The Cancelling of J.K. Rowling

People must have gone mad during this year's celebrations of Saturnalia. To a certain extent I agree with the following writer on the subject:

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/jk-rowling-cancelled-woke-outrage-mob-saying-biological-sex-real

"Rowling being cancelled is particularly ironic given that she has thrown her weight behind virtually every ludicrous ‘woke’ crusade in recent years, including by claiming that her character Hermione was black despite her being described as having a “white face” in the Harry Potter books."

What was Rowling's crime? Saying this in defense of Maya Forstater who lost her court case, brought by Forstater after losing her job for having alleged transphobic views:

Dress however you please.
Call yourself whatever you like.
Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you.
Live your best life in peace and security.
But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?

With any set of views there are bound to be those more extreme than others. Clearly, Rowling was attempting to be more reasonable, and ended up being shouted down by those who took exception. The internet has always been a bit of a shouting match, but often that shouting takes place in a sealed room, with the sound not emitting to the wider world. The result is people end up shouting at one another, with not a single thing being changed as a result. I think this will be one such case.

For Rowling, this will have been an experience she won't forget. But she hasn't destroyed the left, c'mon, that was far more effectively managed by Jeremy Corbyn and his crew of ex student politicians turned Labour fruit-loops. Rowling wrote a ripping yarn and should be celebrated for it, she made a bundle, justly deserved. What she thinks about a subject, well, debate her on it if she's willing to listen, if not, leave her alone. We are all entitled to a bit of peace and civility.

New Zealand's Top 50 Plank list of 2019

The Planks of 2019. What is a plank? Ask yourself when reading the name, plank or not? If yes, they're a plank (this is all NZers apart from two mentions at the bottom).

1. Mike Hosking 2. Helen Clark 3. The Blues 4. Jason Kerrison 5. Iain Lees-Galloway 6. Matthew Hooton 7. Kim Hill 8. John Key 9. Clarke Gayford 10. Fletcher Building

11. Russell Crowe 12. Duncan Garner 13. Tau Henare 14. Mark Richardson 15. Eric Watson 16. Lisa Prager 17. Lianne Dalziel 18. The Breakers 19. Jack Tame 20. Jesse Mulligan

21. Peter Thiel 22. The Warriors 23. Sam Neill 24. Lorde 25. Nick Smith 26. Clare Curran 27. Dan Corbett 28. John Campbell 29. Judith Collins 30. NZRU

31. Russel Norman
32. Auckland City Council
33. NZ Bus 34. Shane Jones 35. Heather du Plessis-Allan 36. Bryce Edwards 37. David Farrar 38. Lizzie Marvelly 39. Chris Trotter 40. Auckland Grammar

41. Justin Lester 42. Colin Craig 43. Trevor Mallard 44. Air NZ 45. David Seymour 46. Simon Barnett 47. Patrick Gower 48. NZ Herald 49. Aussie Banks 50. Guy Williams

Badge of Distinction for non-New Zealander: Scott Morrison
Honourable non-New Zealander mention: Elon Musk

Merry Saturnalia

December 17th is the Roman festival of Saturnalia, today we call it Christmas.

Why is Christmas December 25th? Over time, Saturnalia grew until it occupied most of December. Somehow Christmas was changed into a date closer to the end of the month rather than in the middle of it.

Read about Saturnalia here: https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/how-did-the-romans-celebrate-christmas/

When did Christmas start to replace Saturnalia? The earliest references to a celebration we'd identify as Christmas, occurred in Rome in the 4th century.

UK Election Result 2019

A stunning win then for the Conservative party in the UK General Election. Surely this must put to rest any doubt over Brexit. Areas that voted Leave in the EU referendum, have swung to Conservative. The Brexit party played a part, taking votes away from Labour and acting the spoiler, making it possible for Conservative to come through the middle.

Jeremy Corbyn is a good campaigner, but his message was too confused for people to digest. Johnson kept it simple and avoided tricky questions. He was pilloried over "Fridgegate" but it hasn't hurt him (this was where he hid in a chiller to avoid a journalist).

Jo Swinson lost her seat so the Liberal Democrats will need a new leader. They'll be soul searching. The Scottish National Party have made gains but they'll largely be irrelevant as the Conservatives can govern alone. The same for parties in Northern Ireland.

Now the UK has to buckle down and get the job done. Leave the EU and sooner rather than later. Labour will learn, under new leadership and with Brexit embraced they can win support for their campaign to save the NHS. Labour will be back but Johnson now has 5 years to enjoy. He'll be a happy man tonight.

Basically Gmail is Rubbish

I mentioned before that gmail became slow when they upgraded last time. Things have improved but only slightly. Another problem I've encountered is that emails that have been read, or marked as read, will still be showing as unread when I next log in. That's annoying. And this problem persists too when I delete the email, it will still be there in my primary inbox, or social or promotions tab when I return. I've even gone into the bin and removed items from there as well, only to have them return on next log in.

I searched around and found various ideas on how to fix this glitch. None of them worked and I think they (gmail) don't want any of it to work, they want you in the site for as long as possible, that's what it's all about. I've mentioned this glitch to people and they've said they have the same issue.

It's bloody dishonest of Google to allow such a thing; Yahoo and Outlook/Hotmail do not stoop this low. As a consequence I rarely use gmail, it is only used for some things.

New Zealand Glaciers Turn Pink

The Australian bushfires have turned New Zealand glaciers red and pink. The dust from the fires has crossed the Tasman sea and settled on the glaciers.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/117907806/how-australias-bushfires-turned-new-zealands-snowcapped-glaciers-red

Clearly as these glaciers are now darker in colour, they'll attract light and so melt faster (white reflects light). GCC is likely to accelerate due to these factors, namely, unforeseen effects causing more change.

Meat-based Meat

Another idea; a lot of talk about plant-based meat. What about meat-based meat. Meat carries with it a lot of energy in a small quantity, that's why humans are omnivores. If they were herbivores they'd spend all day eating plants and have no time left to do anything else. Eating meat is the answer. This is criticised as inefficient but it really isn't, that's why humans domesticated wild animals and started farming.

Lecture over, here's the idea. You have a factory growing beef. It works like a giant sausage factory except the factory grows the meat from basic ingredients. No, I'm not talking about feed lots, this is a factory growing the meat and then you lop off the end product and sell the steaks. When I put this idea to someone they reacted by calling the factory a giant womb, and that's the idea. The brain would be a computer controlling all the inputs. It would also produce fertiliser as a byproduct and it could capture methane (farts and belching) thus preventing greenhouse emissions. What do you think?

Global Climate Change - Carbon Dioxide Sequestration

Here's an idea. Australia has a lot of barren land, otherwise known as desert. Cover the desert in trees or plants and you've got a big carbon sink. So, cover the place in plants.

But wait, I hear you say, the roots would need water. They would and this idea would require some serious engineering. To begin with; plants that take large amounts of carbon dioxide out of the air and deposit it deep in the soil. But at the same time, plants that require minuscule amounts of water.

Then where does the water come from? New Zealand's west coast of the South Island. The coast is the wettest place on planet earth. Then ship that water to Australia and feed it into a trickle irrigation system to keep the plants alive.

See where I'm going with this? Australia has the land, NZ the water. Australia pays NZ for the water, and the earth pays Australia for the carbon sequestration.

Greatest NBA Player

I don't remember if I've said this before, but in my opinion there can be no doubt; Lebron James is the greatest NBA player. He doesn't have the most titles, so why is that I hear you say. It's because he has such versatility, consistency, intensity, professionalism and he does what he does at a time when the game is at such a high level. Every team is good these days, there are no walk-overs, no expansion franchises to pad the stats with. James is doing it against strong opposition, all the time. His most recent game for the Lakers against the Washington Wizards is a case in point; a double-double in points and assists. Assists, not the usual points and rebounds double-double. He's not selfish, he just does the business.

What I have said before though, he's not my personal favourite, that's a totally subjective assessment and my favourite NBA player is Matt Barnes, now retired. He just looked so balanced when he played. He had a lot of bad luck and it was good to see him win a title in his final year (Golden State Warriors).

Jeremy Corbyn

Give credit where credit is due; UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is a good campaigner. He's better than any of the others by a country mile. Against Theresa May he nearly pulled off a victory from a long way back in the polls. Now against Boris Johnson he's in the same position, but this time what he's unveiled with two weeks until polling day, is that the Conservative government was negotiating a trade deal with the US with the NHS on the table. What great timing and it makes it hard for Johnson to recover.

