy VHS tapes for 50c to $1 and often find some really good movies. From memory they dont jump or get stuck like dvds tend to.
Got dragged along to the type of movie I wouldn’t usually go to last weekend, and was blown away by it. Fantastic, dramatic, explosive. Special effects like you wouldn’t believe. If it even remotely interests you then go – and make sure you see it on the biggest screen with the loudest sound system ….. almost three hours of being glued to the seat and screen – didn’t want it to end.
http://www.transformersmovie.co.nz/#home
r0b’s back in town and that can only mean one thing, Weekend Social! đ
(I hope that OOS has started to improve).
Good to hear about people’s gardens again and their plans for spring. We’ve had a severe attack of grass grub and have no lawns to mow for about three months now. Time to think about revivifying the raised herb garden and planning new projects for summer.
If Anne is around I’d like to know how all her birds are doing. We now have our resident wild ducks visiting everyday. One of the ducklings who is now 3 winters old has returned after a long absence and looks like she is now carrying eggs. She still remembers her name. I was quite surprised about that.
(I hope that OOS has started to improve)
It is a little better at the moment, thanks. On the other hand, so to speak, I have managed to stuff up my left elbow with all the building work this year. Sigh!
Oh how frustrating! Well all the best for ongoing improvement in both elbow and hand đ
Hi Rosie,
I only have nine left now. They are the larger species of budgie and very brightly coloured so they still make a good spectacle. Today I had to remove them and bring them inside because we have yet another major easterly storm on it’s way. The little blighters have become very adept at ‘avoiding being caught’ so the air around the aviary was getting quite blue this afternoon.
Now if Ennui is still around I’d like to know how is feathered ‘ladies’ are doing.
Talking of wild birds, I am feeding a large contingent of sparrows, starlings, thrushes, a few pigeons and blackbirds and an occasional tui comes visiting too. But the most interesting are the grey doves. Every Spring they disappear to have their chicks. Then once the chicks are hatched and can fly they bring them to my garden and leave them with me. I have apparently become the local nursery for the grey dove chicks. Then when winter arrives they all return because food is getting scarce.
Birds are smart creatures.
Birds, birds, birds – can I join in?
After many years of dogs and cats, I ‘got landed’ with four parrots a few years ago and am now conpletely besotted with birds. I had always enjoyed birds and encouraged and fed the wild ones but knew little about the different needs, habits, etc of the different breeds. Now my life is taken up with birds.
The parrots live indoors in their own parrot room except when the weather if fine enough to move their (very large) cages out onto the verandah during the day. One is an Australian Bare Eyed Corella (or Small Cockatoo) who is EVIL and drives me, my two dogs and cat, and the other parrots to distraction at times. He is out of his cage for most of the day causing mischief. The others are South American conures and now comprise a pair of Maroon bellied conures and a pair of Sun Conures. Just as well my neighbour whose house is close to the parrot room is elderly and deaf (but does not admit she is)!
Outside, my garden is a haven for a large range of wild birds including Tuis, sparrows, blackbirds etc. But this year, I have not seen the Kingfisher who was a regular for the last few winters. As well I have a daily visit from as a large flock of wild pidgeons – not popular with my neigbours for them.
And finally, (possibly temporarily, but most likely permanently) I now have three chickens, thanks to neighbours who have moved and don’t have the right section for them. They are doing wonders for weeding and cultivating my jungle of a garden – and the daily fresh eggs are out of this world compared to supermarket ones.
I wonder if hens are good on grass grubs? Rosie what’s the story on this. Have you had experience with using them for this job? If they like grass grubs it would be hen heaven, scratch up and chomp. The grubs are quite big if I remember rightly, greyish and curl into a C.
Apparently hens love grass grubs and are one of the best ways of getting rid of them without chemicals etc. Stacks on this if you google “hens and grass grubs”. They also love eating snails and ‘Slaters’ – I had a visual image of giant hens eating a certain one!
