Fair enough?!?!

 

 

Says it all - right?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have fun!

Coronation Quiche - a fuzz about nuthin

Dear Lord - who would have thought!!!

It even has its own Wikipedia entry!!

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/columnists/how-did-the-coronation-quiche-go-so-wrong/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_quiche

 

Have to say - Good one, ol chucky - you have managed to outrage EVERYONE!!!!

I mean -- imagine - if he left out, say the vegans - they be outraged for being left out of the outrage!!! 

Everyone - take a deep breath and calm down! The O N LY thing that matters here is that the newly crowned King likes it.  If it is not to your liking because for whatever reason -  suck it up and get lost . . . . . Or are you really that self centered that you think everything revolves round you????   

News flash . . . . .

 It ain't . .

Have fun!

Did Obelix get it right after all?

Did Obelix get it right after all?

Always was and still am a fan of the Asterix books – right from when I was a tiny tot and could barely read!  They have been a large part of my early reading life – to this day! So many colorful characters.

In the story about Cleopatra – at some stage Obelix is tasked in cutting the (poisoned cake) into 3 pieces to be shared with his other two friends. - Which he did.
If you pay close attention  - he’s been asked to cut three pieces......

Ask any child – they have an innate understanding of what is fair or equal.
Let me set the scene:
Imagine two (early school years) siblings living at home – being tasked by their parents (to work together) and mow the lawn and do the lawn-edging on a weekly basis.  In reward they get (earn) a bar of chocolate. They are told to share the spoils of their earnings.  

Now you know how this plays out.  The older sibling (being deemed more mature or wiser or just by being older) will usually do the task of splitting the bar of chocolate up and do the handouts! You KNOW and can always see it on the (usually younger) sibling’s face if they think they have been swindled or robbed of their “fair share”.  (as a sideline – educationally this works by saying one does the dividing up and the other gets to choose first, which share/half they pick!!!)
Assuming they both worked hard and equally on the task at hand, you would expect a 50/50 split?!

Now lets assume that one sibling is not doing its task or only doing a half task or none at all or is perhaps handicapped and thus not able to pull equal weight  - how should the bar of chocolate be broken up – still at 50/50???  75/25??? 
60/40??

Further – lets assume that the older sibling is of an enterprising nature and goes and canvas’s the neighbors and after some time and with a lot of hard work gets to mow 6 lawns of other peoples properties (thus earning 6 or more bars of chocolate) – while the other sibling sits at home and is not involved in this enterprise at all.  How should the enterprising sibling share in the spoils of her hard work (if at all)????  

Will there be an incentive for the non-working sibling to be involved in mowing the neighbors lawns,  I F  they get half of the spoils regardless???  How about the motivation off the other sibling to go out and be enterprising, if there is an expectation to give away most of that “income”.  Where is the fairness in that?  (We see this playing out in China with the ‘laying at work” attitude and of course saw it in old Soviet Union where the attitude was – ‘We pretend to work as long as they pretend to pay us’!! )

You will notice the original direction from the parents – there is an expectation of ‘Sharing’, but no qualification on how.  The discussion here really is:  fair vs equal.  Equal is (as per Obelix) always straight forward.  I often say to my wife: “May I have the bigger half” and the standard reply always is: “There is no such thing as a ‘bigger half’ “  Obelix was just told to cut three slices – no qualifying on how big the three should be, and of course there were only three pieces! Job done.

Recently the NZ Government commissioned a report on who pays how much (income) tax – focusing on 311 ‘rich’ families and predictably it has created a lot of discussion.  
My takeaway on that is, unless you say “equal” tax (eg. a flat rate of 10 % or whatever number you want to use and is paid by EVERYONE)  you end up in a discussion on what is “Fair”!

Everyone's understanding of what is ‘Fair’ differs greatly.  We need to settle on what is ‘FAIR’ soon, or there will always be a part of our population that will be envious of the other few enterprising folks. (which by the way is listed in the Ten Commandments and deemed to be not a good idea – to be envious of your neighbors cattle/sheep/wife/land etc etc etc)

 

 

Will the sibling be envious of the other, who gets to eat 6 bars by itself without sharing??     You bet.
Will it get inspired to go out and be just as enterprising as the other sibling???                      Perhaps 

How much will the enterprising sibling be motivated to be successful, if the other demands a ‘share’ regardless on how much contribution happened?? 