West Coast - Word of Advice

The West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand is under constant attack from lawmakers and environmentalists. They want to lock the coast up as some sort of living museum.

Okay, that said, my advice is for the West Coast to grow up and stop voting for EITHER Labour or National. That's right, neither offers any hope for their future. Labour was born on the coast but they've long since moved to Auckland and the all-important South Auckland party vote. National for its part curries favour with the rest of Auckland and farmers in general.

The problem for the West Coast arises out of MMP and the need for blocs of party votes. Only about 35,000 people of any age live on the coast, not enough party votes to matter. What they need to do is vote for an independent in the electorate, or a representative of a minor party. Thus, they could find themselves in the role of kingmaker. With the main parties, there is no way their voice will ever be heard. At election time they're pandered to, but when in office both Labour and National do nothing for the coast.

Elon Musk...Again

I mean really, what a knob, the great Elon Musk and his so-called cybertruck. Turns out the window glass isn't unbreakable...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/22/elon-musk-net-worth-tesla-cybertruck

NBA Right Now

The NBA season is really close this season, it's hard to keep up with results, any team can beat any other team on the day and often does. It's closer than last year, which was amazing in itself.

What of Steven Adams and his tenure at OKC? Apparently he has a trade bonus clause in his contract and the management are loath to trade him while this is in place. They'd have to pay him a sum, which is something like 7.5% of his outstanding contract if he's traded (don't quote me on the percentage). However that won't apply in his last year, and that will be next year. So next year is when he'll be traded. For his sake he must hope to be traded to a team with a realistic chance at a title, and that would be Boston who need a big man in the middle, or possibly Portland who need the same.

Ford v Ferrari (2019 movie) - 3 stars

I am going to see the movie out now, Ford v Ferrari tells the story of the 1966 24hrs of Le Mans, where the Ford GT40 defeated Ferrari. It was a great moment in motorsport and a great get-even by Henry Ford II.

I'm not expecting it to be accurate however. I notice from the list of historical figures that the only New Zealander listed is Bruce McLaren. Yes, the McLaren of racing car fame. He won the race driving a GT40 along with Chris Amon, another Kiwi. Instead the movie stars well-known actors playing Carroll Shelby and Bruce Miles. Shelby led the design of the cars while Miles was a driver. Miles was second in the race, partnering Denny Hulme, another Kiwi. The following year Hulme became F1 drivers' champion (Brabham).

Do you see where I'm going with this. Kiwis are being removed from history again. For the record, Henry Ford II gave the Kiwis credit for the win, see the below photo from the winners podium:

Henry Ford II with Bruce McLaren (left) and Chris Amon (right), winners of the 1966 Le Mans

That's 1966, Henry Ford II, Bruce McLaren on the left holding his helmet, Chris Amon on the right wearing the jacket. Interestingly, Amon went on to be a works driver for Ferrari. McLaren started a racing car pedigree still around today, with eight F1 Constructors Championships to date.

Review (3 out of 5 stars): Turns out to be okay, as far as it goes. It's principally about Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles, and to a lesser extent about Henry Ford II. I don't think it does any of them justice. In reality Shelby was more of a businessman, Miles more of a professional driver and less of the cowboy loose cannon, and Henry Ford II not the type to be easily manipulated.

The Kiwis barely get a mention. But the McLaren GT40 is pictured toward the end of the movie in its black livery, with the silver fern and letters NZ emblazoned on the side. At the end of the movie they show how McLaren/Amon were awarded the win, but what they don't mention is that the Shelby Pits believed Miles to be a lap up on the McLaren GT40. Boy, did they get that wrong. McLaren was on the same lap and as he'd started farther back on the grid he was awarded the win, he'd covered the greater distance. And for the record, McLaren crossed the finish line in first. The movie has the finishing order the other way around, a complete fabrication of the facts. If Shelby had known what lap they were on I'm sure he wouldn't have agreed on a 1 2 3 line up crossing the finish line with his driver in second (I mean c'mon).

Where does the movie go wrong? Two main ways I believe. The film shows the 1960's to be far too clean. Back then everything was dusty, oily, noisy, fenders were dented, cars lacked the bright colours you see today (they lacked the rutile additive to paints - everything was more muted in tone). The second is with the racing segments, the producers slipped up badly there. Le Mans is raced across several classes, with amateurs taking part. Through the night the fast cars have to negotiate their way past much slower cars, such as Porsche 911's. Ford v Ferrari shows none of this, unlike movies such as Le Mans starring Steve McQueen. With the latter movie you can feel the vibration, smell the burnt rubber, oil, fuel, the conditions are real.

Ford v Ferrari is enjoyable in parts, it gives some idea of what the times were like, but it is sanitised, clean-cut, respectable, less dusty, less risky. Bear in mind, drivers regularly died, not just every season, every race would see a serious injury or death. They were real gladiators.

I have a more recent post about this movie here: https://kenhorlor.blogspot.com/2023/04/ford-v-ferrari-update.html

Here's the Deal

I have many readers and others who buy my books. I thought, why not combine the two by offering them a deal? Here goes:

If you buy the physical copy of any of my books, I'll reciprocate with one of the following;

• I'll rewrite your website landing page for you, up to 300 words, making it SEO friendly. Google will love you.
• I'll either post a lengthy comment on your blog (up to 500 words), or blog about you on this site, mentioning you and providing a link to your blog or website.
• I'll either edit any document, presentation, corporate statement or press release (up to five pages or 1,000 words), or rewrite any of the same up to 500 words.

What do you say? You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

If this sounds like a good deal, simply buy the physical copy of any of my books. A good starting point is Snob's Guide to New Zealand Alternatively you may choose any of my three novels

Why the physical copy? Self-interest, I make more money out of the paperback. 

How to collect: take a selfie on your computer, using any of the many tools available for this, Skype comes to mind. Then email me using the contact form >>>>> over there on the right. I'll reply, whereupon you then send me the selfie image of you holding the book or displaying it (if you're bashful, conceal your face, ahem).

That completed, I'll then do as promised, you just say what you want done. 

Will this work for you? It could, there are no guarantees but I've got some pretty good blog posts out there floating around. My reporting on the claims that Prince Charles and Camilla have a love child went ballistic and still drives traffic to my blog nearly four years later. I've even seen the post appearing as a rich snippet (you know, the things that appear at the start of Google search results), even though I've never bothered setting any of my posts as rich snippets or structured data - go figure.

Will I have the time to do this for you? Probably, I figure only a few will take up the offer, but the effort will be worthwhile.

Australia Fires

The bush fires in Australia are the biggest in living memory right now. It seems as if large parts of the north coast of New South Wales is on fire, as well as parts of south-east Queensland.

The effects are being felt in far away New Zealand. The hot air from Australia that has fuelled these fires has kept the temperatures over the South Island unseasonably hot. It's more like a southern hemisphere summer right now, January rather than November. The sky has turned yellow and dust from the fires is settling over the South Island, car owners in Queenstown are having to hose off the ash. I don't know if this has ever happened before.

NBA Season Going to be a Blast

All that moving around in the off-season has had a real impact. Now it appears just about any team has a realistic chance of beating any other team. Look at the current standings; the Phoenix Suns are winning, partly due to their gaining some muscle, and I'm talking about Aron Baynes of course. Then over in the eastern conference you can throw a blanket over the top eleven teams. They're going to be absolutely throttling one another for a place in the top eight.

Regular readers will know I can be critical of regular season play in the NBA. I have statistically proven there is a tendency for teams to play 'I have a go, you have a go', meaning they don't contest possession often enough. This has the effect of padding individual player stats, self-interest amongst pro's is a real thing, and saves their bodies. Once the play-offs start, it's all on, do or die. But with this current spread of talent all bets appear to be off.

There is a movie just out about the betting scandal that rocked the NBA. It's called Inside Game, read about it here: https://deadline.com/2019/08/inside-game-tim-donaghy-scandal-movie-release-date-1202661501/  In the mid 2000's there were several highly suspect games refereed by Tim Donaghy, which in hindsight we now know turned out to be influenced by him. But right now, it can't happen as any calls will be noticeable, more so than back then, given the even spread of talent across the league.

I'm sticking with my picks about which team is looking good and which is not, read about that here: https://kenhorlor.blogspot.com/2019/10/nba-season-201920.html

Christopher Luxon - Nah

I see that National has chosen former Air New Zealand CEO, Christopher Luxon as its candidate in the electorate of Botany for the general election next year. He sounds just like John Key, call him John Key 2.0.