Thanks veuto. I thought I had heard about that and it is good information to get out and about. Perhaps it is hens that will save the world, (thanks for all the grass grubs) and not dolphins – thanks for the fish a la Douglas Adams.
Do you know of an organic way of getting rid of bindweed (convulvulus tyrranusis!).
Hens or bunnies digging it up and eating it like pigs eating truffles? I wish.
I had to google that instantly as I have some bindweed in the jungle. From my quick read, chickens don’t like it and should not have it as it is listed in some lists of no, nos for chickens (although there seems to be mixed views on this).
My quick read gave the impression that there is no sucessful way of dealing with bindweed organically. The problem is the deep roots and the only successful way is to ‘nuke’ it with chemical weedkillers such as glysophate.
Thanks veuto. That’s what I had in my mind. But I hoped it was wrong. Just have to knuckle down and do it.
Really lovely to hear about your parrot friends and chickens veutoviper. Both yourself and Anne sound like you are expert carers of birds.It’s nice to read your stories đ
I’ve only recently in the last few years developed an interest and affection for birds. My grandfather was an ornithologist and reading about his life and the book he published I felt more connected with him and with his love of birds.It was his enthusiasm that got me started.
We really only have ducks around here. There are some real characters, some stand out for their unusual traits and habits. The area we live in is devoid of trees and vegetation but even in the two years we’ve been here the local volunteer planting group who we’ve worked with, have through their plantings encouraged more bird life into the area. They have plans to create a bird friendly environment over the next 20 years.
We’re making efforts in our own garden such as planting rewa rewa, to attract the birds. It’s a long term plan as they take so long to grow. Hopefully we’ll be rewarded one day!
Thats interesting about hens and grass grub. The starlings like ’em but this year they lost the battle.
We only sprayed once but were reluctant to do as the poison is quite toxic, and we have never used any other sprays in the garden ever. In fact our former neighbour who worked for the EPA said the chemical was on a list that was being considered for banning. Mr R kitted up in what looked like a bio hazard suit to get the job done. Won’t do it again as we can’t keep the ducks or the cat off the lawn.
Lovely to get the update Anne. Thats quite adorable that you have been appointed nursery maid by the grey dove council of whanau. They obviously hold you in high esteem, to leave their chicks with you.
I’ve not heard of wild grey doves.I’ll have to look them up later. Are they specific to your area?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_dove
They’re prolific in Auckland – at least the part of Auckland where I live.
Thanks Anne, how interesting. I’m not familiar with them and don’t recall coming across them when I lived in Auckland. I might recognise a bird call so will check that out too.
Always good to learn something new! Thank you đ
I’m about to start watching The Fifth Estate (wikileaks drama). Will I regret this?
How was it Weka? I re watched the 5th Element and it was good!
It was worth watching for its broad stroke overview of history, bearing in mind the inherent bias. Had bad reviews (I read afterwards), but as a piece of filmmaking I found it watchable. It’s mostly told from the perspective of Assange’s partner. Assange himself says the film is full of untruths. I couldn’t find a decent independent critique, so am unclear on how much licence the filmmakers took.
One of the interesting things about watching it is it helped me understand better the people that followed the whole wiki leaks things closely as it happened and who see Assange as a hero and found it difficult to deal with the sexual assault allegations. Wikileaks was an amazing feat, and we’re never very good at understanding how good people might be able to do bad things.
A bit of light relief. Two spirited and talented singers with Anything you can do I can do better. A song for the times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UB1YAsPD6U
[r0b: Deleted at writer’s request (below)]
Could moderator please if you have time, delete my long comment above. It vanished after I put it up and I looked for it for a while, then I thought it shouldn’t be here anyway and put it up on Open Mike, where it vanished again. And despite looking and refreshing, couldn’t find it. Now there are two long comments sorry. I would have deleted it myself but I didn’t have it to hand to work the options buttons.
Recommend Danish TV series Borgen.
Really good.