It’s now Saturday June 11^th, 2022. Kia ora!

Yesterday we went to our Art group. It meets monthly, but we haven’t been for ages, sometimes because we couldn’t make it, then came lockdown; one time we tried to go (late), but couldn’t find a carpark and went shopping instead. This time the presenter was bringing paper and pens for sketching, thus eliminating my need to prepare things to bring.  We did sketches of the Queen’s afternoon tea with Paddington Bear. It was great fun. Afterwards, we had coffee and a late lunch. It was another of those days when it was wild overnight, but then fine and sunny in the afternoon; I was scared I may have overdressed for the occasion.

Last night I watched and re-watched coverage of the January 6 (2021) Committee presentation.  It was very effective – I’m still digesting it. Amazingly, I learnt new facts, that I did not know before:  the stunning evidence of police officer Edwards (an attractive blond)?; the fact that Trump was advised by several people  that he had lost the election; Trump’s endorsing of the calls to Hang Mike Pence; his frustration when Pence took control and tried to get the attack called off;  and his refusal to do anything to manage the situation despite requests from Don Jr, his daughter Ivanka, Fox News hosts, and many Republican politicians. Oh, and we also learnt about pardons being flung around, from a flippant remark by Jared Kushner, and Trump’s offering a pardon to Kelly-Anne Conway. The animal channel refused to screen this footage, which was ably presented by Liz Cheney, after a moving introduction from January 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson.

Wow! It’s been quite a week. I wept over the Uvalde shootings, and enjoyed footage of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations; then UK Prime Minister Johnson “won” his confidence vote (but this victory may be a Pyrrhic one); there are multiple reactions to the UK Royal Family’s treatment of the Harkles (they dished the RF first, by the way).  There is some reaction to the cost of the Jubilee celebrations, but the Tory government has given huge contracts to their mates for various services that haven’t exactly delivered (such as PPE supply and the Test and Trace ap). Now it’s reported that Palantir has the contract for IT with the NHS. Palantir is the spooky software supplied by the creepy Peter Thiel. There are fears of its use already to spy on people and invade their privacy without their being aware of it.

Today’s Covid 19 report is as follows: there are 5202 new Covid community cases reported today with eight people with Covid dying and 332 people in hospital. Four of those in hospital are in intensive care, says the Ministry of Health.

Today’s deaths take the total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid in New Zealand to 1311. The seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 13.

Of those who died, two were from Bay of Plenty, one was from the MidCentral district health board region, one was from the Wellington region, two were from Canterbury, one was from South Canterbury; and one was from the Southern region. One person was aged in their 60s, four were in their 70s, one was in their 80s, and two were aged over 90. Three were women and five were men. The average age of those in hospital in the Northern Region is 62.

The new community cases were located in Northland (132), Auckland (1430), Waikato (351), Bay of Plenty (207), Lakes (70), Hawke’s Bay (153), MidCentral (250), Whanganui (64), Taranaki (164), Tairāwhiti (19), Wairarapa (45), Capital and Coast (506), Hutt Valley (237), Nelson Marlborough (184), Canterbury (766), South Canterbury (84), Southern (410) and West Coast (56). The location of a further two cases is yet to be determined. There were also 72 imported cases reported.

Saturday was a quiet day for us, but there has been really wild weather for the last few days – heavy rain storms, wind, and some thunderstorms, interspersed by fine, calm, sunny spells, when you think that the stormy weather’s gone away. Not so.

It’s now Sunday June 12^th.

There was to be a funeral celebration of friends’ of a friends special needs son in the afternoon, but we didn’t know the parents well, and I was reluctant to go. I went to church physically, instead, and there was a forum afterwards about the future of the church, and some quotes for earthquake strengthening.  I must say I found this discussion pretty frustrating.

Then, finding I had just missed one bus, I went to a nearby café for coffee and a scone. After that, I did some shopping, and went to wait for the next bus. The weather chose that few minutes for a heavy shower: I could not put my bags down, or sit in the bus shelter – it was awash, shelter, seat and all. My shoes were wet. Fortunately the bus wasn’t cancelled, and came on time. JD met me in Johnsonville. There were a few sad souls at the shopping centre, it wasn’t busy.

It’s now Monday June 13^th.

This morning I went to the dentist, for my annual check up. Fortunately, there is nothing wrong – I said that I hope my teeth outlast me!  Afterwards, we shared lunch at an almost empty café on The Terrace.

Yesterday we caught up with one of our sons who is overseas. He, his wife, and their two children have all had Covid 19 (not too badly, thankfully), although his daughter still looks a little peaky (as we would have said in the old days).  This morning I rang a manager at Hōhepa; they’re all right, but hit quite heavily not by Covid 19 now but by the flu. Black Caps captain Kane Williamson has Covid 19, as does Princess Charlene of Monaco. Today there are 4,413 new community cases, and there’ve been 5 deaths. There are 352 people in hospital, and 9 in Intensive Care.

The cases in hospital are in: Northland 10, Waitematā 37, Counties Manukau 34, Auckland 57, Waikato 33, Bay of Plenty 13, Lakes 1, Tairāwhiti 2, Hawke’s Bay 11, Taranaki 9, Whanganui 1, MidCentral 20, Wairarapa 3, Hutt Valley 24, Capital and Coast 21, Nelson Marlborough 8, Canterbury 43, South Canterbury 4, West Coast 0, Southern 21. That’s still quite a lot in Wellington and the Hutt Valley.

The Ministry of Health reported a further five virus-related deaths. Of today’s deaths two were from the Auckland region, one from Waikato, one from Bay of Plenty and one from Canterbury. One person was aged in their 60s; two were in their 70s; one was in their 80s; and one was aged over 90. Of these people, two were women and three were men. 1325 people have now died with the virus.

Today’s 4413 community cases are in: Northland (101), Auckland (1312), Waikato (313), Bay of Plenty (158), Lakes (68), Hawke’s Bay (135), MidCentral (183), Whanganui (68), Taranaki (117), Tairāwhiti (17), Wairarapa (39), Capital and Coast (396), Hutt Valley (189), Nelson Marlborough (180), Canterbury (678), South Canterbury (49), Southern (353), West Coast (54), unknown (3).