What will influence that decision?  A social conscious / love/concern for the sibling and its willingness or abilities – or lack thereof??  
 

Food for thought.

Now please – let me have my share of lunch . . . .



Have fun!

Down under being a banana republic - who would have thought?????

  

Yeah - this is going to be a very frustrating rant!

Let me break down the images - although they speak volumes in their own right!!! 

So I had ordered a product from a firm in Australia - our next nearest country neighbor and with modern planes etc - how long would you think delivery should take???  2-4 business days??? Maybe a few more??? I mean - a flight from Melbourne to Auckland is about 3hours and 25 minutes - or close to it - winds depending!!!

So - lets break this down by days

Thursday 13 April 5.14pm

• Item was sold / wrapped up and issued an order for to be picked up by a courier on Thursday 13 April 5.14pm

Saturday 15 April 2.09am / 2.10am

•  Item is at Melbourne international airport - guess it took  33 hours to pick up / drive across town to deliver to airport in order to fly out

Monday 17 April 8:30am

• Item has shifted warehouse in Melbourne airport - awaiting a flight.  Funny I was sure they had a DAILY if not more then one a day flight from Melbourne to Auckland. Turns out - it was picked up by an airline on the following day

Tuesday 18 April 8.11am

• Did it miss the previous days flight????? Anyway according to the Shippit tracking site - it is airborne!! Wohoooooo 
• So to re-cap - from hitting the sold sign to being Airborne (leaving Melbourne/Australia) - has taken 5 days! We shall make an assumption and guess that the postal agencies do NOT work on weekends (they may well do - who would know?) - so that is then a reasonable timeline - yes?!
  

 Lets switch over to the NZ post site - which ultimately ought to deliver this! It would indicate that the actual flight took place on 17 April.  There is a 2 hour time difference so that is understandable - BUT a whole day?????

Anyhow lets assume that it has indeed left on the 18th (lets give credit here) - it would seem it has arrived in Auckland on 20 April 12:48pm (noon)! That just asks the question - a two or three day flight that usually takes only about 3.25 hours?!?!?!?!  What the hell . . .  OR more likely - it has been sitting in a depot and not been scanned in - probably still sitting on the tarmac.

Thursday 20 April 12.48pm 

• 
  As you can see - it claims to be "unloading" (eg some random dude has to take it out of the cargo hold and put it on a trolley for it to be wheeled to the Customs warehouse/hall/office)  by Customs - and is pending a border clearance! That was nearly a week ago - I know we had an Anzac holiday yesterday - still - they work round the clock so the weekend days are also "working" days - so that is already FIVE working days and still counting for it to be "Pending border clearance"!!   
• To recap - from leaving Melbourne and arriving in an Auckland customs hall it has taken 2 or 3 days - depending on when the actual flight took place!  So how long would it take to UNLOAD the cargo?? More to the point:
  

•  What on earth are they doing there??  Dissecting it??  Drowning it in ant/spider/ snake -- venom for 6 weeks????   Reading it? Are we so short staffed from the Pandemic two years back, that we have just ONE able body-worker trying to process a mountain of parcels??? Has it fallen below a crack onto the back of a book case floor - mysteriously vanishing from earth?  Gobbled up by mail eating aliens???

 Worst thing - NO-one can  be contacted or asked or any communication on this.

        Then it gets worse - the Shippit info when first logged in said delivery to be expected by Thursday 20 April (that would have been a week - a reasonable timeline given it goes over a weekend ?!?!) - it now reads as Saturday 13th May!!! 

1 3th M A Y ! ! 

That is still 18 Days or more then 2.5 Weeks (3 days short of three weeks) away!!   I'd be quicker cycling up to Auckland and claiming it in person!!! 