Problem with Luxon though, he follows some strange evangelical christian faith, which means he has a brain the size of a pea. His views seem similar to that of Norman Jones (National, Invercargill '75-87), without the charm of Norm Jones. Does New Zealand really want to go back and deal with this again? There are a raft of issues; abortion law reform, gay rights, marriage, welfare, the list is endless and Luxon would be right there putting his stick in the spokes. They're talking about him as the future leader of the National party. C'mon National, pull your act together, you're making yourselves unelectable.

Rugby World Cup 2019 - South Africa World Cup Champions

South Africa beat England 32-12. No tries for England who were on the back foot almost the whole game. The Springboks played to their strengths and kept field position, with the English pinned in their own half. Eventually the points came. Very sensible tactics from South Africa; kick for position, defend stoutly, put pressure on set pieces, kick the goals and seal the win with tries toward the end.

For me the decisive and most telling moment was in the first half, the Springboks up 6-3. England were hard on attack, threatening to score a try. Time and again they mounted attacks only for South Africa to push them back. South Africa eventually gave away a penalty, the score then stood at 6-6 when it could have been 6-10. England looked dejected, from that point on they never looked like scoring a try. South Africa were prepared to put their bodies on the line, several players suffered game ending injuries as a result of that defensive effort, but the team didn't buckle.

As a footnote, thought has to turn to whether England peaked too early. They played the perfect game against New Zealand in their semi-final, making it very hard for them to get back up for the final a week later.

Snob's Guide to New Zealand

For the next two days my book, Snob's Guide to New Zealand is available free on Kindle. It's the essential guide to New Zealand and its people:

https://www.amazon.com/Snobs-Guide-New-Zealand-Horlor-ebook/dp/B07J9XRCWK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Executive Salaries Out of Control

I liked the following opinion piece, about the ridiculously high rates of pay for senior executives that seem to be the norm these days.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/117019238/executive-pay-is-out-of-control--here-are-six-steps-to-fix-it

Fonterra is the worst offender in New Zealand. Especially considering they don't actually do that good a job. I do think that recruitment firms are partly behind the steep rise; they're paid a share of the salary and so will find reasons their candidates need to be paid more. I mean, c'mon, self interest, what would you expect?

Lawrence Dallaglio Deluded

Apparently, the former captain of England's rugby team, Lawrence Dallaglio thinks if England win the 2019 World Cup final against South Africa, that it would be the greatest rugby World Cup victory of all time.

Err, newsflash, the greatest final has already been played and that was in 1995, the game was between South Africa and New Zealand's All Blacks, a game that was won by the Springboks in overtime. It's great because of the political and social significance of the result. It united a fractured country. Nelson Mandela famously wore the Springbok uniform when greeting the players.

Then in second place we have the greatest feat, New Zealand going back-to-back in 2011 and 2015. Truly remarkable. That's similar to Brazil in soccer going back-to-back, 1958 and 1962.

If England do win in 2019 it can at least be said to be a proper win. England previously won a World Cup in 2003, a soft world cup that as they didn't defeat New Zealand on the way through.

However, I don't think England are going to win in 2019. I predict that will be South Africa, for the simple reason they have more to play for. They desperately want to equal NZ's three victories, and put themselves in place to score a back-to-back and in so doing go to the top with four titles. Watching the semi-finals, England will have to get back up again after playing out of their skins, while South Africa played in a very measured and calculating way against Wales. They'll have the reserves of endurance needed to win.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's Death

US President Donald Trump has made a big announcement over the claimed killing of ISIL terror group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He claims that the terrorist was killed over the weekend and that the buildings he was staying in were destroyed.

Here is a link showing the destroyed buildings, the best photo is the second image embedded within the story:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/russia-casts-doubt-version-isis-20740219

The Russians have doubted the claim and before their statements I too could see an obvious inconsistency. The photos of the destroyed buildings do not look like the rubble eventuating from bombing or missiles. To my trained eye they look like the destruction resulting from construction equipment pulling the buildings down. From the aerial view you can see raised tracks or roads through the site so trucks and wheel loaders can gain easy access. If this is the site of al-Baghdadi's death then it can't have happened just a couple of days ago. The site has been worked on some time ago and now rubble is being retrieved for sites elsewhere and this has been happening for some time.

I'm agreeing with the Russians on this one. I have no doubt this is the site shown from the air before destruction; but what I am saying is that when it was destroyed, was not days ago but more like weeks.

RWC 2019 Semi-Final South Africa v Wales

South Africa go through to the Rugby World Cup final against England, beating Wales 19-16. It was a tight contest but South Africa had the better bench while Wales had a couple of injuries, forcing them to make replacements earlier than expected. The Springboks were able to capitalise on this slight advantage.

I'm picking South Africa for the championship. My reasoning is twofold; England have already climbed Everest but to win the final they now have to climb K2. Meanwhile the Springboks must have the feeling they've been let out of jail after their loss to the All Blacks at the start of the tournament. They'll be out to steal the title from England, and all round I think they've got the talent to do it. South Africa by 10.

RWC 2019 Semi-Final England v New Zealand

England beat New Zealand 19-7. The All Blacks were thoroughly outplayed, the score flattered them. England were completely dominant, they read the NZ game well and effectively shut down the All Blacks possession. It's hard to think of a single thing NZ did well, apart from restricting the rate of England scoring, getting lucky at times with referee decisions that went their way.

For England, it's on to the final and facing either Wales or South Africa. My pick is for South Africa to take Wales out and go on to win the tournament.

NZ will need to re-think their approach, clearly the better nations have caught up and now have them figured out.

NBA Season 2019/20

Last season my picks were 50/50 at best. This year I've got no idea which team will emerge at the top. They're all so close, all looking good, and there has been so many big moves of top players between teams.

Having said that, I like the look of the Denver Nuggets, and the Milwaukee Bucks. Of course I always support the Houston Rockets but I'm not convinced they can get the most out of Russell Westbrook. He's just too much of a ball hog.

The Los Angeles Lakers can never be discounted either, they've got a powerful lineup.

Teams that will disappoint? Maybe the Los Angeles Clippers, they've never won a title, old habits are hard to break. The Brooklyn Nets won't be a real force until Kevin Durant is back from injury, so their fans will have to wait until 2020/21.

Surprises? Not so much of a surprise really; the Philadelphia 76ers, look for them to be the main challenger to the Bucks in the east. Oh and the Toronto Raptors, even without Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors may surprise once again.

Summary:

Looking Good;

Denver Nuggets
Milwaukee Bucks

Don't Discount;

Los Angeles Lakers
Houston Rockets

Disappointing;

Los Angeles Clippers
Brooklyn Nets

Surprises;

Philadelphia 76ers
Toronto Raptors.

Auckland SkyCity Convention Centre Fire

Blame the inability to contain the fire on 9 years of National government under-funding while they were in office. They're bloody incompetent. Read this blog post;

https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/10/24/nz-herald-online-coverage-of-the-sky-city-fire-concerns-the-cbd-can-be-shut-down-by-a-blowtorch-why-the-fire-is-a-perfectly-delicious-metaphor-of-national-in-power-for-9-years/

I talk about the lack of infrastructural investment and the tendency to centre everything on Auckland in my book Snob's Guide to New Zealand; funny thing is, it's been read all over the world but New Zealanders are not so keen. Ridiculous I know, but there you go.

Rocket Lab Launch Largest Yet

NZ based satellite launcher, Rocket Lab has successfully launched its largest satellite to date. read about it here:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/116655316/rocket-lab-aims-for-new-heights-with-its-eighth-orbital-mission

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and the Media

They're properly known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but in a more familiar style they're often referred to as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. It's probably a tabloid thing, much the same way the Duchess of Cambridge is called Kate. Anyway, Harry and Meghan have been in the news lately, firstly suing the newspapers that actually give them oxygen. Funny decision that, then Harry starts blubbing when talking about his child, which sounded kind of strange, rather like watching someone have a breakdown mentally. Now we have interviews, where Harry doesn't deny a rift between him and his brother, and where Meghan talks of how difficult life has been.

I don't normally wade in to this kind of thing, not my business and all that. But it does appear to me there is a simple solution - Harry and Meghan can retire from public life and resign all titles. There, problem solved. It's not as if they're important royals or anything; important is Harry's grandmother the Queen, his father Charles and brother William and his children. Clearly Harry is under stress, it is obvious from his facial expressions. He needs a break. Take it.