It’s now Tuesday June 14^th.

This morning I met one of my sons and his daughter for an outing – some shopping, a cup of coffee, and a walk. Today it isn’t nearly as stormy, although it’s pretty windy and drizzling with rain.

Last night I slept quite well.  Interesting podcasts include The Rest is History on Cleopatra (there are to be 4 sessions, I think); Tim Miller on the Bulwark podcast talking to the author of Gay Washington; and a Skullduggery podcast talking about CIA involvement in Watergate.  Today the Youtube videos are almost all about the January 6 Committee hearings: day two. These contain  even more revelations about the January 6 insurrection, and about the preceding days. The comedians are having great fun with this footage. Apparently the animal channel is going to screen the second instalment after all. These hearings are must-see viewing, compared favorably to the Watergate hearings, which had such an impact on America.  Evidently about 20 million people viewed the first lot of hearings -a significant number.

Things I’ve been watching on television include a very good film on Eden (formerly Choice) called The Public; a film on Māori Television called Submarine, another episode of The First Lady, and the final of The Staircase on Neon. I found this series, although mesmerizing, deeply disturbing, somehow;  nobody comes out well from this. In The First Lady, we saw the Pearl Harbour attack, Betty Ford going to Rehab (how come it wasn’t nicer, by the way?), and the outcome of the 2016 presidential election in America: firstly the Hollywood Access tape (surely this would sink Trump, many thought); and then election night itself. This was a truly depressing sight – one I didn’t wish to be reminded of.

I am still reading my Troy book, by Stephen Fry; I am almost half-way through it. It took what seemed like ages to get up to the protagonists, the Achaean fleet sailing for Troy, and the war itself: then there’s stalemate for almost ten years – in a few pages. Now there’s a few duels going on; we haven’t yet got up to the entry of the Trojan Horse and (one of) the destruction(s) of Troy.  It makes me want to read Homer’s Iliad again (but I probably won’t, I have masses of books to read).  Fry too depicts Helen as being given no say in being seized by the Trojan Paris, although he does represent her as despising him while the battle rages outside Troy. He presents the range of deities as having huge influence over the various outcomes.  And, of course, by some strange miracle they all spoke the same Greek dialect (or could understand each other, whether gods, Greeks or Trojans).  Go figure.

Today’s Covid 19 report shows totals dropping slowly, although someone from my Thursday singing group has diagnosed positive for Covid 19. That is a concern. I had a conversation with her the Thursday before last (presumably she wasn’t infectious at that stage); I didn’t speak to her last Thursday, although she too is a soprano. Last Friday afternoon I was talking to a friend who said her children had had it, both supremely fit and healthy, and had been very sick with it.  I spoke to a manager at Hōhepa yesterday, who said that although we will be in Napier for my daughter’s IDP, they would still prefer us to zoom into this meeting rather than attending it on person (as we would like to do), and they want us both to have RAT tests before spending time with our daughter. That’s understandable, really, and I’m grateful that precautions are still being taken.  I desperately don’t want to get Covid 19:  apart from not knowing how sick I’d be, you can get it again! It’s not as though having it makes you immune.

Today it’s reported that there are 6,133 new community cases, and there’ve been 23 deaths.

Only about two-thirds of the country’s infections were likely being identified, Bloomfield told reporters today in his first media appearance since his own “mild” case of Covid while in Geneva.

They include one person from Northland, five from the Auckland region, three from Waikato, one from the Lakes DHB region, four from Taranaki, two from MidCentral, one from Hawke’s Bay; two from the Wellington region; one from South Canterbury and three from Southern. One person was aged in their 50s; three were in their 70s; 11 were in their 80s; and eight were aged over 90. Of these people, 15 were women and eight were men. Today’s reported deaths take the total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 to 1348.

There are 377 people in hospital and 7 in Intensive Care.

Today’s community cases are in Northland (191), Auckland (1,800), Waikato (406), Bay of Plenty (240), Lakes (90), Hawke’s Bay (186), MidCentral (233), Whanganui (72), Taranaki (179), Tairāwhiti (42), Wairarapa (77), Capital and Coast (510), Hutt Valley (261), Nelson Marlborough (243), Canterbury (904), South Canterbury (92), Southern (541 551), West Coast (54), unknown (2). That’s encouraging: that numbers are down in Hawkes Bay (although they’re struggling with flu); they’re also creeping down in Wellington.

The rollout of a fourth Covid vaccine for those most at risk would begin shortly, Dr Bloomfield said. We’re all very interested to learn who is defined as “most at risk”; I’m hoping my daughter will be; I should like to be on that list too.

In Ukraine, the war grinds on, with more Russian brutality, and more bravery on the part of Ukrainian troops. They’ve provided a shopping list of weapons they need: is the West still interested in supplying their needs? The fiercest fighting is going on in the East of Ukraine; I can’t really tell mush of what’s happening. Russian forces seem to be having some success, while there are still videos telling of Ukrainian victories on a much smaller scale. The fighting is concentrated in Russian speaking areas, so you don’t really know who’s on which side. The stories of Russian “filtration” camps, and Russian treatment of Ukrainians they’ve abducted, is terrifying – and just what can anyone do  about it?  The Chinese are still buying Russian oil, it seems.  There seems to be s stalemate, no doubt not helped by Boris Johnson’s political troubles at home in the UK, and American absorption with their January 6 Committee hearings.  Spoiler alert: the evidence is not exculpatory for “the former guy”. It now seems one of the main reasons he wanted to stay in power as president was based on the legal (Office of Legal Counsel) advice that a sitting president can’t be indicted.

That’s it for today.  Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi.

Today is Tuesday June 7^th, 2022. Kia ora!

I didn’t blog yesterday. It was a public holiday here for Queen’s Birthday (not her actual birthday, of course); in the morning I had a lovely chat with my son in the UK about the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and who was booed, and so on.  I watched more videos about it all – I thought the drone show was quite marvellous.

