I have hesitated to use photos of this guy, but seeing him looking angry in court is different
It’s now Friday September 29th, 2023. Kia ora!
This morning started out warm and sunny, but it grew colder as the day wore on. Someone from Access came to do some cleaning, which was greatly appreciated. Other than that, it’s not a great day for energy. But I tidied up before she came, as I usually do.
We have a general election coming up in about two weeks’ time. It certainly isn’t over yet: Chris Hipkins did rather well in a debate with Christopher Luxon; as Luxon expounds on his financial plan, Labour are pointing out holes in it. To the rest of us, they look alarming. And his deputy, Nicola Willis, does not want to be in coalition with Winston Peters. META (formerly Facebook) had a nice photo of Greg O’Connor with his son Michael, who is also at Hōhepa. It’s evident that Christopher Luxon has been photoshopped to make him look more attractive. So it’s not over yet.
Meanwhile, there was a protest today. What are they protesting about? Asked one news media outlet. Indeed, one wonders why. Evidently the protesters came and went and the police are thinking of removing street closures sooner than expected. So the protest was rather a damp squib.
There was another anti co-governance protest on Saturday, but the number of protesters were outnumbered by those who support co-governance. Go figure.
It’s now Monday October 2
So what’s been happening? On Saturday evening we went out for dinner! This was a “Dinners for 8” function arranged by my church; actually it was dinner for six, with us being picked up by a couple I know who live locally, and driven out to another couple who live at at Summerset on the Landing. The host couple used to live not far from us in Churton Park. I knew them all, to some degree, but JD did not know them. There had already been several attempts to arrange this get-together, a lunch being preferable; but my recent sickness and different dates of being away made it very hard to organise. We were to take dessert. We made a nice fruit salad, and I wanted to get something chocolate to have afterwards. The ideal thing would have been chocolate peppermint thins, or sticks, but although we looked in two New World supermarkets, it seems they only come on the market before Christmas. So we settled for a chocolate caramel slice. JD is not a caramel fan, but he had to admit that this was delicious, fortunately!
Despite my nervousness, we had a lovely time, and JD enjoyed it, too. We had lovely cheese, crackers and grapes to start with, followed by tomato soup brought by another guest, She’d also brought beautiful soup bowls and plates that she’d had from her mother. For the main course we had a chicken and leek casserole, asparagus, and a potato and tomato dish. I wondered if I should have taken pouring cream, or ice cream, but I think there was no need. The Summerset on the Landing complex at Kenepuru is huge, but our friends have a lovely spacious house, and some beautiful paintings, including one by Philip Markham. He’s one of my favourite artists – I also have a small water colour painting by him.
The next day, the church service was to be followed by a pastoral lunch. Although there weren’t many of us (it was the middle of the school holidays, after all), there were two kinds of delicious soup, helpfully served in mugs, and rolls with savoury fillings, plenty of food. We were asked to bring something sweet to share afterwards, so I brought the rest of the chocolate caramel slice.
In the afternoon I wanted to see an Artbeats film about Venice. It was on at Petone, a cinema JD does not like, but he took me there. I was pleased to have seen the film. It had some modern aspects, but wonderful views of St Mark’s Cathedral, and an outside view of the Doge’s Palace (Hey, I’ve been there!) There were lots of views of the Grand Canal, of course, and the Rialto Bridge. There was a view of a J M W Turner painting, very impressionistic, which I have not seen before. Although I’ve seen several Turner paintings, I have not seen this one, and I did not know that he’d been to Venice (three times, evidently). We watched a biopic about Turner, but it did not mention his going to Venice, as I recall.
Last night we watched Michael Gambon (later Sir Michael) starring as Lyndon Johnson, during the Civil Rights legislation of the Martin Luther King Jr days, and the politics of putting more troops into Vietnam, into a war which America would lose. It was a very good film, and Gambon is excellent as Johnson; Path to War was the name of the movie. It’s very long, and finishes with Johnson’s speech in which he says he won’t stand for President, and won’t accept his party’s nomination as candidate for president. Shortly after these very sad events, we have the assassinations of MLK, followed by that of Robert Kennedy. Then came Nixon and Kissinger, and more protests, and lots more war.