RWC 2019 Quarter-Finals

Rugby World Cup quarter-finals have gone the way people would expect; England easily dispatched Australia 40-16 (I got this one wrong), then in a thoroughly dominant display New Zealand's All Blacks crushed Ireland 46-14. The All Blacks were simply superb and if they maintain that form, they'll be marching into the final.

Boris Johnson's Deal

Boris Johnson on his new Brexit deal below, we now see whether Westminster will support it...

Feminism 2020

The very sensible Rachel Stewart on the hiring of a venue at Massey University by a group of feminists, and why this seems so threatening to so many, so-called enlightened people. The below link was published before the event in question was banned, making her words all the more poignant.

https://speakupforwomen.nz/the-rachel-stewart-column/

RWC 2019 - Japan beat Scotland

Japan have topped their group, going through unbeaten. In their last game they held on strongly to defeat Scotland. Earlier they beat Ireland as well, Japan have arrived on the world stage and surely now must be considered Tier 1.

The quarter-finalists are:

England v Australia
New Zealand v Ireland
Wales v France
Japan v South Africa

Based on current form, I'm picking the semi-finalists:

NZ v Australia
Wales v South Africa

And for the final:

NZ v South Africa

Cancelled Games: RWC 2019

Two games have been cancelled; they are All Blacks v Italy and England v France. The second of these wouldn't have caused a change in group outcomes, however the AB's v Italy game raises a question. It was possible that with a bonus point win, Italy could knock NZ out and South Africa and Italy go through. People are now crying favouritism.

Wait a minute, all teams knew the rules when they agreed to compete. What would be improper is changing venues at the last minute in order to engineer results. Tournaments by their nature have an air of uncertainty about them, so cancelling due to severe weather events is the only thing the organisers can do and remain impartial.

Typhoon Threatens Rugby World Cup Results

A Pacific Ocean typhoon called Hagibis is currently on course to disrupt the final Rugby World Cup group-stage matches. The tournament allows for washouts, each team receiving 2 points. Here's the rub; if the final games involving Ireland are affected, then Ireland could be eliminated. The number 2 team in the world could be out. Oh no.

Well, the organisers of the Rugby World Cup are planning to move the final Ireland game against Samoa to somewhere unaffected. What? The teams knew the rules when they entered the competition. The rules are meant to apply to every team equally. Get the feeling the tournament is rigged? Read about it here:

https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby-world-cup-2019/2019/1007/1081517-irelands-final-pool-game-threatened-by-typhoon/

Boris Johnson's Proposed EU Deal

Personally, I don't see what's wrong with the latest Brexit plan. Check it out here:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49914326

Under Mr Johnson's proposals, which he calls a "broad landing zone" for a new deal with the EU:

• Northern Ireland would leave the EU's customs union alongside the rest of the UK, at the start of 2021
• But Northern Ireland would, with the consent of politicians in the Northern Ireland Assembly, continue to apply EU legislation relating to agricultural and other products - what he calls an "all-island regulatory zone"
• This arrangement could, in theory, continue indefinitely, but the consent of Northern Ireland's politicians would have to be sought every four years
• Customs checks on goods traded between the UK and EU would be "decentralised", with paperwork submitted electronically and only a "very small number" of physical checks
• These checks should take place away from the border itself, at business premises or at "other points in the supply chain"

The government is also promising a "New Deal for Northern Ireland", with financial commitments to help manage the changes.

Christchurch Mayoralty

I'm voting John Minto for mayor of Christchurch and ask everyone to do the same. Minto is well known in New Zealand, he led the action protesting the Springbok tour of NZ in 1982. Importantly, while he's a professional agitator, he's not a professional politician. I'm sick of professional politicians. The latter just say what they think you want to hear.

Minto is campaigning for free buses. That's a good idea as it will lower the cost of road maintenance, and get people moving at the same time. He's also opposed to selling off city assets. He wants to clean up the rivers, a bit harder to do that one but good luck to him. All in all he stands for something.

What's the downside? Christchurch will have to put up with his achingly annoying PC crap. A small price to pay I'd say when you consider the alternatives; Lianne Dalziel who Christchurch can't seem to get rid of, her answer to everything is to increase rates. Then that dipstick Darryl Park talked about himself in the third person in the candidate brochure. I'm not voting for anyone who thinks he's god.

So in your postal ballot, tick Minto, place your ballot inside the reply paid envelope and post pronto. Done.

Hong Kong Protests

Things are getting out of control in Hong Kong. It seems rather obvious to me that the protesters are playing into China's hands. It wouldn't be impossible for China to have planted fifth columnists amongst the activists, the intention to cause violence. China would then come to the rescue to restore order. A takeover would result, and the end of autonomy for Hong Kong.

Rugby World Cup 2019 Heating Up

The 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan is proving to be a close tournament. We've had two major upsets, the first was Uruguay beating Fiji, but then Japan beat Ireland the world's second ranked team. Now we have Wales beating Australia. Wales have never won a world cup while Australia has won two. If this continues, New Zealand's All Blacks will cruise to their third straight world cup, as the strong opponents will be weakened, eliminated or find themselves on the wrong side of the draw.

Big Oil and Electric Vehicles

I thought of this lovely conspiracy theory, have fun with it. I haven't seen this anywhere else, so I apologise in advance if this isn't an original idea.

As I've outlined numerous times, electric vehicles (EV's) are total nonsense, a complete waste of time, don't even think about them. That's the well considered experienced view of the matter, all very scientific.

But hang on, what if the fact EV's are utter crap has something to do with why they're being pushed so hard. What if the big oil companies and the myriad of companies heavily reliant on the liquid fuels infrastructure are pushing EV's as they know they're rubbish. They're doing this to discredit alternative fuels or forms of energy. The result would be to force people back to the internal combustion engine and this would be for the foreseeable future. In other words, EV's are a stalking horse, concealing big oil's desire to lock in fossil fuels. Hmm?

Note that Norway, the world's biggest hypocrite which has made a fortune from oil and gas is heavily promoting EV's. Sweden is not far behind this, they're massive hypocrite's too but they'd be promoting their carbon capture technology. There'd be a lot of interconnecting and overlapping agendas with this theory, but they all have one goal; to lock in people to a future that relies entirely on old industries that have morphed into new, sexy, born again new technology companies. Old technology companies that are really old tech re-branded or re-skinned.

To support this theory, consider ideas that never get looked at seriously. We have the idea of the water powered car, which are generally discredited. One in New Zealand was designed and built, the story of which you can read about here: https://waterpoweredcar.com/archieblue.html

The argument against this is that it involves more energy (or the same amount) to separate the hydrogen and so there is no gain. Fine, but what about a nuclear car? The nuclear reactor generating heat, then a steam engine is used for motive power. The amount of uranium needed to drive a car its entire useful life would be extremely small. Even microscopic. It would not be enough to create an explosion, it would be more like a clock with reflective hour and seconds hands and numbers.

Such a car completely circumvents the liquid fuels infrastructure. No gas stations, and very few oil refineries would be needed as only certain lubricants would be required for wheel bearings and the like. These ideas would be ditched because of that very fact. In this new green age of Corporate Green only the right technology is accepted and that has to be based upon centralised models that rely on the existing companies (or sources of capital ) to provide the solutions. Independence is not allowed, with this idea that's exactly why EV's are promoted, they're to fail as they must, sending people into the arms of Big Oil.

Boris Johnson's Brexit Escape Route?

An interesting blog post in The Spectator

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/09/has-the-supreme-court-handed-boris-johnson-a-brexit-escape-route/

"...the Supreme Court states that its ‘proper function’ under our constitution is to give effect to the separation of powers (which justifies court intervention in relation to prorogation). Then, in what appears to be an innocuous sentence in paragraph 55, it says that it is to be “remember[ed] always that the actual task of governing is for the executive and not for Parliament or the courts.”

<snip>

The way is now open for Boris Johnson to refuse to comply with the Benn Act on the legitimate ground that the Act is unconstitutional and that the courts (and ultimately the Supreme Court) will agree; and even if the Court won’t go so far as declaring it an actual nullity, then at least they will refuse to enforce it."

RWC 2019 Uruguay v Fiji

The 2019 Rugby World Cup has had its first upset; Uruguay defeated Fiji 30-27. Now Uruguay have 4 days until they meet Georgia. If they manage to win that game and secure bonus points in the other games, they could qualify for the knock-out stages. Wouldn't that be amazing.