In the afternoon I visited a friend and had a lovely time. She lent me a book to read; I also have Stephen Fry’s Troy, which JD bought me (as if I needed more books to read!)

Tomorrow and for the rest of the week I have lots on. Today is a quiet day, although there are lots of things I should do.

Yesterday was rubbish collection day: you put out your council-collected bag, or your bin, and your recycling on alternate weeks: the glass crate one week, followed by the recycling bin containing paper and plastic suitable for recycling and clean tins. Contractors do this work, so it continues, even on public holidays. Yesterday, however, the recycling bin collection was really late – well after 4 pm; and Waste Management didn’t turn up at all to empty the bins lining our street. There was no message from the Wellington City Council or from Waste Management to indicate any changes to normal arrangement. Waste Management where are you? Thankfully it’s not very windy, or they’d be blown all over the place.

I walked to the local supermarket at midday, and it was quite busy there, but there are some good specials. You have to be careful, though: I bought croissants for lunch, eventually finding a pack dated 7 June well behind lots dated 5 June and some dated 6 June (which was yesterday).  I was going to buy my favourite pies, which were on special, but I couldn’t find a Best Before date anywhere on any of them, and I couldn’t find anyone to ask, either. I had to wait to be served, it was quite busy there.

It’s quite mild today. I must say it’s frustrating to be too hot, when you’ve rugged up to keep warm in the cold.  Those thick winter jerseys may languish again.  There’s something quite nice about wearing warm clothes, scarves and gloves, as long as it’s not wet and not too windy.

The Covid 19 report is out (there wasn’t one yesterday). There are 10,191 new community cases, and there’ve been 14 deaths. There are 372 people in hospital, including 9 in Intensive care.

Of the people whose deaths were reported today one was from Northland, two were from the Auckland region, one was from Waikato, one was from Taranaki, five were from Canterbury and four were from the Southern region. Two people were in their 50s, one was in their 60s, four were in their 70s, five were in their 80s and two were aged over 90. Of these people, eight were men and six were women.

With winter here, a surge in Omicron cases is expected and already close to 100 Kiwis are dying with the virus each week. Auckland still dominates New Zealand’s Covid cases, with 2997 new infections over the past two days.

Of those in hospital, four are in Northland, 47 are at Waitemata, 39 are at Counties Manukau, 58 are at Auckland, 27 are at Waikato, 17 are at Bay of Plenty, five are at Lakes, one is at Tairāwhiti, ten are at Hawke’s Bay, nine are at Taranaki, one is at Whanganui, 13 are at MidCentral, 15 are at Hutt Valley, 21 are at Capital and Coast, seven are at Nelson Marlborough, 54 are at Canterbury, eight at South Canterbury, three at West Coast and 32 at Southern. The average age of people in hospital is 62 (largely unchanged).

It’s reported that there were new community cases reported over the past two days in: Northland (248), Auckland (2,997), Waikato (747), Bay of Plenty (343), Lakes (152), Hawke’s Bay (266), MidCentral (367), Whanganui (147), Taranaki (257), Tairāwhiti (51), Wairarapa (80), Capital and Coast (990), Hutt Valley (399), Nelson Marlborough (401), Canterbury (1,704), South Canterbury (144), Southern (770), West Coast (126), Unknown (2)  Officials also reported an additional 111 imported (border) cases.  That’s very high for Wellington (990), although it is for two days.  It seems that these numbers aren’t going down nearly fast enough.

On Friday, it was announced cases of the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants have been detected in the community with no clear link to the border, as well as cases of BA.2.12.1.

Everyone, it seems, is down on President Biden – sleepy Joe meets with Prime Minister Ardern; Biden is tentative in Asia; Biden shouldn’t go to Saudi Arabia; and he should/shouldn’t cancel crippling student debt. He made an impassioned speech about guns in the US. He was accused by Mehdi Hasan of not going far enough, while the editor of some right-wing publication called his speech worthy of impeachment.  Charlie Sykes wants a return to what he calls normalcy, but that ain’t going to happen: you can’t turn the clock back. Things cannot be “normal” (whatever that means) after Trump’s presidency, and the January 6 riot; mind you, they were pretty awful before that, with Obama’s presidency being one bright spot in years of tragedy.  The seeming miracle of having a black president only aroused more hatred and resentment, and more buying of guns.  The British just celebrated HM the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, after 70 years on the British throne;  in America, after Buffalo, and after Uvalde, and after Tulsa, there has been yet more gun violence.  People are not safe at a concert, at a picture theatre, at church, in hospital, in a store, being a politician, or having their children in school.  Joe Scarborough remarked how it’s strange how the Pro-Life party doesn’t care about you once you can draw breath.  In San Francisco the Catholic Cardinal has denied Nancy Pelosi mass.  They are so fortunate to have a great president in Joe Biden. I wish they’d appreciate him more.  To my mind, the US is added to Ukraine and Taiwan as the three most dangerous places in the world.  I’m sure there are others, but those three will probably do for now.

I have to say something about British politics. After the Jubilee celebrations going very well, and being a great success, Boris Johnson has survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament – and it seems there’s no ready successor; and the Harkles did not necessarily bring their children to England. (Where’s Archie, by the way?)There’s reportedly been no sighting of them.  But the odious couple did turn up to the Service of Thanksgiving, and kept a low profile (for which much thanks will be given, I’m sure).  There are newspaper articles about how far they’ve fallen, being no longer “working royals” and relegated to less important seats, but they did major trashing of the Royal Family on the Oprah interview and in other moves, and after that they’d hardly be welcomed back into the fold, especially as so many people bent over backwards to welcome Meghan and give the couple a very expensive wedding. If I were Archie or Lilibet, I’d be furious at not meeting the Queen; we’ve only seen one photo of the daughter, and couldn’t see her face properly, so we’ve no idea what she looks like. This morning’s Dompost had a cartoon about Paddington Bear having tea with the Queen, and Harry wishing he’d been treated to the same encounter.

