Beautiful Trieste is on my list for my next trip
It’s now Monday October 16th, 2023. Kia ora!
Firstly, a Covid update. You have to search, but they’re still being published each week. There been 3816 new cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand over the past week, and 17 further deaths attributed to the virus. Of the new cases, 1735 were reinfections.
As at October 9 there have been 3571 new cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand over the past week, and 15 further deaths attributed to the virus. Of the new cases, 1603 were reinfections. At midnight on Sunday 8 October, 230 cases were in hospital and four in intensive care. The seven-day rolling average of new cases was 510 per day, up from 422 last week.
Last week, Te Whatu Ora reported 2968 new cases and 14 further deaths.
There have been 3816 new cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand over the past week, and 17 further deaths attributed to the virus. Of the new cases, 1735 were reinfections. At midnight on Sunday 15 October, 243 cases were in hospital and two in intensive care. The seven-day rolling average of new cases was 544 per day, up from 510 last week. Last week, Te Whatu Ora reported 3571 new cases and 15 further deaths.
On Monday’s episode of The Detail, University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker said Covid-19 has not gone away. “It’s our number one infectious disease threat… it’s really displaced influenza as our biggest single infectious disease killer.” And Baker warned the number of reported cases are probably well behind what’s actually out there. “[There are] 3500 or so reported cases every week, but we know that will be at best 50 percent of the cases in the community… maybe less than that… so we’re still looking at about 10,000 cases probably a week at least.”
It’s now Wednesday October 18th.
Monday was not a great day. I had intended to go into town, but I did not. On Tuesday morning I was to look after a house where the family were to be away at a funeral. JD had said he would come with me; I hadn’t been there before, but we found it all right. It was a lovely house, with beautiful paintings and lots of interesting books. The weather wasn’t great. Afterwards, JD had an appointment, so I asked him to drop me off at Pataka’s Kaizen Café. It was lovely there, and not too busy. Afterwards I looked at the galleries and the shop, and then went to the library to wait for JD and read my library book. What a lovely set up it is!
I didn’t have to wait long for JD. Then we drove up the new Transmission highway to the Waitangirua/Whitby Gully turn off, since JD wanted to know where the exits were. Afterwards I wanted to go to the library at Johnsonville, to pick up a reserved book. It was just after 3 pm, and so really busy. JD parked in the Johnsonville Shopping Centre car park, not the library carpark, as I was hoping. Consequently I had to negotiate the car park, in the rain, and then cross the busy road to get to the library. My reserved book is a big tome, as they always tend to be!
This morning we were due to go to the Titian movie at Pauatahanui. It is one of the last screenings, and we both wanted to see it. Although the car park nearby was almost full, there were very few of us to see the movie. In fact, we were so quick getting there via the new Transmission Gully highway, we turned out to be early. I could have had my free coffee after all. JD had an ice cream and a peanut bar. I was looking forward to having something to eat there afterwards, but this was not to be
The film was pretty good – Titian was an amazing artist, and his sensuous women presage the coming of Tintoretto. Years ago, when we were in Boston, there was a wonderful exhibition of paintings by Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts which we saw three times! We bought the book, and a couple of prints by Titian, although I have to confess that I don’t know where they are now. What a treat! Titian died, quite elderly, in another visitation of the plague, but at least he was quite intelligent in terms of maintaining an income; sadly, the woman he loved died in giving birth to his daughter Lavinia, who was later to die in childbirth herself. There were two sons too, one of whom stayed close to his father. Titian was born in Venice, and lived there for much of his life, so it was magical to see much filming of Venice.
The days leading up to yesterday I have been listening to and watching many videos and podcasts about the situation in Israel. Americans are stressing Israel’s right to defend itself; but the view that this aggressive defence needed moderation was being voiced. Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, has been doing “shuttle diplomacy” around the Middle East; Biden is scheduled to go to Israel on Wednesday (that would be our Thursday). But all this changed to day with news of the bombing of a hospital in Gaza, and area that was supposed to be evacuated (like, where to? And what to do with people in Intensive Care and other crises?) Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis worsens every hour.
Israel claims it did not fire missiles on the hospital, but it would be fair to say that the level of crisis just went up several notches. Many of us re wondering what to believe. Biden has reportedly cancelled his projected visit to Jordan. The resentment has grown enormously: why should Palestinian people suffer, again? While the attack on Israel (which Hamas claimed responsibility for) was truly awful and brutal and Isis-like in its cruelty, what kind of vengeance, and hostage negotiation, is appropriate?
So, this already scary crisis has just gone up a notch. The resentment and grief on both sides are understandable.
In addition, Trump claimed yesterday that Republicans eat their young. He said this twice. Although not a great deal is being made of this, I think it’s remarkable; surely this is some kind of “red line” for other republicans! It seems not.
It’s now Thursday October 19th.
I think I wrote that the population of Israel is about 20 million If so, my sincere apologies, it is just under 10 million. It is not a large country, with a big population. Americans have some difficulty with this.
This morning I had an appointment at Wellington Regional Hospital at 11 am. Consequently, we left by 10:20 am. JD dropped me off at the main entrance, where there is a convenient drive – through; a guide took me through the maze of escalators and corridors to a lift, that would take me where I wanted to go. That went fine, and I found my way down again to the main hospital entrance. A Mojo coffee stand has replaced Wishbone, and as I hadn’t had a cup of coffee, I waited in the queue for a time. But you could only get coffee in takeaway cups; there was nowhere much to sit; and presumably you had to wait until your order was called; so I gave it a miss and went outside to catch a bus into the city. There were plenty of seats, and I didn’t have to wait long, but dear me there’s a bike lane you have to traverse to get on the bus, after waving it down, and although bikes are supposed to stop for bus passengers, of course they go whizzing past. Oh dear, more obstacles. And this is outside the hospital, too.