Brexit Battle Continues

I have already used the phrase the new English Civil War. That's what we have in effect; the Remainers vs the Brexiteers. We now have a situation where the Supreme Court has become political and intervened to uphold a Scottish court decision that Boris Johnson's proroguing of parliament was unlawful.

This is a strange state of affairs. The executive cannot govern, the courts interfere, parliament itself cannot decide anything and then refuses a general election. It is a complete stalemate.

Boris Johnson must now take the gloves off and use every bit of the executive power at his disposal. To begin with, start stacking the House of Lords to block any Commons legislation. Then finally, consider calling for a state of emergency, and keep that in place until Brexit has been completed.

Rugby World Cup 2019

The Rugby World Cup is under way, exciting times indeed. I'm a supporter of the All Blacks, a team I never want to see lose. Just as well, as in fact, they rarely lose. Yay.

But even I can see this world cup is heavily stacked in favour of the All Blacks, and South Africa. That comes down to the structure of the tournament and what amounts to a very weak pool New Zealand and South Africa find themselves in. Not only that, but the pool's first and second place was essentially decided by the first game between the All Blacks and South Africa. 

Both teams are guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals where they're almost certain to advance as they'll play teams they'll probably beat. New Zealand will likely be playing Scotland, a team it has never lost to. South Africa will likely play Ireland, a team you'd fancy South Africa beating.

Across the competition you can find other situations that are less than ideal. For instance England are slated to win their pool, but then they'll either play Australia or Wales in their quarter-final. England could easily be out at that stage, not even making the semi-final.

What's the problem? As I see it the problem is with the way the game is structured globally, not just with the structure of this tournament which follows a familiar and popular pattern; pools, then knock-outs leading to a final.

Structurally, Rugby is not like Soccer (Association Football), the lesser teams are locked out and cannot develop. Unlike Soccer, where any team can beat any other team on the day, Rugby is an elitist game and the powerful countries entrench their position at the top. 

Solving this problem requires grassroots reform. That means international competitions with promotion and relegation. In this scenario Russia, Georgia and Japan would be able to qualify for the Six Nations; or Tonga, Fiji and Samoa qualifying to play in the southern hemisphere's Rugby Championship. Then when these teams get to the world cup, have a structure where losing a game may end up losing a life, not immediate elimination. This also allows pathways for lesser teams to advance. Whatever, the obvious bias has to be addressed as Rugby will stall in terms of global following if not corrected.

Thomas Cook Failure

The once great travel company, Thomas Cook is no longer. It has shut down overnight, stranding hundreds of thousands of travellers, with the loss of 20,000 jobs. Thomas Cook used to be as safe as the Bank of England, its travellers cheques a useful haven for storing funds. What has happened is unbelievable.

What went wrong? Clearly, a lot went wrong and no doubt we'll get to hear about it in time. When management stuff up, they can so spectacularly and I'm pretty sure this is one of those times. Was all this avoidable? Probably, the banks like to make an example of someone at times and this could be a case in point.

Climate Strikes: What Kind of Message?

Climate strikers are trying to save the planet. They're skipping school, work, and descending on houses of parliament and public spaces to demonstrate. Now it doesn't take a genius to work out their efforts will be for nought. But what I'm concerned about are two things: what is the end point for what is being proposed and who exactly is behind the giving of the message.

Imagine the strikes are successful and what is being asked for comes about. What kind of world would that be exactly. That would be a world I certainly wouldn't want to live in. Follow the logic; cars are bad, you can't use your car, you can't own a car, take your car away, the way you live is also bad, change how you live, tell you where to live, take your house away, all property is theft.

That's right, bloody communism, or whatever label you want to put on it. Look into the people behind organising these climate strikes, look at their politics. They can stuff off.

The Fall of Justin Trudeau and Jacinda Ardern

The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern have come under fire recently.

Trudeau has dressed in brown face and costume for a party, something he says he regrets and has apologised for. The first evidence of this was an event he attended in 2001 at the age of 29. Think about his age and the year. What? 2001 and 29. Not 1961 and 19. 

Justin Trudeau, the most 'woke' person on the planet, turns out he's just another racist. He's been playing the electorate like fools all along. Anyone who voted for him must feel badly cheated.

Then we have Jacinda Ardern. Six months ago she did an astoundingly good job in the wake of the Christchurch massacre. New Zealanders overlooked the stage managing of her hug of the Muslim woman, a picture that went around the world. NZ wanted to heal, and the picture helped. Okay, they ensured the angle was just right, and she held the other person long enough for the right picture to be taken, but who really cared, what happened was truly shocking and stage managing was acceptable.

But six months on and things have changed drastically. Now we have a different stage, this time it's the Beehive and Bowen House where the executive of the NZ government hangs out. Inside those buildings it is alleged a number of serious sexual assaults occurred. The predator initially kept his job while, apparently, his many victims were sidelined. What's worse, the PM may have known but did nothing. The Minister of Finance may have known but did nothing. It's hard to know what the two knew, when they knew and what they did about the allegations because a wall of silence has gone up. Inquiries will be held, the terms of reference for which are secret (yes, secret), while the alleged perpetrator has finally resigned. It's all very murky indeed and not a good look at all.

Justin Trudeau and Jacinda Ardern have experienced a sudden and astonishing fall from grace. One word sums up why that is: hubris.

USA and Saudi Arabia v Iran

A rather obvious question this but I haven't seen it addressed very closely. If - and that is a big if - Iran has attacked Saudi oil installations, knocking out about 6% of global oil supply, why is the USA so keen to fight Saudi Arabia's battles? The Saudis have spent a lot of money buying American equipment, can't they look after themselves?

FIBA Grand Final 2019

At many basketball tournaments the semi-finals prove to be the best games and this tournament in China was no exception. The final between Spain and Argentina was a comfortable win for Spain. They hit the front from the start and were leading throughout the contest. Argentina tried everything but they didn't have the size or talent to match the Spanish. It all came down to defense, Spain shut down Argentina completely. Toward the end of the game, Spain seemed to block shots at will.

Australia v Spain @ FIBA World Cup 2019

Now THAT'S basketball. Disappointment for Australia to go down in double overtime, I couldn't believe I was rooting for Australia. In the end, they ran out of juice and Spain showed their class. Australia play an abrasive style, it looks ugly to my eye, but they're effective and are a team. Spain look more stylish, smooth, and when they needed to they upped the ante and put the stops on defensively.

US Basketball Aura of Invincibility Ends

The USA are going to playing off for 7th place at the FIBA World Cup taking place in China. The US had been beaten in the quarter-finals by France 89-79 and following that defeat the US lost to Serbia 97-89 to prole them down to the basement of world basketball.

Is it because of a lack of talent and quality coaching? Hardly, as the team is fully stacked. Maybe many of the players are not exactly household names, but you cannot question the Team USA pedigree, especially the coaching staff which includes Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr. 

No, what happened is the rest of the world has caught up. They no longer fear the US, they see Team USA as beatable. Look at Turkey at this tournament, they lost by one point in overtime to the US, then lose to New Zealand and end up finishing in 21st place (or thereabouts). What I'm saying is that on the day any team can beat any other team and no outcomes are guaranteed. And as I write this the first quarter of the first semi-final has ended, Australia on 21, Spain on 20. Really close, the world of basketball just got intense.

Jacinda Ardern's Credibility Shredded

The New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern's credibility has been brought into question over her handling of a serious complaint of sexual assault within the executive branch of her administration. What did she know about it, when did she know and did she cover it up.

Read about it here, short video is embedded: https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/video/mike-hosking-pm-jacinda-ardern-is-donkey-deep-in-sex-scandal-botch-up/

This is all really concerning and right now, Jacinda Ardern is not believable and quite frankly, she's shredded her chances of re-election. What she should have done is talk to the woman who was allegedly assaulted and brought in the police toot sweet.

NZ v Turkey @ FIBA World Cup 2019

Classification rounds: New Zealand beat Turkey 102-101. Does NZ understand how huge that is? Turkey are really good and NZ just beat them. This NZ team can score, only three players failed to get on the score sheet. C'mon NZ government, fund some proper development for these guys, NZ can be top 10 in the world at this rate.

US Open 2019 Women's Singles Final

Congratulations to Bianca Andreescu, the Canadian pocket rocket who has quickly risen to the top. Along with Naomi Osaka and Ashleigh Barty, she's the face of the modern game of women's tennis; all power, skill, accuracy and mobility.

