Invercargill Lowlands and Sea Level prediction

Posted 13th Jan 2019 to the Southland Times Newspaper Invercargill NZ

It is kind of sad to see what happened to the Invercargill estuary under the human stewardship of public environmental assets that can not be exploited for commercial benefit. I can only think that there was just so much unspoiled nature in the early days of European settlement that the founders just got tired of it. Or perhaps intensification of farming we encourage lead to the final nail.

The next worry is what degradation rising sea levels will take on Southland’s numerous shallow inlets & margins.
Has anyone drawn up any projections of what we have in store in that respect?

Also how is our soil holding out? In parts of the USA the Soil is worn out from over use and is only alive due to heavy use of various nutrient applications and chemicals. Something that is repeating pattern globally with modern agriculture.

Despite low population density and our geographic distance buffer we are not isolated from global problems, or simple physics.  

Governing Without Faith - USA

Posted 10th Jan 2019 to the Otago Daily Times Newspaper Dunedin NZ

How is it that the United States had all the luck and power in the world for the last one hundred years and is now in a perpetual state of crisis ?  I think it’s due to a stubborn faith that it’s democratic process is God Like.
Ask any rational person if an election so corrupted as the US 2016 presidential Election should be valid and the answer is a definite no, however in the USA only the very bravest commentators say they need to run the 2016 election over again from it’s primaries knowing what we all know now.

Seriously, no faith should be this strong that this kind on madness can be left to run wild because of precedent.
The grave crisis that faces the USA is not on it’s boarders but inside them. This administration strikes at the very roots of law and order to keep it’s tentative grip on legitimacy alive.

If that is not a uber crisis than we all need new dictionaries.

As for the Government shutdown show me one billionaire stepping up to pay to keep the county that sustains them...
Not so much as a single Buffet. 

 

New Survey on Fox News Viewers

Posted 21st Jan 2019 to the Odentroll Internet Blog New Zealand

A source from Cornell University came out with survey info done on FOX NEWS viewers
who are considered the base voters that helped elect the 45th president of the United States

When asked if the election of 2016 was found to be unlawful should it be deemed invalid

The answers where chilling and unpublishable.

The coordinator who wishes to be anonymous said they also unanimously think that climate change is not their problem as they don't expect to be around when it reaches a critical flash point.

Further more they do not appear to deem their "spoiled" offspring robust enough to maintain western civilisation or populate it as leaders.

Surprisingly they also appear to have a great fear of the Lovelock Population Bomb hypothesis.
despite never reading it.

Last Chance for the Kingston Flyer Train

Posted 27th Dec 2018 to the Otago Daily Times News Paper Dunedin NZ.

I have followed the fortunes of the Kingston Flyer Train since It was dreamed up in the 1970s
I really hope the newest effort gets a break and goes some where, but since the government abandoned the project it has been cursed and time is now at the 11th hour.

The only really hope is if there new people can get the government to make the train a National Monument and give it some high level TLC.  The Idea that our fragile private enterprise sector can take on what is essentially a government project is flawed and leans heavily on donations and volunteer workers. Still if you can round up enough caring, generous Queenstown residents who are also Railway History Buffs I take my hat off to you for your almost wizard-like skills with human resources . 

Silicon Valley Robber Barons - Booking Systems

Posted 27th December 2018 to the Mountain Scene Newspaper Queenstown NZ

I hate to point it out but NZ Tourism has been taken for a ride by Silicon Valley California which is clipping every ticket in the country so to speak, Yes every business that uses ON-LINE BOOKING is giving their hard earned money to modern day Robber Barons.

We had our own home grown Information sites that use to handle the flow of tourists but they did not keep up with technology nor did our feckless government tourism ministry  especially when it was run by our previous alleged Prime Minister.

There are some who refuse to partake in this nonsense money leeching algorithm but one has to take a hit because silicon valley has changed the nature of tourism its self to a point where the Idea of following one nose has become antiquated and human recreation its self is now controlled by some kind of destructive artificial intelligence.

But that is another story.  

Where is Tourism Going in New Zealand ?

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

So when Trump is gone and Brexit is over the Anglo American world will have to regroup and reconfigure to a world that is no longer infinite in opportunities especially for environmental abuse. So NZ should prepare for a shift in tourism.
In the past we where known for preserving the past for economic reasons  and this could pay off in the future as being  place where people can romantically engage the past.  Dunedin is set up well to take advantage of this kind of thing.

At the Moment Air Travel way way cheaper than it should be so this mass scale out of control break neck tourism is going to have to go.  But we will see the return of old school low volume cultural tourism and The Dunedin Cable Car System Restoration and places like Cargill’s Castle and High Street Mornington will pay dividend to the community if preserved  especially if the government is throwing money around at Ideas.

Help our Lost Confused Politicians

Posted 18th December 2018 to the Southland Times Newspaper Invercargill NZ

It’s been 100 years since the end of the Great War of the European & American Bankers that spread a new power across the globe where the Anglo American Work ethic has changed the face of all cultures and all nations but now its looking a bit old and sad and the job of government cheering hard work and growth of industry seems out of date. Maybe it’s time for some progressive politics to blast fresh air on the cobwebs of political complacency.
Garry Tong & Tim Shadbolt have been great cheerleaders for progress but there has been a lot of questionable stuff outside the public mandate that are not the nuts and bolts of maintaining a healthy community.
If I was a mayor I would treat rates as a form of community insurance, also I would be cheerleading whistle blowers and have a reward system for our brightest and best in the community.
There are great changes ahead for us all in the world and the old ways are not going to be appropriate forever.