Actually, I’m wrong. I just checked the stuff website, and there is a photo of Lilibet, to celebrate her first birthday. While all babies are lovely, I don’t find this one particularly appealing.  Her hair is untidy, and she’s not nearly as beautiful as Princess Charlotte.  And what about Thomas Markle?  There seems to be no consideration of him, or of his condition.  Evidently Harry has never met him.  I think that Archie and Lilibet will have a lot of questions for their parents, like, how come we didn’t see our grandparents, or our cousins? And face-painting for a 1^st birthday? A tad inappropriate, I think. Quite scary, even. Some children might find it quite frightening.

I am reading Stephen Fry’s book Troy.  Mercifully, it has short chapters. I thought I knew quite a bit about Greek myth; evidently not!  I have been reading for ages, and I’ve just got up to the birth of Helen.  Boy, it’s already such a complicated story. I did an Honours paper on Troy and the Trojan War; I hope that it will become more relevant as I go on.

It’s now Thursday June 9^th.

Yesterday I got up early to go to hymn singing. It was wonderful, as always. Afterwards, finding I’d missed the bus I had hoped to catch, I had morning tea -a long black coffee and a cheese scone. I caught two buses home, and in the afternoon I went with a friend to see Downton Abbey – A New Era. There was hardly anyone there.  I quite enjoyed the film, although I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who everyone was. I then marvelled at how much it must have cost to make this movie. Afterwards, we went to Moore Wilsons (they had no raspberries or feijoas there, sadly); and then walked to Courtenay Place to catch a bus home. I was pretty tired afterwards!

That night it was quite wild: there was heavy rain, and a very dramatic thunderstorm early in the morning. I listened to lots of podcasts:  The Rest is Politics, We Have ways of making you talk, Hacks on Tap, British Scandal, and the Bulwark podcast.  Dear me!  The most interesting was the Skullduggery podcast, with Norm Eisen on.

This morning I went to singing. It was a dreadful way, weather-wise, but there were 17 of us there.  Towards the end of the session there was severe thunder and lightning, and the lights went off at one point! Very exciting. It was quite mild this morning, despite the wild weather, but now (late afternoon), it’s quite cold. The days are very short now. It gets quite dark around 4 pm.

Today’s Covid 19 report isn’t great. There are 7,927 new community cases, and there have been 27 new deaths. There are 373 people in hospital, and 12 in Intensive Care.

On the deaths reported today, nine were from the Auckland region, three were from Waikato, one was from Lakes DHB area, one from Taranaki, one from MidCentral, five from the Wellington region, one from Nelson-Marlborough, four from Canterbury and two from the Southern region. One person was in their 40s, two in their 60s, seven in 70s, nine in their 80s and eight were aged over 90. That’s 5 deaths on the Wellington regions.

Today’s new community cases were in Northland (165), Auckland (2,239), Waikato (558), Bay of Plenty (261), Lakes (96), Hawke’s Bay (273), MidCentral (319), Whanganui (125), Taranaki (223), Tairāwhiti (45), Wairarapa (58), Capital and Coast (877), Hutt Valley (372), Nelson Marlborough (337), Canterbury (1,177), South Canterbury (132), Southern (594), West Coast (73) and the location of three was unknown.

That brings the seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today to 6059 – last Thursday it was 6937. There were also 96 new cases reported at the border today.

Yesterday, the ministry announced 7050 new community cases and 24 deaths of people with Covid-19. There were 361 hospitalisations.

I find those numbers quite shocking. While they’re not as bad as when omicron peaked here, they stubbornly refuse to decline as fast as I would like them to.

I’m going to leave it there. The war in Ukraine grinds on.  The Covid 19 figures here stubbornly refuse to go down by much. We all know people who’ve had Covid 19, as it gets ever closer to us.  Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi.

It’s now Sunday May 29^th, 2022.  Kia ora!

This morning it wasn’t quite as cold as yesterday, but the sun emerged and it’s a fine, sunny day.

This morning I zoomed into a church service, being unwilling to expose myself to too many people. Again, there was a violin performance (by a visitor) that I found excruciating. For any of my children, their teacher would have said it wasn’t ready yet!  I suspect many of my fellow church goers have children, now grown up, that are wonderful musicians.  I almost think it’s disrespectful to play badly. There, I’ve said my piece.

On Monday afternoon two of my cousins came to visit, and brought some quince paste. Yum!

It’s now Tuesday May 31^st.

It’s not so cold today, but it rains off and on.  Prime Minister Ardern’s delegation to the US has a third person sick with Covid 19, and her Air Force plane has broken down. Evidently Gavin Newsom, Democratic Governor of California, has Covid 19.  That’s a shame, but what an honour to have our Jacinda deliver the commencement address at Harvard, be awarded an honorary degree, appear on Stephen Colbert’s late show (in three blocks!), and have a meeting with President Biden (still to come); and wear the korowai.

I haven’t written about Covid 19 here in New Zealand for a few days. Today there are officially 8,436 new community cases, and there have been 18 deaths. I think the numbers were fewer over the past two days. There are 389 people in hospital, and 9 of them are in Intensive Care.

It’s reported that three of those who died were from Northland, two were from the Auckland region, one was from Waikato, one was from Taranaki, two were from Midcentral, two were from Nelson Marlborough, three were from Canterbury, two were from West Coast and two were from the Southern region. One was aged in their 50s, two were in their 60s, one in their 70s, eight were in their 80s, and six were over 90. Ten were men and eight were women.

It’s reported that the new community cases are located as follows: Northland (247), Auckland (2746), Waikato (679), Bay of Plenty (240), Lakes (115), Hawke’s Bay (231), MidCentral (274), Whanganui (84), Taranaki (243), Tairāwhiti (58), Wairarapa (63), Capital and Coast (682), Hutt Valley (242), Nelson Marlborough (367), Canterbury (1285), South Canterbury (176), Southern (597), West Coast (105), and two in an unknown location. Officials also reported an additional 79 imported (border) cases.