In local news, Prime Minister Hipkins has announced yesterday that he was diagnosed positive for Covid 19. The Post is representing this as really bad news for his campaign, but perhaps there’ll be a sympathy vote for him? I feel very sorry for him. I’m wondering if my recent malady was the new variant of Covid 19, although the four RAT tests I did were all negative. Somehow, things don’t taste as good as they should; or perhaps my taste buds are growing older.
It’s now Tuesday October 3rd.
Early voting has opened for the general election, but our Easy Vote cards haven’t arrived in the mail yet. Of course, we could go and vote anyway, and I’m minded to do that.
It was very cold this morning, with a high of 10°C predicted, but after some rain it turns out to be fine and sunny, if rather windy. I went to Bible Study this morning, which was about the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20). There is another version (the same) in Deuteronomy 5. I have to confess it’s hard to get a word in, and a great deal of patience is required. I went, though, because a friend of mine was going to be there. In the event, she didn’t come. Afterwards, JD picked me up from the supermarket. It was far to cold to catch a bus, or even to sit outside the supermarket entrance to wait for him. I had been going to wear my really warm puffer coat, but seeing the sun, I thought it would be too hot. It wouldn’t have been! I ended up searching for my woolly hat and gloves to wear while I waited for him.
Yesterday JD had to go to Johnsonville in the late afternoon, and so I went to the library. Both my reserved books were there: one reserve had been extended, thankfully, since I wasn’t notified that it was there; I returned one library book but held on to my book about Trieste, which I need to finish reading. It spoke about nationalism, which really does not make sense when one is from a melting pot of nationalities, or one’s parents are. It’s a very right-wing thing to be obsessed with patriotism, I think. During the Second World War, Italian fascism under Mussolini was rather obsessed with patriotism; but Trieste is one of those parts of Europe which has been under various nations and various governments during the last few hundred years. For example, Trieste is a port and was an important part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for many years; at the end of WWII, it was determined it should be part of Italy. So it really is a melting pot.
My daughter and some of her house-mates and carers are due to come to Wellington for the WOW show. There’s been an emergency, though: the carers who were going to come are unwell, and thankfully others have jumped in to replace them. One of them is a good friend and she has been to our house before, so that change should be fine. There is a lot of Covid 19 about again: not only has Chippy got it, but it’s in several rest homes as well.
In the US Trump appeared in his civil fraud trial in New York. Among several revelations, including Trump’s obvious anger, and Don Jr’s laughing about GAAP standards, the most startling revelation to me was that Allan Weisselberg was not a qualified accountant! Trump cast doubt on his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s credibility, but since Cohen was proved to have lied in his defence of Trump, that would seem to be, well, an interesting claim! It is kind of interesting to see Trump in a court, where he does not rule the roost, and he’s not looked up to by adoring MAGA followers. It’s a scene not under his control. Of course, he threw his CFO, Allan Weisselberg, under the bus, again. That, too, adds to the fraud – the valuations and accounts were not taken seriously.
It’s now Wednesday October 4th.
The comedians are back! Last night we watched Stephen Colbert, Seth Myers, and Jimmy Kimmel. There is some frustration, I’d have to say, but much joy and laughter, and you always learn something new. It’s good to have them back! They each summed up what had been happening politically during the five month Hollywood writers’ strike, and summarised events around Trump, the gift that keeps on giving. Strangely, not much has changed, apart from a series of indictments, as it seems to anyone who tries to wean themselves off US politics.
This morning lots of things happened, as I woke up to more and more news. First, Congressman Matt Gaetz proposed a motion to oust Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker; the vote went against McCarthy (there were some who thought he would survive the first vote to remove him as Speaker); he lost, and evidently won’t stand again. So that’s one crisis, having just deferred the government shutdown to November.