        So lets do some Maths here, and count the days - from the day the internet confirmed the Sale of the product, to anticipated delivery day is - - - wait for it - - - 

- 31 DAYS or a full MONTH.

You can row on a paddle board quicker across the Tasman Sea . . . . .

        I know we live at the bottom of the earth (from a European perspective) and are technically a Pacific Island nation. This however - is almost worse then being in a banana republic!! At least it will eventually be delivered and does not require some form of bribe . . .

Sighs

Lord - please give me a healthy dose of Patience - I am very much in need of it!!

Have fun!

The merits of having faith

 

 

Many years back - I had to write an essay that was centered around the topic of Faith - who had it - or not and what is it! - I do not remember it all.  It is of course an annual hot topic around Easter - well - for those of Christian persuasion anyhow!

However it is also a topic beyond simple religion. 

 

I contend there are three types of Faith:

•  Blind Faith
•  Skeptic Faith
•  No Faith

    Blind Faith - pretty obvious here - you just believe whatever your higher ups dish up - so for religion it is undying faith into the cause. This can equally be applied to Politics (think faith into "the Party doctrine") or Science (faith into Health advancements or Climate change or Evolution etc). Or indeed you trust blindingly your older sibling who tells you that this course of action (for example -- touch / pee on the electric fence and will not hurt one tiny bit) - is all right?!  Simply no questions allowed - be quiet and belief!

    Skeptic Faith of course is the one where you turn round (like Thomas) and say: "unless I can put my hands into the wounds of our Crucified Lords hands - only then will I belief that he is risen"!  Essentially it is an evidence based faith - and it applies to all institutions.  Show me the Money / Proof / Evidence before I invest something of myself into whatever you proclaim to be truth!

    No Faith is actually a misnomer - as essentially there is no such thing - in its essence!Even an agnostic person is a person of faith - who isbelieving in  - well nothing! Not that they will ever admit to that in itself. No faith is often used and expressed within/by the religious communities - describing people who do not accept the religious doctrines (Christian/Muslim/Jewish/Hindu etc). Of course the Climate dogma people will also use this if you even dare to question their particular "dogma"!

Cue Gallileo ---> One of the most famous examples of the clash between religion
and science is the trial of Galileo. He supported Copernicus' view that the Earth orbited the sun, a "heliocentric" theory which the church declared contrary to Scripture. Galileo was warned to abandon his support for this theory and instead embrace the traditional "geocentric" notion that the Earth was an unmovable point around which the universe revolved.

Naturally, a Blind Faith (ying / yang here)  can be seen as a strength if used in a "correct" setting - or seen as a hindrance to any future progress!! Your way of life - your reality, will depend and change with whichever side you tend to adhere to.  Of course it is possible to have all three happening at some stage in your life - or even concurrent!

As I am a "realist" I tend to question things more often then not - particularly when it comes to "have faith in future outcomes" - such as climate predictions! I know I lost some folks here at this point - and if you still with me bear with me and lets change some words and consider this:

If you have a neighbor/friend/relative who has for the last 50 years faithfully come to you every Saturday - or at least once a month and said: "We have all the data in - the horse is fit - the track is hard and fast and dry and the weather is looking great - no rain forecast, the Horse is injury free and in the form of its life and all the scientific evidence from our various Track Experts points to this particular horse in this particular race on that day to be a winner with the odds being 1500 - 1 - you need to trust me and put some of your hard earned cash on this bet!! "

Now - you can have blind faith and say "yup - ok here is half of my monthly income"  or you can sit back and say - ok when was the last time you had an actual winner??  What -- in the last 50 years NONE of your "predictions" have come true - then would you still be prepared to put your $$$$ into that bet - put the house on as its a "surefire" bet and risk everything???  

Would you?????  And if you did - what will that say about you??

Have fun!

Al Gore looks - well -

Yeah - Dude ----

 

So do you remember the claim from Al Gore's Film - that by 2020 the Midwest of USA will have snow free winters and why would you invest into the ski-industry????

Guess who's got egg on his face now . . . . . . .

Snip ---

This weekend the tourism industry celebrated the US state’s biggest seasonal snow dump on record.

