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NZ Herald
29-07-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Letters: Maybe the Government should reward us with butter for reporting on road cones
The Minister for Workplace Relations wants motorists to report situations where they believe too many road cones are being used. The problem is that, like her, they wouldn't have a clue why road cones are used and what determines the numbers of cones used on any particular roadworks site. Roadworks construction sites are among the most dangerous of all construction work sites and for that we can partly thank the wonderful driving skills and utmost patience of the average New Zealand driver. Cones are spaced at distances (that determines their numbers) so as to deny drivers (as far as possible) the urge to change lanes, overtake others or to perform U-turns within the worksite, in addition to that most annoying of all factors, of actually slowing our vehicles down. The minister might consider visiting and observing the behaviour and activities of a busy site. She might then leave roadworker safety to people who know what they are doing. Ron Halewood, Rothesay Bay. Power to the people It is fantastic to see in the Herald (July 28) the first of four reports on the state of the power supply in New Zealand. For those of us who follow such aspects of our country's performance, it has been obvious for some years that we have been heading into serious trouble. It is also indeed sad that the people who now struggle the most to pay their power bills are those also struggling to pay for other necessities. Steve Clerk, Meadowbank. Respect for Māori I was very pleased to read Winston Peters' thoughtful comments on the immigrants flooding into Europe (July 27). He was quite concerned that those immigrants didn't salute the flag or respect the people who were there before them. Perhaps it's time that he reminded his coalition partners that New Zealand was not an empty space when the Pākehā arrived. The world of the Māori needs to be honoured, too. Terry Lord, Mt Wellington. Laws of the land We all know by now that Winston Peters will say something that resonates but may not be followed up. But I totally agree when he says that we should be very careful with immigration and, in particular, allowing it to change the fabric of our society. It is not at all a racist statement in that if you wish to come here to live, then you should be totally prepared to integrate and adapt to the culture of this country. Exactly the same in reverse applies when a Kiwi decides to live abroad. You have to accept that country's laws and culture, whether you like it or not. Paul Beck, West Harbour. Looting and influencing Winston Peters says immigrants are changing the fabric of the First World. Similarly, the colonisers changed the fabric of the independent and self-sufficient countries they went into, without permission being granted to do si. They did not just loot all the taonga but influenced the culture, fashion etc. Tsk tsk. Nishi Fahmy, Avondale. The impact of GST It is very sad that in this food-producing country that people need to choose between being warm or eating. GST, introduced by Sir Roger Douglas during the fourth Labour Government, had its last rise enacted under the Key Government, from 12.5% to 15%, while the top personal tax rate was lowered. This hit those who already spent most of their earnings on essentials but when the present government altered the tax thresholds, those on the least income barely benefited. It seems beyond those in power to look ahead and realise that today's children are the workers of the future and we need them to be healthy and educated. Those who are barely surviving are more likely to be filling hospital beds or have insufficient skills to be useful. Removing GST on dairy products and fresh fruit and vegetables and perhaps bread or meat would be much easier than hoping some third grocery chain will come and provide competition. Is it too much to hope that politicians can look ahead and use common sense? It may even get them some votes in the next election. Phyl Belsham, Mt Albert.
Winnipeg Free Press
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
A globalist's guide to media
Opinion Historically, it's been a common belief that an informed and educated public is a primary bastion protecting democracies — along with a perhaps naive assumption that pretty much everybody in society follows an honour code to obey commonly agreed-upon laws and to generally behave in civilized fashion. This assumes news media capable of and willing to do that informing and educating. Sad to say, for the globally minded, the international media is now about the only place to find it: Al Jazeera, BBC World News, and the Guardian, for starters. North American media hasn't been cutting it for some years now, and it's getting worse. The CBS settlement that coughs up US$16 million in cash to Trump, promising another US$20 million in free propaganda, and hanging Colbert out to dry is just the latest example. Social media has been overwhelmed by AI bots generating truly colossal levels of horse manure in the guise of conspiracy theory truth. Once the bots figure out human hands don't have seven fingers and Rachel Maddow does not and never has had a baby, we won't be able to tell what's bot and what ain't. If we're watching or reading North American media, most of us know very little about the larger issues we need to understand. Eventually (or sooner), it's all going to come home to roost, and it would be nice to have a little warning before either the natural environment or the political one blows up in our faces, or perhaps to be able to somehow do a little something about either or both, before it all blows to hell. Example: if the tiny South Seas island of Vanuatu sounds familiar, it's likely because seasons of the Survivor TV series — an ironic allegory for the innate viciousness of the American culture if ever there has been one — have been set there. But unless you've been watching Al Jazeera, you would not know that tiny island recently scored a huge, though admittedly entirely symbolic, victory in the International World Court. It ruled on a suit brought by Vanuatu against — well, the industrialized world — that countries contributing to global warming and the rise of sea levels really ought to quit doing that and, further, should ante up compensation to the