My phone keeps popping up with advertisements starring Winston Peters, authorised by somebody else. Peters has been a politician like, forever, and what has he achieved, apart from (sometimes) free public transport and the Gold Card? Not that we aren’t grateful for that, of course. But other than that, he’s been a divisive figure. The other annoying factor is ads in an American accent. Duh! I received an email from the Khandallah Community Centre saying that they’re a voting centre. I replied that I hadn’t received my Easy Vote card yet. They said No matter, there is some delay with NZ Post, ha ha. They should have used DX mail!
In the US, Trump continues to cut an angry figure in his New York civil trial for fraud. This won’t be a jury trial, apparently partly because Trump’s lawyers (only the best people!) failed to request a jury trial. It’s also supremely ironic that Letitia James, a New York D.A., brought these charges, which may have the most impact on Trump – how dare anyone suggest that he’s not “really rich”? or that he fabricated his wealth? It strikes me as supremely ironic that it is a black woman of some seniority (like Georgia D.A. Fani Willis and New York judge Tanya Chutkan) who is charging or judging Trump. Black women are dishing it to him, via the process of law. No matter how much he tries to discredit it, the process of law, however flawed, still stands.
Furthermore, a “gag order” of sorts has been placed on Trump. The event which finally inspired it was a photo of judge Engoron’s clerk with Senator Leader Schumer on Trump’s Truth Social, claiming she was Schumer’s girlfriend. Accordingly, this post has been taken down.
And furthermore, in the UK the Conservative/Tory Party is having its annual conference in Manchester. Apparently it’s in some disarray, although the American news is, as usual, taking up all the oxygen (to use another cliché). Ominously, there are some who favour a return of Liz Truss. No, really. I think a return of Boris Johnson would be preferable to that. He didn’t quite wreck the economy. But Sunak is in all kinds of trouble, over climate denial, the indeterminate stopping of HS2, and Suella Braverman’s upsetting comments on Unwanted People arriving in Boats. As with the US, it’s a case of there are so many crises that one tends to forget some of them. I just remembered the waterways crisis, which is not minor, either.
Back here, my daughter is coming to Wellington with three house mates and three carers. This is a brave venture, seeing that the lovely ladies who were going to bring them are unwell, and substitutes (whom we know) have been appointed. There are question marks over the arrangements, so we are on tenterhooks. Meanwhile, one of our sons brought his children over for a while in the early afternoon. Our granddaughter was rather scary – she was into jumping, which we thought rather dangerous! She decided to play Hide and Seek, instead. Grandpa wouldn’t play, but I did. Our house is really good for playing Hide and Seek.
Prime Minister Hipkins has Covid 19, and not only him – there is rather a lot of Covid around, with several rest homes affected. So where is the next/new vaccine? I fear that a National Coalition government will not be nearly as protective as Labour has been. There is a lot of talk about Freedom, whatever that means to each individual. For me, personally, I want to be able to renew my passport, so I can travel outside New Zealand to visit my children and other members of my family. That is really important to me. I know there are other views, and I don’t know what kinds of link ups there are between various computer systems that keep tabs on us, but there is some good and bad in most things, and compromises to be made. Accordingly I regard vaccines as life saving, although they’re not perfect, and there are some risks involved in using them. We live in a far from perfect world. “As for God, His way is Perfect” (Psalm 18:30). I know I’d far rather pay tax for a degree of civilisation – sealed roads, public transport, a health and education systems, and a somewhat healthy liberal democracy, which I suppose we are here. The health system, whatever one’s complaints, kept me alive through several near-death experiences, although perhaps the Good Lord kept me alive in spite of its deficiencies! If my SAH had happened several years earlier, I doubt that I would still be alive, or my brain functioning as well as it does.
After sliding in the polls, Labour seems to be strengthening its position again. This will be an interesting election, that’s for sure.
My daughter and her group have arrived in Wellington, and we are to meet them for dinner tonight at an Italian restaurant. That is rather brave, I think, but it’s not my decision! I have been there before, and although it’s not my favourite, it was rather good when I went there last. Wellington is not Hawkes Bay! But perhaps it’ll be tolerant there.
That’s it for now! Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.
Classic Barbarian 