Serena Williams was totally outclassed in the final and one has to wonder how her current ranking is justified. In finals since coming back from giving birth, she's failed to win a set in finals at any of the Majors. Her game is now badly exposed, previously she bludgeoned her opponents into submission, a lot of power and some skill. But now she faces younger opponents who have all that and more, their accuracy, fitness and skill level moves Williams around and she can't keep up. Williams sideways movement is almost non-existent these days. This poses a problem for the modern game as viewing numbers must be plummeting, no-one wants to watch such one-sided match-ups.

NZ v Greece @ FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019

New Zealand's best performance by far, but a loss 97-103. NZ played with intensity throughout and the difference really came down to Greece's superior shooting skill. NZ won two quarters and only lost the final quarter by 1 point. So it was getting a little ragged in the first quarter that cost them the game. The verdict? They were under-prepared, going up against Euroleague and NBA players who have a lot more quality games under their belts. NZ are now out of the running for the title but still continue playing for a place at the Olympics. They'll likely regret not beating Brazil in their first game, they could have definitely won that game, shame as Brazil go through as the top team, having found their stride. For NZ it was so close and yet so far.

Boris Johnson and Brexit

Just when you thought Brexit was back on track with Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister of Britain, everything goes pear shaped with game playing from Jeremy Corbyn's Labour team and the Remainer camp. Technically Corbyn is not a Remainer, but I think it's safe to label him as such now the gloves are off. We can see him for what he really is, selling out the British working class to London's chattering classes who are dead against Brexit.

I have no idea how this will pan out or who will win. We have a second English Civil War of sorts. On the one side the Leave team made up of Conservatives, along with the hard left of Britain siding with the working class districts which solidly voted Leave. Against them are the South-east of England, Remain camp soft-centred technocrats with their holiday homes on the Continent and a will to defy anyone who gets in the way of their cushy lifestyles. Whoever wins sets the course of Britain's future; either an independent future and world leading or a follower and supplicant to Brussels and the princes of Europe.

NZ v Montenegro @ FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019

New Zealand improved in beating Montenegro 93-83. Once again the stand out for the Kiwis was Isaac Fotu, along with Shea Ili's energy and speed.

The NZ performance was a more complete team effort, with their full court zone press creating several turnovers. But they still have things to work on; they need to stop the silly errors, such as stepping out of bounds, or trying to control the ball with one hand instead of getting two hands on it. The big men have got to learn to control the ball and stay on their feet, several times they fell over and lost possession.Shot selection improved but they still need to improve some more, with the hot hands getting the ball more.

The NZ team effort was assisted by the lack of discipline of the Montenegro coach who was ejected from the game.

Can NZ beat Greece? Why not, NZ is far better than its 38th rank in the world suggests. But they'll have to play a near perfect game, making their free throws count and not making stupid unforced errors.

Azealia Banks Disses Sweden

Azealia Banks has found out the truth about Sweden; the country is racist and lives so far up its own arse they can't find daylight. That's the nub of it I reckon. The thing that is most annoying about Sweden is their attitude. They think they're always right and that everyone should listen to them. Hang on though, they were neutral during WWII but were happy to take German money. Hmm? They're monumental hypocrites, the best example right now being that grandstanding publicity seeker Greta Thunberg (or is that her parents?). I am always amused by Ms Banks antics, she's rarely wrong but certainly will not win any points for diplomacy.

NZ v Brazil @ FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019

The New Zealand men got off to a bad start, losing 94-102 to Brazil. They won two of the four quarters, but the third quarter decided the final outcome, with a bad display for the Kiwis despite a promising start in the second half.

For me it came down to the quality of the shooting from the field and from the free throw line. The Kiwis lost it in both departments, their shot selection was poor at times, players were often bombing away from long range without a single Kiwi in a rebounding position. And they didn't make the free throws count despite getting Brazil into foul trouble. I haven't seen the exact stats but I wouldn't be surprised if NZ's missed free throws were the difference between the teams. By contrast the Brazilians shot the lights out.

I don't see Brazil going deep in this tournament, they looked to be a team that preferred to shoot from the perimeter, eschewing the rough stuff inside the keyhole. I liked the Kiwis physical style of play and on attack their up tempo style, that alone kept them in the game.

For individuals, I like Alex Garcia for Brazil. He's a defensive specialist and his intensity turned the game for them. For New Zealand, Corey Webster looked useful, but the best of the Kiwis had to be Isaac Fotu. It's a shame the Kiwis don't have more like him. Contrast his efforts with those of Tai Webster who was playing hero ball the whole time. He needed to settle and play sensibly, he pushed too hard, forcing his shots and ending up looking awful. Then Tom Abercrombie looked out of his depth. However, Shea Ili and Ethan Rusbatch looked full of energy, they both chimed in well.

Where to for NZ now? They have to beat Montenegro (possible) and Greece (unlikely) to advance. They've got to sort out their shot selection and sink those free throws. Then stop playing hero ball. More importantly, continue to play physically and fast. Good luck Kiwis. Oh and don't expect to get the referee calls go your way, they're clearly favouring the more fancied teams, so put the result beyond doubt.

Bury Out, Bolton Survives

It's bad news for Bury FC, unable to find a buyer they're been thrown out of the EFL and now their future looks bleak. Bolton on the other hand look to have secured a buyer and they can continue for now, but their long term future looks uncertain. Bury are gone after 125 or so years in the EFL, they've won two FA Cups. A sad day for English football.

Prorogation

People have found a new word, prorogation. Those in the UK trying to derail Brexit are calling the Prime Minister's proroguing of parliament a coup. Err, except far from it. To prorogue parliament means to discontinue a session. It is not a coup as parliament is not being overthrown, power is not being seized illegally. The bluster from those complaining is quite incredible but also very funny. The PM has every right to govern, especially when you consider he intends exercising the will of the people which was the result of the referendum held in 2016, and that was to leave the EU. Get over it and get on with it.

All Blacks for Rugby World Cup 2019

The Otago Daily Times gives this useful assessment of who is out and who is in: https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/no-squire-franks-laumape-miss-world-cup-selection

Bury FC and Bolton Wanderers

It's coming down to the wire for two old and storied football teams in the English Football League, Bury and Bolton. Either or both may find themselves out of the league altogether because of financial trouble. Interestingly they're located next to one another in the greater Manchester area. Bury are close to being sold, the buyers have to pass a good character test, while Bolton may go into liquidation and cease to exist because of it. Fingers crossed that both survive.

Update: Bury FC have just been expelled from the EFL, very bad news indeed. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/49435288

Crusaders Region Rugby

The Crusaders region is still on top in New Zealand rugby. The Tasman Mako are top of the Mitre10 Cup Premiership, their latest victory today's 64-8 romp over Manawatu. On the same day Nelson College beat Christchurch Boys' High School to secure the UC Championship for the Crusaders region 1st XV's, a 35-31 victory. Nelson College are also the Quadrangular Tournament champions for 2019, defeating Whanganui Collegiate in the final held in Wellington. Quadrangular is NZ's most prestigious 1st XV rugby tournament played each year between NZ's top four high schools (I discuss the importance of this tournament and these schools in my book Snob's Guide to New Zealand, link on toolbar above).

On Trump and Greenland

Donald Trump announced he wanted to buy Greenland. This has got to be the laugh of the week but it also highlights why the current President is a security risk. That's because he didn't bother to check if Denmark wanted to sell, or if they could sell. Turns out they didn't want to and couldn't even if they wanted to.

That's because Greenland is semi-autonomous and Greenland get to decide who they go with. So the President's visit to Denmark (now postponed or cancelled) would have been a monumental waste of time. It's kind of a worry this, Trump has his finger on the nuclear trigger - think about that.

Surely there has to be a mechanism for removing the President from office. And I do mean, sooner rather than later. After the Greenland debacle he started talking of himself as the chosen one. C'mon, this is getting very strange indeed.

Alien: Covenant - Review

I watched the movie Alien: Covenant last night on free to air TV. The original movie was very entertaining. I'd suggest that's because despite the crew keeping to the manual, the Alien still causes havoc.

But this latest incarnation of the franchise leaves a lot to be desired. A colony space ship, which is no doubt worth hundreds of billions of dollars, is diverted by an obviously incompetent Captain to a previously unknown planet, despite the protest of the second-in-charge. A good case could be made for the Captain to be relieved of his command for even suggesting such nonsense.