At Alta, one of America’s oldest ski-only resorts, visitors were treated to 19m of snow this season.

This was possibly too much snow. This weekend more than 1000 visitors were trapped in the ski village at Alta and neighboring Snowbird by an avalanche warning.

 

End snip ----

 make that 19 meters !!!

 Buahahahahaha

 

 

Have fun!

Lies - damn lies and statistics

Check this out.......

All data is from the NZ Met Service

 

It is true we had ONE day at the high as shown on their map - all of 33.9c - in fact we  had a lovely week being in the 30's bar one day!!

So the way they present this graphical image is that - LOOK - Feb 2023 - had a higher then the 10 year average temperature - GLOBAL WARMING they scream from the roof tops!! Your fault for eating cows and driving smokey cars they scream!

So add all the highest temperatures for each day in month of Feb 2023 - and average them out to be in line with the 10 year average high temperature 

(you know - comparing an apple with an apple) for ANY meaningful comparison and you get - drum roll please:

23.7C!!!!

Check this against the 10 year high which sits at 31.4c!

 

HOWEVER

to really compare a granny smith with a granny smith you need to take all the daily highs (for Feb) and average them out and then compare that with the previous (monthly Feb) years or even a rolling ten year average for Feb

it goes like this

		Whitianga	Chch	Dunedin
February	2013	23.9	22.4	19.4
February	2014	23.4	21.7	18.4
February	2015	24	22.8	18.4
February	2016	25.5	25.1	22.8
February	2017	24.7	22.5	20.2
February	2018	24.3	22.9	19.6
February	2019	24.4	24.5	21.1
February	2020	26.6	24.3	20.6
February	2021	23.4	22.9	19.7
February	2022	24	20.4	19.1
February	2023		23.6
	avrg for last 10 years	- - - - >	23

You will see that some years are warmer and some are cooler.  -- 2022 was the coolest so far at monthly average of 20.4c - and 2016 at 25.1c - a 5 degree Celsius range of up or down!  NOTE that 7 years (yes make that SEVEN years) are below the rolling average of 23c!

Liars --  So sick of these lies being told!! 

 

On the upside - Should there be a real warming planet -- I would be quite happy for a 4 degree Celsius rise -  it would mean New Zealand could grow its own coffee and pineapple and many other tropical fruits and of course our winter heating bill would be greatly reduced!!  Alas - by the time this is likely to be happening (year 2590????) I will no longer be round by then - old dude that I am . . . . .

 

Have fun!

My scratching post

Firstly - thanks to Debra for filming this!! 

Secondly - this bear knows EXACTLY how I feel once I find my own scratching post (door -jab actually) in our home - it has two runners and = suffice to say - there has never been a back scratch as blissful as this . . . . 

I can just hear the going --- uuuh yeeah oh yeah oh yeah - soooo gooooood

enjoy

Have fun!

Two plus two make four - even if you have to do a lengthy complicated extended formular . . . .

I've said similar for the last 20 years

Well written Damien

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”

Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/131328117/damien-grant-why-we-need-to-stand-up-for-the-maureen-pughs-of-the-world


Full txt below

(pay attention to the last two sentences)

OPINION: “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”

Readers who have had the benefit of a pre-decolonised education may recognize that line from George Orwell’s 1984. It was written by the protagonist, Winston Smith, as he struggles against the demands of the Party that two plus two could equal five.

In Orwell’s now iconic literary achievement, the threat against reason was coming from above. He did not contemplate that those who sought, and succeeded, in controlling how we think and talk could come from below. And yet, here we are.

The latest victim of our new Orwellian reality was Maureen Pugh.

Pugh, as is now clear, isn’t convinced that human activity is driving climate change. It really isn’t important what Pugh believes. What matters is what happened to her when she inadvertently spoke her mind.

The Fourth Estate, rather than merely reporting her apostasy, used this information to trap Christopher Luxon. He has stated firmly that climate change is real and humans are responsible, and has little time for those who dispute this contention. Fair enough.

The media seized on Pugh’s statement to use as a “gotcha” for the National leader, and within hours she was reading a prepared statement, abasing herself before a wall of cameras and cellphones.