I decided to go to Smith’s Café in the Old Bank Arcade again. I had a cheese scone (delicious!), an oat milk latté, and a lemon and passionfruit slice (which I brought home to eat). Then I went to Unity Books and bought a book for my eldest granddaughter for Christmas. I couldn’t find any Christmas cards there, it may be too early for them. I checked the travel section, and, amazingly, there was a Lonely Planet guide to Taipei, so I bought it. It’s a small book. Then I went to the nearest bus stop to catch a bus home, noting, with sadness, that the Hush Puppies shop has closed. Hannah’s have Hush Puppies, but Hannah’s has moved out of the Johnsonville Shopping Centre to a where Warehouse Stationery used to be, a wee shopping complex that’s not that easy to get to.
It’s now Friday October 20th.
Yesterday we awoke to news of rockets having been fired at a hospital in Gaza. Israel insists it is not responsible. Meanwhile, President Biden is going to Israel. Is this wise? Probably not, but he’s home now, thankfully, and addressing the American people (I’m listening now and he is speaking really well). Jim Jordan of Ohio has lost a second vote to be speaker, by more votes against him that in the first vote. There is talk of installing a “pro tempore” Speaker, i.e. a speaker for the mean time as the US really needs a speaker to avert a government shutdown, and to approve assistance to Ukraine and Israel. Oh, and Sidney Powell pleaded guilty in the Georgia case.
The targeting of a hospital in Gaza, whatever the cause, has aroused further large protests across the Middle East. Arabs are, for the most part, against America which is allied with Israel. The US seems to be calling for restraint, but it sides with Israel, stating Israel’s right to defend itself..
This morning I listened to an LRB podcast where the interviewer spoke to an Israeli and a Palestinian. This was very measured and interesting. The Jewish person made the point that everyone in Israel is descended from a family that lost people in the Holocaust, and consequently still has a fear of the Gestapo and the concentration camps. This fear may seem irrational to us, so far away, but Jewish people have always potentially been discriminated against and resented, and their safety is paramount.
The Palestinian person made the point that in negotiations, Israeli rights always seemed to have priority over Palestinian rights.
For the last few days many people have been asking what is the endgame in Israel? For Israel? Who else is involved, and likely to be involved?
Biden has also negotiated for humanitarian aid to be delivered to Gaza via Egypt.
I have been reading the Jan Morris book on Trieste, called Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere. The library seriously wants it back, and I am a slow reader. But what an interesting book it is. I read a review of this book in the Economist, and the allure of Trieste has remained with me. It is a port city, and was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but was assigned to Italy after the Second World War. So it’s very cosmopolitan, with the people being mainly Austrian or Italian, or a mixture. There were many Jews there, but when Germany took over Trieste during WWII, they made a huge effort to get rid of them. James Joyce was there; New Zealand was there, together with Tito of Yugoslavia, when the Germans surrendered at the end of WWII; the country adjacent to Italy at this point is Slovenia. Before the beginning of World War 1, the bodies of the assassinated Arch-Duke Ferdinand and his wife were driven through Trieste, with great dignity. Mussolini’s colleague Gabriele D’Annunzio was in Trieste. Trieste went all out for fascism. It’s a fascinating place.
It’s now Saturday October 21st.
It’s been a good few hours for democracy, I think: in the US, Jim Jordan has failed in a third attempt to get enough votes to be speaker; disgusting threatening taped messages have surfaced of attempts to intimidate GOP Congress representatives who voted against him. They have not worked to intimidate his opponents. In the Georgia RICO case, Kenneth Cheesebro, who, like Sidney Powell, had opted for a quick trial, has, like her, pled guilty, having spurned an earlier plea deal. That eases the burden of trying many people at once, but it’s truly significant that two of Trump’s allies who helped him try to swing the election for him have agreed to testify truthfully. Neither will serve jail time, both will be on parole and have to pay fines and write letters of apology.
President Biden has returned safely from Israel, and given an amazing speech from the oval office of the White House. That is a flight of around 10 hours 45 minutes, not insignificant. Isn’t Biden amazing? Thank goodness he is safely back; some thought he was unwise to go to that dangerous place, where he would be a target of so many. Thank goodness he is over these negotiations! In this situation, having been around a long time, and having personal connections with many folk, is a big advantage. This morning I learnt that Hamas has released two female American hostages. Yet the Gaza humanitarian aid is still not coming through Egypt, and Israel continues to attack Gaza. No one is safe there. While stressing Israel’s right to defend itself, Biden and Secretary of State Blinken are warning against Biblical Old Testament-style vengeance; the so-called “rules of war” must be observed: as in if civilians get killed as a by-product of legitimate military action, that bad thing may happen; but you can’t deliberately target a place where civilians are known to be, like a school or a hospital. So that’s all good. Oh, and in Poland, a right wing government has been elected out of office.
Meanwhile, the US Congress still has no speaker (this is the person next in line to be president after the president and vice president); Humanitarian aid is still not getting through; Israel is still pretty trigger happy, it appears; and Putin has been to China and met President Xi.
I have several books that I’ve reserved from the library: Sleepwalkers, The Red Hotel, and, of course, my book about Trieste. I want to reread Man Alone before sending it to my eldest granddaughter for Christmas. The books I wanted to get through about Ravenna and Ukraine will have to wait. Somehow the books I reserve from the library usually turn out to have a lot of reading in them! It is all so interesting.
JD tells me that Ukrainian forces are doing rather well against the Russians, using their new ATACMS from the US. I cannot find details in any newspaper! But that’s it for now. Trump’s so-called “gag” order, and his and a judge’s response, will have to wait. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.
Classic Barbarian 