RIP Local news
We miss our weekly rag. Just when it seemed to be doing the job of our daily papers (there’s only the NZ Herald now) ours, like other print media died.
Posts by Paul Smith
August miscellany
Deep in the heart of Mt Roskill and about 100 metres from the gates of Dominion Road School, where we Standard Two kids used to pick up milk crates for every class, the Labour Party held its campaign launch for local MP Michael Wood. Nothing unusual about that – the elections will be upon us in September.
Sins of the fathers…
Labour wants it, sort of. Aucklanders deserve it. New Zealand First at this stage at least, has blocked it. As a result, Auckland’s roads are quite simply, constipated. It could be the increase in car commuting but also rapid population growth.
Ageism and us…
I’m a baby-boomer – and proud of it. So why is our generation, the first crop of boomers (born 1946), being attacked for simply reaching our age. After all we protested against Nuclear testing at Mururoa – and eventually won.
June Miscellany
When it comes to air pollution, we’re good. And now , so is India where people – especially in the Punjab can see the Himalayas –for the first time in decades. Researchers believe that the dramatic improvement in the country’s air pollution was caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns see https://www.iqair.com/world-most-polluted-countries.
New societies Post Covid-19 ?
Mt Eden Rd, Three Kings, Auckland
This was the day people had been waiting for, the day that might end the boredom, anxieties, the frustrations and loneliness of life lived under lockdown. When Monday finally dawned, a mild sunlight filtered through the trees in a leafy suburb devoid of cars, but full of birdsong. It really seemed as if something new lay ahead…
Miscellany – April
“Words without actions are the assassins of idealism.” ― said President Herbert Hoover nearly a century ago. It was if he was addressing his present day successor Donald Trump’s inadequate response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Be kind she said…
At first they nodded and smiled as usual on our daily walks. Nothing unusual there, it’s our neighbourhood.
But then the pandemic arrived and didn’t leave. For a few days we were confused and offered the same greetings, though we all knew nothing would ever be the same.
Once upon a Charter
A very long time ago when I was an NBR media commentator, a senior Treasury official asked me what I thought about the future of TVNZ. I told him that its hyper-commercialism was driving viewers away; that people were sick and tired of ads and much of the network’s ratings-driven programming.
He paused, stroked his chin and looked into the distance. “Hmm” he said. “Here, we would call that a long term strategic loss.”