To me, those numbers are still far too high. We are still looking forward to a lessening of this disease’s bite, and the fear it causes.  I had a report from Hōhepa Hawkes Bay recently, and this was far more upbeat than previous ones. There are two residents with Covid 19; one of them is being cared for at home.  There are still daily cancellations of Metlink public transport services: they’re using Covid 19 sickness as the reason.

I’m rereading more of my Stalingrad book and understanding it better this time around.  While there is great fear of the fascist (German) troops advancing ever further east, there is an awareness that the tide has turned; that the Germans are ever outstripping their supply lines; that the Russians are fighting back rather well; and of course the individual stories are fascinating. Of course, there is still great bloodshed to come, as we get ever nearer to Stalingrad.

Meanwhile, in the real-life war in Ukraine, it’s reported that Russian forces are pounding cities in Eastern Ukraine, so much so, that some commentators are saying Putin’s doing rather well. Europe has agreed on a Russian oil embargo (excluding Hungary and Slovakia); Russia is to stop supplying the Netherlands, who refuse to pay in roubles.

It’s now Wednesday June 1^st.

It is very stormy here, although we’re a bit more sheltered where I live. I went to hymn singing this morning:  we sang We sing the praise of Him who died and The King of Love my Shepherd is, amongst others. We really value this opportunity.  There was some flooding on the way there; I was due to go to a friend’s house for lunch, but she’s postponed, and I can see why –  it’s pretty wild weather, with sunshine sometimes, heavy rain storms, with horizontal rain, and some thunder.

The world is gradually coming back online after the US Memorial Weekend holiday. The Bulwark podcast was on again, with Charlie Sykes speaking to Ryan Busse, the author of a new book called Gunfight. He worked in the gun industry, and clearly knows what he’s talking about. I have heard him on other podcasts, notably the Skullduggery podcast. I also listened to the American Scandal podcast, talking about the Dupont chemical industry and its “forever” chemicals and consequent lawsuit; this story was also told very effectively in the film Dark Waters (2019).

Today’s Covid 19 report is out: there are 8,182 new community cases, and there have been 13 more deaths. There are 373 people in hospital, and 8 of them are in Intensive Care. It’s reported that Hawkes Bay has 208 new cases, and has had one death. There is concern that Covid 19 re-infection is not being recorded, and that you can get Covid 19 again within 8 weeks, not 3 months, as was formerly thought.  Once again, at 3 pm it’s not easy to find Covid 19 details online. It’s reported that teachers are more susceptible to (re)infection.

Of the people whose deaths reported on Wednesday, four were from the Auckland region, two were from Canterbury, and one each from Bay of Plenty, Tairāwhiti, Hawke’s Bay, Hutt Valley, Capital and Coast, Nelson Marlborough, and Southern. One person was in their 40s, two were in their 70s, five were in their 80s, and five were aged over 90. Of these people, six were female and seven were male. 

The locations of the new community cases (PCR & RAT) are reported as follows: Northland (223), Auckland (2,534), Waikato (623), Bay of Plenty (245), Lakes (99), Hawke’s Bay (208), MidCentral (335), Whanganui (105), Taranaki (234), Tairāwhiti (45), Wairarapa (60), Capital and Coast (716), Hutt Valley (286), Nelson Marlborough (334), Canterbury (1,322), South Canterbury (146), Southern (592), West Coast (69), Unknown (6).  That’s still alarmingly high for Wellington. There are 89 new imported cases.

Cases in hospital are reported as follows: Northland: 11; Waitemata: 36; Counties Manukau: 34; Auckland: 66; Waikato: 22; Bay of Plenty: 7; Lakes: 4; Tairāwhiti: 6; Hawke’s Bay: 14; Taranaki: 11; Whanganui: 2; MidCentral: 14; Wairarapa: 1; Hutt Valley: 4; Capital and Coast: 37; Nelson Marlborough: 9; Canterbury: 52; South Canterbury: 13; West Coast: 1; Southern: 29. 

It’s reported that in Wellington, a wave of Covid 19 has hit Parliament, with 15 people isolating.  Did we let down our guard too soon? Probably.

It’s now Friday June 3^rd.

Yesterday I went to singing. The weather was still pretty wild; there were only 16 of us there.  Afterwards JD gave me a lift home.

Today there are lots of videos of the Trooping of the Colour and the RAF fly past in the shape of 70 to celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.  There was very affecting film of her lighting a beacon.  I watched a film last night, and thought some of the marching was a tad untidy; perhaps they were practicing. There were a handful of protesters, dragged away and dealt with; it didn’t rain; Her Majesty lookedwonderful, and the spectacle is pretty amazing.  There’s been a lot of fun in the dressing up department.  One can’t help feeling a bit sorry for Prince Charles, who, at 73, is still waiting to be king.  I think many people would prefer the throne to go to Prince William and the lovely Kate when the queen dies, as she must, some day.  One thing’s for sure, there won’t be another platinum jubilee for quite some time; as Tina Brown says, there probably won’t be another jubilee in ten years’ time. The frail monarch has already pulled out of attending the service of thanksgiving to be held at ST Paul’s Cathedral (where Charles and Diana were married). The Sussexes are in London, but so far, thankfully, little has been seen of them. The odious Prince Andrew has been diagnosed with Covid 19, and so, thankfully, is absent.

It’s now Saturday June 4^th.

Today we had lunch at the lovely Gipps St Deli, where I had the beautiful quiche again, with salad. It did not disappoint.  They’ll be closed on Monday; there weren’t many people there today, and we enjoyed sitting almost in the sun. There was a cold and overcast start to the day, but then it warmed up quite a bit and was sunny. Nevertheless, I was glad to wear a warm jersey and a woollen jacket. 

After lunch we went to New World in Thorndon, where it wasn’t too busy.  I bought raspberries, coffee beans, tomatoes, bananas, bread, and salads.