Then without further ado, they arrive at the new planet and descend to the surface without fully checking it out. Huh? Oh well, then they kind of split up (never ever split up in a sci-fi - ahem), and as they split one guy says to the other: ' behave yourself with my wife.' The wife of one of the guys is staying with this other dude. Oh, here we are on a previously undiscovered planet, putting careers in jeopardy on a whim, and while there one guy suspects the other guy of indecent intentions toward his wife. Seriously, this is stupid beyond belief.

Then of course we find the Alien is on the planet. Oh no, face hugger paradise (who'd a thunk), and the Captain is enticed by a robot, no less, to look inside a seed pod that just happens to open. Ahh, never look inside, that's a rule of sci-fi too you know. Never ever look inside.

And now everything unravels and we have the sexay, kick-ass, female protagonist who is also kinda vulnerable in a University graduate kind of way, able to survive against all odds. Helped along of course by an insolent and incompetent helmsman, who is excused his utterly cretinous behaviour because he wears a cowboy hat and says things like 'I'm coming in hot'.

I mean, really? The only good thing about the movie is the location of Fiordland National Park in New Zealand.

Rating: 1 star out of 7.

Brexit Under Boris Johnson

France are said to be making dire threats now. It's all bluff, France stands to lose a lot if they play clever over Brexit. If the physical movement of goods across the border with the UK slows down, the UK could simply respond by slowing down two things, the movement of people through airports, and the movement of capital through London. Both would cripple France.

And this talk of a need for a hard border with Ireland is nonsense. Have people not heard of licence plate readers by camera? That's all you set up, trucks need to be registered and are logged when crossing the border. If they depart from their route, or they appear heavier than indicated (ride height etc), then they could be pulled over by mobile patrols. It's really simple, basically a lot of panic merchants are stoking fear where there really need be none.

Just get on with Brexit. Enough talk already.

Greta Thunberg's Zero Carbon Journey

What kind of message is Greta Thunberg sending deciding to sail from Europe to North America? The sensible thing would be to fly, but oh no, we have to applaud the sheer stupidity of climate panic merchants like Thunberg. Newsflash: if everyone decided not to fly, the world would plunge into a global depression the likes never seen before. Millions would die as a result.

I'll tell you the message she is sending: we should all go back to live in the eighteenth century, a time when poverty prevailed, there was little or no democracy. Infant mortality was horrendous, life was brutal and short. Well, you can stuff that message where the sun don't shine.

And her journey is crammed with carbon, look at the kind of boat she's travelling on, and the technology she's using on board, it's all crammed with carbon. If she was trying to set any example, she would travel on a boat made entirely of wood (no metal nails) and cloth sails. Hmm?

Who is exploiting this young woman for their own political agenda?

Top 10 Greatest/Most Famous People

Here's my top 10 of the greatest and most famous people of all time. The criteria:

* No-one famous or great since 1900 - that's too recent
* Must have actually done stuff, not just talked about it
* Must have stood the test of time
* Must have instant name recognition
* Must have done something first, or started a trend, not simply followed on or built upon
* Ranked in order.

1. Julius Caesar

Pretty obvious I know, but truly great he is. You may argue that without William Shakespeare's play, he'd be far less known, maybe Pompey would be the one we'd all admire instead. However Caesar holds his own in any company. Today his place of cremation is a shrine attracting millions of people. What is it about him that pulls on so many heartstrings. He was betrayed, perhaps that's what it is. His accomplishments are many, and he had a capable team around him. But most importantly, his influence led to the founding of the Roman empire.

2. Marc Antony

Caesar's sidekick and one of few men Julius Caesar confided in. He wasn't as gifted as Caesar nor as lucky.

3. Cleopatra VII

Rounding out the top three, an argument could be made that Cleopatra VII deserves a higher place. However her kingdom was badly in decline by the time she came to power and her joining with Caesar and then Antony is simply clutching at straws. She was clever, no doubt about it, but doomed - sadly. Sidebar note: she was the mother of Cleopatra Selene II, wife of my personal hero Juba II, King of Numidia.

4. Alexander the Great

A warring tourist. He'd also jumped on the bandwagon started by his father.

5. Genghis Khan

He started something great, and established it, but the Mongols were based off a nomadic lifestyle that could not sustain expansion indefinitely. That's why the Mongol advance to Spain halted, the harvests back home had ceased, or were not as good, meaning families were having fewer children and so replacements were not arriving in sufficient numbers.

6. Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley)

'Old nosey' was the greatest defensive military commander of all time. Beat everyone up, never lost, started the Great in Britain, the world's biggest empire (and still is, suck on that). Then he became a statesman. He could be described as somewhat odd, and maybe a little daft. He used to say, when it was time to wake up, it was time to roll out. He meant it, sleeping in a small bed if he slept at all. In later life he'd give out little medals to the children who played on his estate. One girl he liked a lot and he told her he would arrange for a place at horse guards to be kept open for her. This either meant he didn't know she was a girl - horse guards were all men - or he was the first modern male. Maybe the latter as he was a loyal servant of Queen Victoria.

7. Giuseppe Garibaldi

Africa needs a Garibaldi. He unified Italy and had the sense to not place himself on the throne. Everywhere you go in Italy there is Garibaldi this and Garibaldi that. But he earns his place on my list because he was trans-continental, taking his ideas and 'freedom fighting' to Brazil and Uruguay. Special mention must be made of Anita Garibaldi, she makes makes my list of top women to follow.

8. King Henry VIII

Henry gets a bad press. He reformed institutions that led to the later rise of the British Empire, so a pretty significant figure then.

9. Aristotle

The father of western philosophy. You can't be logical without reference to Aristotle.

10. Leonardo da Vinci

A polymath, da Vinci was good at everything. He makes the list due to this sheer breadth of creative work.

*********

A few names missing then, so to explain: Machiavelli and Sun Tzu are lionised by Americans but don't make the cut. Marco Polo too is not on the list. No idea why? They're largely only talking about things. And note, no Americans on the list either, the US hasn't been around long enough, George Washington was just a small-time farmer and Abraham Lincoln a small town lawyer. They wouldn't even make a top 100. Get over it.

Special mention must go to two outstanding historical figures. The first is Xerxes I the ruler of Persia 486- 465 BC who withstood Greek aggression and took Athens. Forget all the Hollywood movies portraying him as a psycho, Xerxes was bringing enlightenment to Greece and all who took his side. Think about his major engineering, the pontoon bridge across the Hellespont and when the first attempt failed did he take it out on the men? No, he flogged the water. A reasonable man indeed. And both modern and ancient historians try to describe Xerxes invasion of Greece as unsuccessful or a defeat. That he burnt Athens. No on both counts; Athens burned because the inhabitants ran away, leaving their fires burning, which resulted in part of the city burning down. And when Xerxes got to Athens he found the place a shithole and cold. He went home. That's what happened. The 300? That was 300 Spartans plus thousands of others, they don't tell you in the movies about Sparta only sending a small force as it was harvest time. Hmm?? But Xerxes doesn't make the list as hardly anyone knows his name in the West, due to thousands of years of propaganda. The reality is everyone took his lead and wanted to be on his side as he was a most reasonable man.

Then we have Vlad III Dracula, otherwise known as Vlad the Just, Vlad the Freedom Fighter, Vlad the Most Wise, Vlad the Prosecutor of Corruption. His enemies unkindly call him Vlad the Impaler. He probably deserves making a list of the most maligned and misunderstood. Vlad failed though, betrayed and assassinated by so-called friends. But he gave Romania its identity, still evident today. 

IPCC Giving Every Reason to be Ignored

I'm basing my opinion on the latest IPCC report which suggests humans need to eat less meat to avert climate catastrophe. Story here:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/114866294/everything-we-do-affects-our-climate-experts-react-to-climate-change-report

What does the IPCC hope to achieve with this alarmist nonsense? Do they want to be taken seriously or not? News flash: humans are omnivores. That means a diet of plants and meat is fine. There's a reason for that and it's a good one; meat packs a lot of sustenance into a small package. If you want proof of that then observe the large predators. After a kill they spend much of their time lolling about the place, satisfied. By comparison herbivores spend all day eating (and all night scared). Humans cannot spend all day grazing, they need meat. Ask anyone who has had a serious job of work to do, they'll tell you quickly enough what actually works.

Human behaviour is not going to change  and anyone who thinks otherwise is stupid. And I don't even think that of the IPCC, no, I think they've been taken over by a vegetarian agenda.

What's the solution? Engineer solutions, that's what. Use carbon capture techniques in our soils, and animal diet that reduces emissions. The idea that people are going to suddenly chow down on lentils is pure fantasy and quite frankly, laughable.