tiny sea level nations that are right now grappling with the permanent flooding of their immediate environments as a direct result of the rude behaviour of the greedy First World human piggies. The video is alarming. Nor would you be aware, though BBC World News reported it in detail, that more than 150 countries met in Guyana recently, hoping to grapple with the climate change issues facing their low-lying nations. The prime minister of Barbados was particularly concerned, because her nation is among those being slowly subsumed by seawater. Sea levels are rising. Wildfires are peppering Europe and Asia just as they are devastating large swathes of North America. Deforestation is proceeding throughout Central and South America as fast as humans can chew up and spit out forests for profit. BBC has been covering that. Burn down the forests and you no longer have the carbon sink capacity that helped buffer us against our own environmental stupidity. Not to mention decent air to breathe. Not to mention blistering heat. Similarly, unless you have been watching BBC News, you would not know Volodymyr Zelenskyy is fighting, not just a war with Russia, but rising protest over corruption in Ukraine, which was sparked by his removal of an anti-corruption law. And if you haven't been reading the Guardian, you might not have grasped the full severity of the man-made famine in Gaza. Children are dying daily by the dozens. There are pictures, they're not AI, and they're ugly. You will also be unaware that only nine per cent of the developed world's plastics is being recycled. The rest, which we are still madly producing and throwing out, is piling up in Third World countries in Asia. While American media giants hasten on one hand to kowtow to Trump, and, on the other, seem incapable of extricating themselves from the sucking maw of Trumpian dystopia tinged by Epstein angst and a sprinkling of oh-gee-where-has-our-democracy-gone, Canadian media struggle to maintain a degree of focus on matters deemed to be of domestic significance. None of them is doing their job: to educate and inform. Not that I'm overly thrilled about being informed and educated. Frankly, it's a little depressing. But then, so is stepping outside and trying to breathe while your eyeballs pour tears from the sting of the smoke. I'd rather not have to get used to that. I guess we'd all rather not. It might be too late. But it might not be, if only we knew enough to stop it. Judy Waytiuk is a retired Winnipeg journalist.
Evening Standard
19-07-2025
- Evening Standard
Best electric weed burners to take out stubborn shrubs
Best: overall Power output: 2000W 2000W Power supply: 240V 240V Power settings: x2 x2 Temperature: 50-600°C 50-600°C Cable length: 1.7m 1.7m Weight: 1.3kg The first weed wand to arrive for review, the Draper Weed Burner (2000W) slots together in seconds from out of the box, meaning that, depending on how far your Burny Thing Assemble Area is from your home's exterior, you can be up and torching the life out of those pesky weeds in next to no time. However, that is dependent on where you keep your plug sockets and whether you have a suitable extension lead, for while the Draper's 1.7m cable is positively generous compared to some other models, I found that it simply wasn't enough length for me to reach the middle, naturally most weed-infested, area of my patio from the external power sockets. Obviously, this is a First World problem that's easily overcome, but if you're working to a strict budget, you'll have to factor in the additional cost (usually around £15 upwards) of a, preferably, weatherproof extension. Packing two power settings to let you go about your domestic arson at your leisure, while a top temp of 600°C means nothing, I said nothing, will escape your weed-hating wrath.
Toronto Star
09-07-2025
- Toronto Star
I'm a single mom to a wonderful kid and I could not be more exhausted. Do I need a vacation? Ask Lisi
I need a holiday. I know, First World problems right? But I'm exhausted. I'm a single parent with one child and no partner. I have a sister who is helpful when she's around, but her family just moved away for her husband's work. Our parents live here, but they're getting on and have never been interested in my child. I work long hours in a stressful job to make money to give my child everything possible. It's now summer and I've organized a few weeks of camp, plus a two-week holiday together. We have loads of fun together, but my child is still young and fully dependent on me, therefore a holiday together is not a holiday for me.
Economic Times
08-07-2025
- Climate
- Economic Times
1st or 3rd world, no discrimination here
You'd think natural calamities like floods won't leave death and destruction in their wake in the First World. Well, as the flash floods that have devastated Texas, killing more than 100 and leaving dozens, including children, missing, climate-induced natural disasters are a great leveller. More used to such tragedies occurring in our part of the world, the flash floods and landslides claiming almost 80 lives, with dozens missing, in Himachal Pradesh have been no less tragic. But the two disaster zones separated by thousands of miles have the same problems: geography, 'unnatural' rainfall, and unhelpful human intervention and lack of preparedness. And, yet, many governments like the US are deprioritising climate change, heralding what the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change calls the 'Apathy Era'. The Trump regime has drastically reduced funding for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and wants to 'eliminate' the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). While nature's fury does not discriminate between rich, not-so-rich and poor nations, costs are far higher for developing countries. Even so, building resilience and minimising losses from climate-induced extreme weather events has now become a concern for the developed world as well. The sequence of events leading to the Texas floods is eerily familiar - a slow-moving storm bringing intense rainfall, overwhelming riverbanks, and inundating small towns with water that rose faster than many could escape. No country can afford to disregard climate risk in its economic and policy calculus. Strengthening infra and integrating climate risk into planning and construction, improving weather forecasting, and investing in robust early warning systems are critical.
