Radio NZ: Sam Neil Interview

Jim Mora 30 / July / 2012

Well I am a fan of Sam Neil, he once considered helping me and his old NFU Mate Bryan Campbell promote the Idea of a Global Opposite Stonehenge near Invercargill.
We had the go ahead from English Heritage at the Time but we couldn’t sell the “resurrection” Idea to the People of Southland. Mayor Harrington was keen, but he got shadbolted out of office.

Ironically Sam went on to play Merlin on TV and Merlin was credited in Mythology as the Man who Built Stonehenge : )



Any way, Sam is Cool, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Artificial Intelligence on Radio New Zealand

Kathryn Ryan  30 / July / 12

On the subject of creating an electronic Brain it is clear that it will only be done to a slave to Humanity .
The best prediction of this future can been seen in Douglass Adams Hitch Hikers guide to the Galaxy to get some Idea of how rediculous life would be trying to work with A.I. Fitted with People Personalities.

One thing clear is that our desires and needs drive us with a will to Improved our lot and it would be laughable to try and duplicate this Electronically!

As one Ape Brain has more computing power than all the worlds computer it is obvious that we should be looking to our selves for answers to the World’s problems.

Leave the Robots to do slave Labour and explore Space!

Southland Express: Earthquake Bonanza

Letters to the Editor July 20th 2012
unprinted

Your Articles about Quake strengthening Invercargill remind of a conversation I has with a retired geologist who had a novel thought for stimulating the Southland Economy... Move Invercargill... Taking into account the triple engineering headaches of Liquefaction Tsunami effects and Un Reinforced Buildings threatened by the Solander Subduction Zone, a brand new Energy efficient CBD on higher firmer ground would also give the economy a shot in the arm. The old Town could do the Oamaru Thing and become a living museum.  And Invercargill could have a shiny new Remarkables Park style Shopping Precinct to play with.

It might be a very log time before we face a Christchurch situation but it’s smart to think ahead.

ODT: Fiordland Tourism Isn't Evil

Letter to the Editor of the Otago Daily Times 24th July 2012:

I have been somewhat stunned by the reaction towards the mere discussion of Tunnels and Monorails here in the South West for all strong talk of Wrecking Fiordland and the Snowdon Forest there is little actual environmental damage proposed. The Anger expressed really seems to be about the presence of Tourists in places they are not wanted. I fully understand the annoyance that Queenstown is creaming off all the lucrative Asian bus tour markets and the need for them to have a quicker trip to Milford Sound is very desirable but in the big picture it really is just annoying, there is no real moral argument.

As for the Monorail, I recall telling them the last time they raised it up the Flagpole in ‘05
that if they where proposing a 19th century steam train rolling across the river flats of the Snowdon forest people would probably actually warm to it where as a Hi-Tech Monorail might be comfortable inside it looks like it’s presence in a rugged wilderness area would sit very uncomfortably outside especially as monorails are intended as a mass transit system for cities like Las Vegas. It just doesn't fit here.

Personally I think it’s great to have people looking at our scenery, the more the better, Lest not for get that it was the Tourist industry that put up the biggest fuss & Biggest deterrent to the proposed Raising of Lake Manapouri.
If Queenstown & Wanaka want to invest in refining the product we should encourage them, if there not too crazy.

Or they could just end up like the Southland District, beating tourists off with a big stick and then lamenting that they can’t live forever off property speculation alone.

Southland Times: Camping Controversy

published letter to the editor:
26th July 2012

Dear Sir:
It seems that Our District Council is asking for feed back as to what should be done about free camping and free camp sites in the Fiordland / Northern Southland Area.
Thanks to the Rugby World Cup our Government abandoned the concept of supporting private enterprise and ordered that zero cost camp sites be made available in tourist areas, so the question is where to place them. I understand if they had asked the most knowledgeable in their ranks the answer would not have been the controversial Te Anau / Queens Reach / Waiau River site but a more practical site near the Mararoa Bridge at the Key because it is by far the best all-round site in the Te Anau Basin.

As for Queens Reach it has not been translated strongly enough to the media that it should be closed down completely , though some would suggested such sites should be available on a permit basis for traditional users.

It is unsure what effect proposed camping developments for Milford Sound will bring but if this whole camping drama is not handled right it could be potentially more damaging to towns like Manapouri than any tunnel, so feedback now is important.

Jim Mora: Paul Krugman's Alien Invasion

Hi Jim,

On the 22nd of June you talked about Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman’s Alien Invasion Economic stimulus concept...

Good thought, but perhaps we should be looking down, not up!

Mankind's biggest threat is from the very environment we live in. it would be a great economic growth area to work on that Headache before we worry about off-world defence projects.

Just look a NZ where all the Cities are located in areas of geologic hazard or overseas where poor sick people are brewing pathogens and making wars.

We as yet do not have or may never have inter-stellar Ships, our biological resources are finite and any lost on this planet will be gone forever. We can’t blame ET ‘s if we stuff that up.

If you think about it, just fixing the damage done to the World by ill-informed stupidity will keep a lot of people in work for a very long time.

If only we took some money out tax havens to pay them the World would be having a Boom Economy!