NZ Breakers Basketball

I'm not a big fan of the Breakers, the Auckland based team that plays in the Australian NBL or National Basketball League. I think such teams detract from the game in New Zealand. Having said that though, they've had quite a bit of success, winning several titles.

They're now under new ownership and have undergone many changes for the upcoming season. New players, new coaching staff. Will this new outfit be any good? I'm going to stick my neck out and say, no, they won't be any good. I've seen teams stacked with overrated talent crash and burn too often to have any faith in the approach they're taking. If they were prepared to invest more in locals, then I'd be more positive, but a team made up principally of imports won't have the same commitment.

Rocket Lab Going Reusable

In another development from the innovative people at Rocket Lab, they're going to recover the first stage of their Electron rocket soon after launch. I note their plan to eventually catch the rocket stage by using a helicopter. Read about it here:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12256289

Check out the Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck's presentation

Rugby League: NZ Warriors Victims of Racism

What I suspected all along turns out to be true. The New Zealand Warriors are the victims of racism in the NRL, read about this incident:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/114635053/former-warriors-coach-mark-graham-reveals-racist-slurs-by-referee

Note that the NRL's main concern is how the slur came to be heard. That about sums things up.

But I think it goes further than referees calls. The Australian teams don't want all the talent stacked into the one team, in this case the Warriors. It turns out all the top talent is Maori or Pacific Island, and their natural home is in the Warriors. What I think happens is the Warriors get dumped on regularly so they never look good and so the talent moves to the other clubs, thus spreading the ability around. If the Warriors were allowed to win, they'd be fully stacked and the others'd have no chance.

Oh and for you statisticians, the research has been done on this and the Warriors never get a chance. It comes down to when penalties are awarded and on what part of the field. Early in games the Warriors are penalised when hard on defence or attack. This means the Warriors are put under added pressure. Then later in the game the referees make things look even by giving the Warriors simple penalties anywhere on the field, long after the game is already decided.

The Jacinda Ardern Media Approach

I've finally figured out the media approach of New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. She's known for jotting things on the back of an envelope or in a notebook so I'll describe her approach imagining looking over her shoulder at her notes and sounding the way she does....

Talk about:
Communidies
Opportunidies
Diversidy
Tamariki
Kuia
( add other Maori words as appropriate)
Absoludely
Remember to nod nod nod
Concerned frown - nod nod nod (three nods, nice)
Position face for photograph, ensure photographer ready
Compassionate smile, embrace someone.

New Zealand Polytechnics to be Nationalised

The New Zealand Labour-NZ First government has just shot itself in the foot again, this time moving to centralise all the Polytechnics and Institutes of Technology under one administration. This has got to be a big blow to Invercargill and the people of Southland. They have SIT with its Zero Fees scheme. I am informed they can do this as it is funded by the local licensing trust and a large property portfolio. Invercargill still has an effective licensing trust returning the profits from alcohol sales to the community (they've also built sports facilities with those profits).

What the government are doing is similar to what highly bureaucratic multinational corporations do. Instead of rewarding success, they penalise it and drag everyone down to a low common denominator, creating layers of management that are largely pointless and who achieve nothing.  They do this in the name of efficiency and cost saving, but it rarely ends up being either.

Southland must be livid and they have every right to be. I was in Invercargill a couple of weeks ago and I was impressed to see the SIT campus was buzzing, full of diversity, the students were spending spending spending. This latest move will be a real kick in the guts for Invercargill.

Free Kindle Reads

Two of my novels are available for free on Kindle today. They are...

The Crushing Son https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DK352BK

Basketball Obsession https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIEZ51G

Bury FC May Disappear

On the list of things you couldn't make up if you tried; Bury FC are close to being expelled from the English Football League (Association Football or Soccer for those who don't know). They play in League One, the third tier of the English football system. The problem they face is that the new owner, who bought the club for 1 pound sterling (US$1.22) late last year, has not been able to satisfy the EFL that he has the finances to run a fully professional club for the coming season. That season kicks off this weekend.

Read about it here: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jul/29/bury-suspend-efl-league-one-match-mk-dons

Apparently owner Steve Dale has put the club up for sale. I suggest an offer of a fiver, bearing in mind the new owner is acquiring the accumulated debts, which include unpaid player wages, transfer fees and the like. Their home ground is owned by the club, which I understand has a mortgage against it. The real cost then is more likely in the millions of pounds, but given they're in League One after being promoted from League Two last year, the prospect is they may keep on winning. That's right ambitious folk amongst you, they're two steps off English Premier League. Got your attention?

Update: The Chairman of Bury FC has put out the following statement in reply to the EFL: https://www.buryfc.co.uk/news/2019/july/statement-from-chairman/

I think the key to this matter is contained in the third to last paragraph (starting with the words "Then the EFL meeting last night and subsequent statement..."). The way I read this is that the EFL want to see funds in the bank, and this must happen before they release 500k+ to Bury.

Kane Williamson - NZ Cricket

I read somewhere that New Zealand's 'Black Caps' captain is finding it hard to come to terms with how an umpire could decide the outcome of the World Cup. I've got no sympathy, he's paid the big money to actually know the rules of the game, as are the coaches. On the day they failed to know those rules and managed to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory. I will say it again, you'd never see that level of incompetence exhibited at a game of baseball. It simply wouldn't happen. NZ cricket have the incredible ability to find a way to lose. They've never won anything.

Is the NRL Rigged?

The latest controversy regarding the New Zealand Warriors playing the Australia's NRL Rugby League competition begs the question: is the competition rigged?

You have to wonder, considering how many times decisive refereeing decisions go against them. The latest example, a forward pass that wasn't leading up to what would have been a certain try, has resulted in NZ's betting agency the TAB refunding bets placed on the Warriors to win. Is it now so obvious the TAB can't accept bets?

NZ needs to grow up and realise there is no future in having NZ teams participating in an Australian competition.

Steven Adams for the Celtics

The Boston Celtics are meant to be interested in Steven Adams. It just so happens that Enes Kanter is now with the Celtics and Adams and Kanter are mates. My suggestion is get a deal done and let's see Adams at the Celtics. Why would this be a good move?

1. The Celtics are winners,
2. They like to play big nasties on the inside,
3. They've got the money to pay luxury tax,
4. They need Adams for what he offers defensively.

New Zealand's Own Ben Stokes

I'm talking about Ameliaranne Ekenasio. She scored the winning goal that won New Zealand the Netball World Cup. She was born and raised in Australia, played netball for U-21 Australia and then moved to NZ for more playing time. She was clinical and stuck the knife in when required.

Ben Stokes was born in NZ and left for the UK at the age of 12 with his family. He started playing for England and also stuck the knife in when required. Both defeated the country in which they were born and raised. I'm kind of impressed by their professionalism.

Boris Johnson Cleans House

Britain's new Prime Minister has sent a clear signal of how he intends to lead his country, bringing in hard line Brexit supporters and sacking those he doesn't trust. Finally, Brexit seems nearer.

Theresa May was always lukewarm on this whole Brexit thing. She wanted to keep everyone happy but only succeeded in making everyone depressed. She was too timid and at times indecisive. Sometimes just making any decision and sticking to it is better than no decision at all.

What can we expect from Johnson? It looks like a hard Brexit at this stage. But now they see which way things are headed, there remains the possibility the EU will buckle. Unlike many others, I think the EU stand to lose more if they oppose a more friendly divorce arrangement. That's because of the intangibles and things such as defence. If the EU are difficult, Britain may be less inclined to defend Western Europe. The cost of that task will be left to Germany who currently freeload off the UK and USA. Yes, NATO and all that, but the UK could easily sit on its hands.

This new Britain may pivot to the Pacific where they have considerable territory. That could involve joining the TPPA (or whatever they call it now). It may also engage more with Africa. Both regions offer more trade possibilities than the tired and indebted EU.

New Zealand World Champions

This time it's Netball. New Zealand are the world champions after beating Australia in the 2019 final, held in Liverpool, England. For those Kiwis watching, notice any difference between the netballers and the cricketers? No, I'm not talking about gender. I'm talking about diversity, the NZ cricket team lacks diversity, while the netball team has loads of it.

Snob's Guide to New Zealand

Shameless self-promotion here; my latest book Snob's Guide to New Zealand is available on Amazon in paperback and kindle. It's very accurate, an example is not a single word in the book needs to be changed about what I had to say about cricket in NZ. The chapters are organised alphabetically, cricket being dealt with under the chapter...Sport.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1727804147