Queenstown NZ: Airport Madness

Posted 13th June 2018 to the Otago Daily Times Newspaper Dunedin NZ

Re your Story:
It is hard to understand Queenstown planning concepts at times
I cant see why anyone would want to battle all the consents from landowners to get a Gondola from the Airport to the CBD.
I would say the low hanging fruit would be a Ferry Service across Frankton Arm to Queenstown Bay via a short tunnel from the terminal building to the waters edge.  Also a good opportunity to build a retro Victorian Era Ferry reminiscent of Queenstowns past heritage.

Besides all this, most future hotels will apparently be built in the land around Frankton...
And also a ferry would be very handy in the event of a strong earthquake if services have to come from the Kingston quay. 

New World Ordering: USA

Posted 11th June 2018 to the Otago Daily Times Newspaper Dunedin NZ

One wonders if the Political turmoil that has hit the USA is going to upset the rest of their allies who are also in a pickle about how to run their counties like corporations without turning them into moral dumpster fires in the process.

The US Republicans are playing the pound a metaphorical square peg in to a round hole game...

The White House now wants to somehow force the rest of the world to pay US companies more and money to keep US  workers employed because the White House dare not break their unwritten right-wing rule against improving any form of social safety net for US citizens.

So it seems Washington  has given up the carrot in favour of the big stick in 2018, now the rest of the western world might want to consider how this is new game is going to play out.

If we all want to live in 1st world state that only has time for people who are just COGS in the machine in a global market then the people are going to revolt when they have to compete with 3rd World Wages and lax 3rd world environmental standards.

And as more and more Americans play out hate against each other, the new political divide will once again be the Democratic Primaries between the Corporates and the Progressives, which sadly proved to be the worst case of election fraud in modern history (2016).

Fiordland NZ Trail makers and shakers

Posted 7th of June 2019 to the Advocate South Newspaper Te Anau NZ

It was a great milestone for Manapouri township to finally get a trail to the near by National Park on Jun 3rd in the for of the 6th Leg of the Lake2Lake trail. So today our trails trust has by needs and determination become a self funded construction organisation. 

Here is hoping the Department of Conservation will use our FTT to make more much needed trails in the area or upgrade old ones for both cycling and walking.

Who knows one distant day locals will be able to cycle to the hidden lakes at entrance of South Fiord. Or follow the shore to Eglinton River Mouth and beyond.

I guess its all up to our Minister of Conservation now to enhance the health of our community. We should all write and thank them in some form for their help...  Oh and to finish their part of the Lake2Lake.

Human DNA politics of science

Posted 26th May to the Dominion Post Newspaper Wellington NZ

I just noticed that National Geographic is having a crack and altering our universal perceived wisdom about Human Evolution and Race, which is a very volatile to say the least, but their argument about all human races is not scientifically valid is just wishful thinking as it takes no account of the DNA markers from Neanderthal Man in Europe and Peking Man in Asia when the first wave of Homo Sapiens swam the gap from Africa to Yemen and spread across the Globe.  

National Geographic points out that humans are near 99 percent genetically similar to Chimps yet Europeans are with 1 to 2 percent Neanderthal DNA Markers  that means they are removed from the African Diaspora the same percentage ??
I guess its too early for us to have an adult discussion about OUR DNA in these times. So lets default to “I don’t know for sure but it sounds right”.

So the idea that DNA is not unique to mankind but to all living things sounds right? That Humans are a hybrid of Bonobos and chimps might explain our confused social behaviours? That somewhere we have picked up Marine mammal genetic characteristics not known in Chimps and Bonobos should be looked into?

Sounds like a right job for our Journalists to become DNA detectives before changing our perceived wisdom  ?

Faulty New Zealand Geology

Posted 18th May 2018 to the Otago Daily Times Newspaper Dunedin NZ

Every now and again we are reminded in the press that we are sitting on a Islands of doom when it comes to our geological
situation, begging the question how many resources should we put into preparation against our natural hazards.

As humans are gamblers by nature and risk is considered a big part of our freewill and even our evolution.
I don’t think we can factor in every mortal danger to our lives without feeling overcome with anxiety & despair.

That being said our collective government should see our geological situation as unique and treat it with respect
especially in these times when we all require constant internet, power and transport services to function.

It is not clear why we are more worried about art galleys and museums down south, when for some obscure reason
we have not built much redundancy into our service network which is already stressed with the unplanned summer tourism boom which one badly timed storm could easily turn into total mayhem. Let alone triggered earthquake faults.

published

New Format Southland Times

Posted 16th May 2018 to the Southland Times Newspaper Invercargill NZ

Good luck on your new more eco responsible Newspaper format.. With all the diversions coming from the US capital these days we often forget that we loosing the war to save the health of our planet. We scamper this way and that massaging our identity politics and sanitising our sexuality  forgetting we are all on a cyclical journey where what comes around goes around, has anyone noticed before Roger Douglas Thatcher and Reagan changed our narrative  all our best volunteers such as fire fighters, community project managers and Journalists where born and are not now being replaced. 

If we want to preserve our community spirit and our planet it’s small papers like this one around the world that play an important role in the next revolution in the cycle.