Perhaps that is in the grand plan, Booms need Busts to happen. That is (with all due respect for ET) as they say, the Great Circle of Life on Earth.

Kathryn Ryan: the Land Grabbers (Book Review)

Hi Kathryn:

I see you reviewed “the Land Grabbers”book,  but the real question is who controls money
Who has the might to give the United States a Credit Downgrade ?
Who decides what our money is worth?
If money is not based on Gold what is it based on?
Who decides to punish lazy nations and reward hard working ones ?
Who are the Money Gods and where do they live?

And another thought...  If the Euro was to be merely considered as an Oil trading currency
Would it cause turmoil in parts of Europe?

Keep a lookout for that book, if one exists..

Monorail vs Queenstown jobs

Todays Letter to the Southland Times:

Wednesdays comment by Mervin Cave of Manapouri about local Tourist Developments and Jobs was a bit ambiguous, he must have read the Listener Article on Peter Watson who claims Tourism keeps us poor.. I agree holistically Tourism is poorly managed compared to Fontera, but if take a look under the bonnet its potential leaves dairy and mineral extraction in the dust. As for the Idea that Tourism is entirely about extracting value from Pristine Wilderness that is pure fantasy, Tourism is always 100% about people. It is the EXPERIENCE, silly people, scenery is just the backdrop!
Mervin might have a point, the real threat our golden tourist opportunity is to blandly corporatise and bring in cheap overseas labour. But Tunnels and Monorails are not as scary as the growing menace now eating Queenstown where Kiwi Workers can’t afford to develop, work, live their own country.
But at least our resorts have been spared Dairy Conversions, Fracking and Strip Mining thus far.
Or was Peter Watson suggesting a NZ Tourism Cooperative?

Southland Times - FIY End of NZ ?

Unpublished Letter to the Southland Times 26/6/12

Dear Sir,

In the last few days have seen we have seen two events that will effect our children greatly
The first is Fontera allowing itself to be owned by the highest bidders and the other is our State Assets are allowed to be owned by the highest bidders.

Add to this a tourist industry that now is heading down the same road with Tunnels, Monorails, Smoke and Mirrors and Local Councils trying to compete with local free Enterprise taxpayers we are putting the future in doubt for this sovereign nation.

And for why? Because we would rather steal from our children then have a Capital Gains / transaction Tax  and because Looking out for each other is considered Political Poison.

My old Geography Teacher, Deyfed William at Manapouri District High said to me nearly 4 decades ago “the Next Great War will be fought with Cheque Books”

He went on to become a Journalist and recently packed it in to return to teaching... A very prophetic Man!

Thank Goodness for Prophetic Dr David Cullen or we would NOW be joining Greece, Spain and Portugal on the quay to Hell.

Kathryn Ryan: American Civil War

Yesterdays Comment on American Civil War discussion:

Kathryn,
 Oh no your onto another sacred cow!
A few years back RNZ ran a Mark Steel Lecture on from his Revolution series.
He pointed out that the American Civil War was in fact a Revolution in the true sense of the word.

More than likely about money.

When I visited the South in the 1990s I asked about the plight of the freed slaves
And I was startled to here their perspective of it being a great Humanitarian tragedy!

As usual the history of Revolution & War is written by the winners ..

Lest we forget the South was broken and robbed and it's citizens all suffered terribly.

Fiordlander Class Launches

Fiordlander Class Tourist Launches where designed in the 1960s by Mr G Breekveldt
For the Manapouri Power Project. I can report that 5 of the 7 boats are still in service
I spotted 3 moored up in Queenstown Bay The Fiordlander II and Explorer still owned by Real Journeys and the Renamed Million Dollar II (previously the MV Paranui built for the THC Milford Red Boat Fleet) run by the Million Dollar Cruise company..

The MV Moturau is still on Lake Manapouri, the Fiordlander I is in Akaroa and the two old NZED boats now owned by Mr Clint Tauri of Te Anau are out of service, The Resolution is tied up in Pearl Harbour Manapouri and the Endeavour II is languishing in the Meridian Supply Bay Depot with assorted holes cut into the hull..

Southland Times - Media Taboos

Observation:

I have been testing the Southland Times metal pushing for sensible debate again.. It seems that they are obsessed with Last Centuries arguments on abortion while at the same time claiming the city is over run with youth Crime from unguided and unwanted children..  and then there is the unspeakable taboo: (Youth Suicide)

I guess there is just a shortage of seasoned journalists these days to deal with hard issues.

Queenstown Holds all the Cards

Just Took a couple of days off to visit Queenstown, Was stunned to see so much traffic and so many people after getting the Impression that Manapouri and Te Anau where all but abandoned for the winter.

I took the opportunity to ask a Queenstown Local what they felt about the Milford / Dart Tunnel,
Though basically a daft proposal he said he was surprised by the Te Anau Reaction and thought it was a bit cheeky of Te Anau to think they have exclusive rights to Milford Sound.

Sad to say but if we are playing by the rules of Capitalism Queenstown really holds all the cards!

Odentroll Blog - Welcome to Fjordland

Welcome to my News Page for dispatches from the Fiordland Frontier deep in South West New Zealand,

And some news From the Fjordland and Odentroll youtube Channels

If I can get this Blog to work properly that is...

Aaron Nicholson