The media was acting as the enforcer of its own values and parameters of acceptable thought. This was not journalism.

The media is not, as Orwell imagined it, a tool of oppression used by the state. It has adopted its own set of values and ideas, and uses its power to ensure politicians do not deviate in thought and word from what they have defined as appropriate.

Newsroom even ran a serious opinion piece with the headline, Climate deniers should not be MPs. To be fair, the column wasn’t as dramatic as the headline, but the author asked the rhetorical question: “Would anyone trust an MP who was a flat earther to make the best decisions for their constituents and their country?”

This is a great question. Perhaps we can apply the same standard to economic literacy?

New Zealand is undertaking a massive commitment to reduce the amount of carbon in our economy. This will have a huge economic impact even if, given our share of global emissions, no effect on our climate. It is one of the most important issues of our time. Pugh is looking at this and asking, is it necessary? 

This is a fair question, and it deserves a better response than being slapped down by her leader and told to go educate herself.

Threatening to burn as a heretic anyone who questions the prevailing wisdom is evidence of a fragility in your belief system rather than a confidence in it.

And more significantly, why does it matter that a lowly ranked MP holds unconventional views on matters outside her portfolio, unless the belief itself is an offence.

While this Punch and Judy pantomime was unfolding, there was another example of how our civil discourse continues to contract.

Tamaki MP Simon O’Connor joined his leader in making it clear he is either willing to abandon his values, or that he doesn’t have any, when he buckled in the slightest breeze of controversy. He had sponsored a group, Jesus for New Zealand, to have a function in the Parliamentary complex.

This seems to be a fairly run-of-the mill revivalist outfit and I’ve seen no evidence that it is calling for violence. Someone on Twitter was upset, a journalist asked Luxon about it and O'Connor folded like a well-laundered suit.

Some denominations of Christianity have joined those who hold unacceptable views on how carbon molecules react as unfit to inhabit the halls and amphitheatres of our parliamentary complex.

We have become in thrall to the shrill, demanding and intolerant. We are not willing to stand up for what we believe in if those beliefs upset millennials armed with nothing more than a keyboard and a sense of self-importance.

Pugh and O’Connor should have held their ground. If you represent a party that draws its inspiration from Locke, Mill and Hobbes – accepting for a moment that most of this current cohort of National MPs probably think these are items you would find in Bunnings – there is a responsibility to uphold liberal values.

You do not need to agree with Pugh, or Jesus for New Zealand, or even the unorthodox economic views of Julie Anne Genter to appreciate that there is value in allowing a diversity of perspectives to be expressed and debated.

This is especially when the cost of upholding your principles is so cheap.

We are not in Winston Smith’s dystopian world. Those seeking to control our speech, to demand we join in the Two Minutes of Hate, who seek to memory-hole bad ideas and re-write offensive children’s books do not hold real power.

They can demand we reject the evidence of our eyes, as they insist that inflation is caused by Vladimir Putin and not Adrian Orr, or that the Musket Wars never be talked about in polite society; but that is all they can do.

We do not require the courage of Winston Smith to speak our minds and when the cost is so low, why do we cower?

Our political leaders would be doing the nation a service to be more assertive in defending those whose ideas offend these keyboard tyrants; not only because the freedom to follow your conscience is a good in itself, but because there is tangible value in a diversity in views.

Something that we all believe today will, in time, be displaced in the conventional wisdom, and an idea widely reviled today will be vindicated.
Our ancestors believed with certainty things we now know to be nonsense. Are we so sure our grandchildren will not enjoy the same experience?

End snip

It is so interesting to note (reading the stuff "news" site) that many of their articles have a No Comment section - particularly those who have an "opposing" view of the declared position of the Stuff media site.  Closed mind springs to mind on this.  as per last sentence in the article - 150 or 200 years from now - people will look back - shake their heads and wonder how we could collectively been so stupid . .  well cut me out from that group  :)


Have fun!