During the day I’ve been watching more videos about the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in the UK.  I was a little surprised in Karori to see no sign of British royalty. I have to admit I’m quite entranced by all the ceremony, which the British do so well; mind you, it must be trying!  Shaking hands with all those people must be challenging at times. I watched film of members of the Royal Family going into, and out of, St Paul’s Cathedral, for the service of thanksgiving. I would like to watch the service itself, but so far it has been denied. Then there was more film of members of the RF going in and out of the Guildhall for a special lunch. Woe betide eating or drinking too much; and, of course, I have to wonder about comfort stops, since that has become a preoccupation of mine as I’ve grown older.  All this pageantry must be great practice for HM’s funeral, and for Prince Charles’ coronation; and perhaps Prince William’s, not too long afterwards; after all, Prince Charles is already 73 years old.

The pageantry is a great distraction, and a wonderful reminder of how well the Brits do this stuff. Compare the US motorcades – where’s the romance in that? It’s fun to watch the ceremonies, and, not least of all, to see so many flying saucer hats worn at odd angles; the way they’re worn looks so uncomfortable, as though a breath of Wellington wind would blow them right away.

It’s now Sunday June 5^th.

It’s very cold and frosty this morning, and it doesn’t really warm up during the day. I zoom into the church service, thinking there would be visitors there today – which there aren’t.  The minister has a new/old nickname for us: the Frozen Chosen. It sounds very British, although it may be American (he’s just been there, goodness knows why). In the US, they’re obsessed with guns and their history of slavery, but most people still believe in God. There are multiple contradictions there. There’s trouble with the sound again, but eventually it comes right, although it cuts off during the organist’s final piece. JD and I have to go out; we have a very nice lunch at the café at the top of the Cable Car.  I must say they do good food there. 

There are more videos of British Royal Jubilee celebrations – not so formal, now.  There are wonderful addresses by Prince Charles and by Prince William. I have never heard Charles speak so well –  he sounded quite human, even calling his mother Her Majesty, and then Mummy. I found both speeches very moving.

Today’s Covid 19 report is down to 4,400 new community cases and 8 deaths,, with 371 people in hospital and 6 in Intensive Care. There were 50 new cases identified at the border. 11 deaths and 6,291 new community cases were reported yesterday. We’ve become so blasé about these daily reports that it’s hard to find them, soon after they’ve been delivered;  I still find it creepy if I’m in a social situation where someone’s not wearing a mask. There are very few QR codes being displayed at present. There’ll be no report tomorrow (it being a public holiday); Monday’s figures will be included in Tuesday’s report.

In the Ukraine, received wisdom is that Putin’s Russian forces are doing rather well, as they seek to dominate Eastern Ukraine. However it’s reported that Ukrainian forces have taken back parts of Sievierodonetsk, a key Donbas city that had been captured by the Russians.  It’s feared that the West will grow weary of this war; but the fighting spirit of the Ukrainians is truly remarkable. 

That’s it for now. We will go and see my daughter again later this month, DV. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi.

It’s now Friday May 27^th, 2022. Kia ora!

Yesterday I didn’t write at all.  Yesterday morning I had singing. It was very cold, and I wrapped up warmly, in clothes I hoped would be too warm! I ended up putting a woollen scarf over my knees!  But the singing was wonderful, although there weren’t as many of us as usual. We are all working together so well.

Afterwards I went shopping, and then JD and I had a lovely lunch at a café. I was very tired after this.

On Friday my cleaning lady came. In preparation for this, I changed the sheets and towels.  

This week I learnt that another close friend has Covid 19. Her husband continues to test negative.  One of my friend’s (from singing) daughter has had Covid 19.  Many people I know have had it, as it creeps ever closer. This morning I learnt that Dr Ashley Bloomfield has Covid 19. He’s presently in Geneva after attending the World Health Assembly.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ardern is in the US for several reasons: she was to deliver the Harvard University commencement address (they gave her an honorary degree); she has secured a meeting with President Biden and Vice President Harris at the While House; and she also appeared with her old friend Stephen Colbert on The Late Show. We are so proud of her!

I finished reading an LRB; I read articles about the convoy protest in Ottawa, which sparked similar protests in Wellington and Canberra; and about Alexander Pope (a classical English poet: yes, I studied him, back in the day; I doubt that many do nowadays).

In the US, and around the world, we are all reeling from the dreadful school shooting in a small town in Texas called Uvalde (and so thankful we are not Americans). Yet again, I cannot escape the irony that the pro-life party is only pro unborn life. Once you’re born, you’re most likely in for a life of trauma and school lockdowns.  Oh, and it seems Trump did not express any antipathy  towards the suggestion to hang Mike Pence, his then Vice President; supreme hypocrisy by the leader of the Republican Party.

There was a further death related to the shootings reported today, when a 48 year old died of a heart attack; he was husband of one of the two teachers who was killed. They leave four teenagers, aged from 13 to 23 years old. That means 22 people have died – 19 children and two teachers, and the husband of one of the teachers.  Something Chris Hayes said reminded me of ancient societies where children were ritually sacrificed – for example, a Tophet; and yet God said I didn’t command this, I didn’t even think about it.  Children are now back at school after the Covid 19 pandemic, with relief; now this happens.

It’s really hard to find today’s Covid 19 report. It comes out regularly at 1 pm most days, and quickly disappears.

It’s now Saturday May 28^th.

It was extremely cold this morning:  one forecast on my phone said it was 6 C, but felt like 3C.  I had left the heater on, but it still felt very cold indeed.

I listened to more podcasts about the Texas school shooting; I also listened to a podcast about conspiracy theories; in particular, the ones that blossomed after the Watergate crisis. After a long period of strict Covid 19 regulations, where many people had far too much time to think, conspiracy theories have flourished, and social media (which I avoid) has steadily grown in its ability to spread insults and lies. 