When round numbers are not quite so round after all

 

 

 

Sometimes - just a few moments after you wake up - your mind is not properly connected to the realm of your universe!  So the other day I woke up and did some numbers in my sleepy head -- and got to 40!!!  Yay!!!

 

40 years since I packed a suitcase and made some tentative steps towards a railway that would take me to an underground train and that would take me towards Frankfurt airport - where a nice shiny new 747 was airlifting me half way around the world - for what was supposed to be a years worth of sabbatical living and contemplation!! A year living and working as a volunteer in a strange country with  limited (2 years of "school") English.  A year to decide what future 'job' I wanted to pursue back in Austria!

Instead - - -  I met and married my wife!!

Well - as they say - the rest is history!! 

So I am groggily trying to do the math again and realized I am a year ahead of schedule!!!   NEXT year - in 2024 - It will have been 40 years since I left 'home'! woohoo

Much of course has changed since then . . . much indeed

Take two weeks of the 40 years and that's how long I have known / dated/ married mamabear!!!   

Happy anniversary Mamabear!!! 





Have fun!

Statistics and China

Wow - just wow

OK - this is assuming that  N O T H I N G  will change eg - no forced baby factories or colonizing / conquering another rich young peopled country no letting the old just die off without any medic care  etc  etc.

The thing is - that is 40 years from now - I will not be around to see how this will play out in the long run - maybe that is a good thing!?!?!?!?!?!

Just check  out the 30 year brackets  to and from (above and blow ) age 45!!!!!

Draw your own conclusions . . . . .

The projected ages of the Chinese population in the year of 2063 - total numbers to be around 500 Million?!?! Massive changes coming up folks!!!

Have fun!

Ponder this

Two recent news articles

Food for thought

It should be noted that the vote in favor (of Delilah being sung) was by 91%  - so 

meaning that a tiny minority can hold sway over what the large majority wants! 

Fair???? Democratic??? Don't kid yourself - The PC brigade is still going full steam ahead!

 

Pretty soon there will be only a handful of songs that can be heard or sung

What song shall we "cancel" next??? 

Mack the knife? 

Bohemian rhapsody? 

What about 'hanging' on the telephone or the first cut is the deepest, 

or mama just 'killed' a man, 

or the theme from MASH suicide is painless ? ? ? ? 

Don't get me started on "Baby its cold outside" . . . .

Are roughly 3 billion females suddenly becoming gay after listening to "I kissed a girl and I liked it"

 

What a crazy world we live in - time to stop this!!!!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300792996/janet-wilson-the-world-of-woke-and-why-we-need-to-take-on-the-new-puritans

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/delilah-song-lyrics-its-controversial-26130763#comments-wrapper





Have fun!

We all have to bear our cross - even you Prince Harry

 

 

 

This image - actually a letter to the local news paper editor I think; - is doing the rounds!

It is certainly  away of putting things.

It left out (although touching on it at the last sentence) of having had a "constructive job dismissal" and as a result being unemployed and having a tough time ends meet - let alone of having to live of the wife's income! 

Playing the victim here Harry? ! ? ! 

Sad thing is that there will be a lot of people who can tell you their sob story which would be far more scarier then his! 

I would have far more respect for you if you would acknowledge your privileged upbringing and decide to move forward and upward.  Far better to show how you have prospered DESPITE your hard-luck-stories.  Better to show yourself as a survivor then a victim!!  So please stop selling your book - and get on with it!!

For the media - humpf - do not get me started . . . . . . 

As a side note - life is not about "being fair" rather it is about making the best with whatever you got! We all have to carry our own cross. No one else can or should carry yours . . . 

As we head towards Easter - I am reminded that neither Christ nor his two "cross-mates" ever complained about carrying theirs (and rather heavy timber) up to the Hill!!

Have fun!

New Ice age is coming

Yup - button up - the new Ice-Age is just round the corner!

This is just the beginning

 Me 'looks for my woolies'

har har har

 

www.siberia-sees-coldest-air-in-two-decades-as-temperature-dips-to-62c

Have fun!

A picture is worth a thousand words

OR

Sometimes NO words are required - right???? 

Found this today - those poor Swiss . . . . 

 

Have fun!