 More and more details are coming out about the shooting in Uvalde, and they are horrifying: the armed police didn’t enter the school because they were afraid of getting shot;  there was more than one classroom involved; the immediate crisis went on for about an hour; desperate parents tried to enter the school and were told they couldn’t; there was no resource officer in the school, although local police said there was; the gunman walked right in without any checks; in the words of one eye witness, he shot the window in the classroom door; and so on and so on.  All comments are aired on most stations, as shock permeates the US and much of the world. Laurence O’Donnell reported that the gun said “It’s time to die”, before shooting the children. One child survived by smearing herself with her dead friend’s blood, and pretending to be dead. She called 911, and wondered why the police didn’t come right away.

Whatever happened, and the stories of that terror don’t improve with age, surviving children, their parents, and those who lost loved ones and friends, will never forget this day. They will remember it for the rest of their lives, and some will probably be permanently traumatised by it. It’s hard to pull yourself together and make something good of your life after such an act of evil and terror, by an 18 year old. Why did he shoot his grandmother, who had cared for him? Did she say No to him, perhaps? 

The Guardian website has a story by political journalist Jonathan Freedland, pointing out that America was a land of such promise, seeking “freedom” from tyrannical monarchical rule, with their founding fathers devising a constitution that considered other states’ experiences in devising how a republic should work.  Sadly, many take an oath to the much-vaunted Constitution they adopted, and then have no hesitation in breaking that oath. Their praised freedoms look very hollow now, with this crazy 2^nd Amendment which is taken to endorse the right of individual citizens to bear arms, without any thought of safety, usage, safe storage, age limits, or mental health, or the huge risks involved.  The American political system is now bound by a right-wing Supreme Court, and right-wing government in many states, that despite the majority wanting a kinder, safer, environment, insists on turning back the clock.  Maternal death rates are much higher than they should be, especially for coloured women; abortion is set to become illegal, and subject to prosecution, for all concerned; meanwhile these precious children are likely to be shot while they are at school. They, and their parents, will be scared of this happening, even if it doesn’t. Children should be safe at school, surely? Who’d live there, if they didn’t have to?  Meanwhile, the NRA is holding its annual conference in Houston. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are speaking there. People are protesting outside. Unspeakable. There’s a lot of talk about “sacrificing children”. God didn’t ask you to make this sacrifice. In this case, good guys with guns didn’t stop the bad guy with a gun.

In Psalm 137, it’s said “L,o children are an inheritance of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward”. There are many other references to the gift of children, and many references to mothering – “How often would I have taken you under my wing?” There is the wonderful and terrible instance in Genesis where God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac; but when Abraham is on the point of obeying God, a ram is found instead. Hebrews says that Abraham was “counting that God was able to raise him from the dead, whence he received him in a figure”.  This is a terrible story of God testing Abraham’s faith; yet Isaac was restored to him. This story – the only such case in the Bible – to me prefigures the death of Christ, when God gave up his only Son, that we might live.  How incredibly cruel it is not to love and protect children from all harm, while teaching them the difference between right and wrong.

I saw a photo of Meghan Markle laying a wreath at the gates of the school.  Why, I wonder, is she not showing any compassion to her father, Thomas, who is in hospital after suffering a stroke, and is rumoured to be unable to speak? Just asking. I don’t see any evidence of his son-in-law, Prince Harry, sending him flowers or visiting him either. Archie and his sister will have many questions to ask as they grow up. Bring on the teenage years, I say!

In the UK, Sue Gray’s report has been published about the parties held at 10 Downing St while Covid 19 restrictions were in force. It seems the Prime Minister Boris Johnson doesn’t do embarrassment:  he apparently insisted that Winston Churchill drank rather a lot during the Second World War, and was still able to operate and make decisions.  Well, the British PM does do arrogance, in comparing himself to the late Churchill; love Winnie or hate him, he did have success in motivating the British people to undergo incredible hardships during that War and during the Blitz, which was a terrible time.  It’s reported that one of Priti Patel’s aides has resigned. Another Tory MP has called on Boris to quit. Just before Sue Gray’s report came out, there were reports of extreme drunkenness, with someone vomiting, someone sitting on someone else’s knee, and late night high jinks.  And these people were supposed to be running the country.

It’s also reported that 115 Rosgvardia guards (Putin’s private army) have been fired because of their refusal to fight in Ukraine. But the Donbas area is under heavy attack, with reports of two Ukrainian town surrounded by Russian troops.

Once again, though, our Prime Minister Ardern, has made us so proud – giving the commencement address at Harvard (and getting a standing ovation), and wearing a traditional Māori feather cloak – a korowai.  She wore  this when she attended a state dinner ar Buckingham Palace when she was pregnant with her daughter.

Today’s Covid 19 report is as follows: 6,369 new community cases, and 13 deaths. There are 362 people in hospital, and 6 in Intensive Care.

Of those 13 deaths reported today, five were from the Auckland, two were from Canterbury, one from South Canterbury, one from Nelson Marlborough, two from the Wellington region, one from Bay of Plenty, and one from Southern. Two people were in their 60s, five were in their 70s, three were in their 80s, and three were aged over 90.

The locations of the 6369 new community cases on Saturday are: Northland (166), Auckland (2068), Waikato (480), Bay of Plenty (160), Lakes (125), Hawke’s Bay (173), MidCentral (199), Whanganui (74), Taranaki (215), Tairāwhiti (32), Wairarapa (59), Capital & Coast (512), Hutt Valley (193), Nelson Marlborough (269), Canterbury (981), South Canterbury (135), Southern (452), West Coast (70), Unknown (6). That seems to me a bit of a reduction, although it is Saturday, and many people still have Covid 19. Hawkes Bay is down to 173 new cases, although Wellington is still high at 512.

On Friday, the Ministry reported 6862 new community cases of Covid-19 and 25 more deaths. I now feel that more people I know have had Covid 19 than have not. 

This afternoon we went to see the beautiful art exhibition at the Fine Arts Academy Gallery again (again for me, first time for JD). Thankfully, anything I would have bought has a red sold sticker. Some of the paintings I’d so admired at first viewing, didn’t look so great today. Others looked even more amazing.

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi.

It’s now Saturday May 21^st, 2022. Kia ora!

This morning it was very cold. There was some condensation in our house.  Later in the day, it was sunny and fine. We went to the supermarket in Thorndon, and although I couldn’t get the salads I wanted, I bought some raspberries, feijoas, bread, pies and cakes, lettuce, and beefsteak tomatoes. It was very busy at the store; thankfully people are still wearing masks.

Today’s Covid 19 report isn’t too bad, athough two Auckland secondary schools have reintroduced mask wearing. Apparently Eric Clapton, who refused the vaccine, and so far escaped the coronavirus, now has covid 19 and has had to cancel some planned concerts. He’s 75, evidently, and still performing. Today there are 6,635 new community cases, and there’ve been 6 deaths.

The deaths included two people in the Auckland region and one each in Northland, Taranaki, Canterbury and the Southern regions. One of those who died was in their 60s, two were in their 70s, two were in their 80s and one was over 90.

It’s reported that the 400 people in hospital include 10 people in Northland, 38 in Waitemata, 39 in Counties Manukau, 80 in Auckland, 38 in Waikato, 10 in Bay of Plenty, two in Lakes, one in Tairāwhiti, 14 in Hawke’s Bay, 12 in Taranaki, four in Whanganui, 11 in Mid Central, two Wairarapa, five in Hutt Valley, 17 in Capital and Coast, eight in Nelson Marlborough, 61 in Canterbury, 10 in South Canterbury, two in West Coast and 36 in Southern. There are 12 people in intensive care, and the average age of those in hospital is 61. The Topp twins have tested  positive for Covid 19, as well as both having cancer.  Many people that had escaped Covid 19 up till now, are now catching it.

The location of today’s new community cases are Northland (194), Auckland (2222), Waikato (527), Bay of Plenty (205), Lakes (121), Hawke’s Bay (255), Mid Central (190), Whanganui (94), Taranaki (172), Tairāwhiti (57), Wairarapa (67), Capital and Coast (466), Hutt Valley (177), Nelson Marlborough (206), Canterbury (985), South Canterbury (106), Southern (519), West Coast (67) and five were yet to be linked. There are also 85 imported cases.

The war in Ukraine – has stalled, perhaps?  There are terrible videos about of wounded people; tragic stories of bereavements; stories about Putin having cancer, and about plots to roll him; whatever’s going on there, there’s no doubt that Russian troops have wrought immense destruction and death, and I doubt that Putin’s going to pick up the pieces and make things better any time soon. All this tragedy and turmoil is quite unnecessary. George (Dubya) Bush made an extraordinary gaffe when he spoke to a university recently, citing the “decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq”; oh, he meant Ukraine. And then he had the nerve to giggle about this Freudian slip. Well, we know it wasn’t his decision alone – then Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney and lots of US journalists helped him make the decision, but I remember the huge protests in London and other places that accompanied this decision; the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair went along with this “boots and all”.  There was a British scandal, too – remember the “sexed up” dossier”, and the suicide of Dr David Kelly. At the time I thought, as did many others, that Dubya was the worst ever president of the US. He was later to comment that Donald Trump made his presidency look better, and, of course, it did, although that’s not saying much. I remember someone who lived in the US calling the invasion of Iraq “the end of US hegemony” (what a beautiful word hegemony is).   Well. they did topple Saddam Hussein, but there were no WMDs there. Many US and UK troops died needlessly,  and thousands more Iraqis died needlessly and had their way of life totally disrupted. There was no Plan B, about how Iraq would be administered after the war, or how many US troops would stay there (I believe there’re still some there). Instead, we got ISIS.

Also in the US, more texts have been released from Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, showing that she urged Arizona legislators to deliver an alternate slate of electors to the Electoral College, to show that Trump has won Arizona rather than Biden. Will any of these people be held accountable? It doesn’t look like it.

We spoke to our son in the UK; he has recently visited Lithuania. He commented that it was very clean, in a rather Scandinavian way, with a huge sense of history. We spoke about the Polish-Lithuanian Empire, which I have been reading about. The history of Europe is so interesting, and down here we are so very far away! 

During the evening I watched results of the Australian General Election, as the votes were counted.  Labour seemed to be doing well, when you looked at one view of the outcome; other views had Labour and the Coalition (National and Liberal) very close.

It’s now Sunday May 22^nd.

I woke up at 1:40 am this morning, but thankfully went back to sleep until 7 am. Then I saw that the Labour Party have won the Australian election, and Antony Albanese will be the next Prime Minister. I also saw that the odious Josh Frydenberg’s, (the former Treasurer), seat is in danger, with the result too close to call at that stage. I gather the Greens have done quite well, which is a relief, considering that Australia has been quite terrible in addressing climate change.

It was very cold this morning; thankfully the windows weren’t too steamed up.

I had church in Wadestown this morning, but I zoomed in along with a few others.  JD was too busy to take me there, and there’s no good public transport options for getting home. It was sunny later in the day, but didn’t really warm up properly. In the winter, even if it’s sunny for a bit, the days are so much shorter that I’m glad of winter woollies.

Today’ Covid 19 report was much better, with less than 5,000 new community cases reported (4,990), and 10 deaths. There are 379 people in hospital, and 9 in Intensive Care. It’s reported that the average age of current hospitalisations is 62 (that’s pretty much the norm).

 The cases reported were spread as follows: Northland (140), Auckland (1693), Waikato (353), Bay of Plenty (165), Lakes (88), Hawke’s Bay (166), MidCentral (182), Whanganui (62), Taranaki (137), Tairāwhiti (27), Wairarapa (58), Capital and Coast (351), Hutt Valley (134), Nelson Marlborough (165), Canterbury (799), South Canterbury (84), Southern (344), West Coast (36), Unknown (6). There were 60 new imported cases.

The disease of Monkeypox is going around, with slowly increasing numbers in some countries.  I read a long article about it, but I find my questions unanswered: if you’ve had chicken pox as a child, or been vaccinated against it, or had the shingles vaccine (Zostavax, free for people over 65), are you immune to monkeypox?  From the photographs, it causes a rash of skin pustules, a but larger than chickenpox ones.  I don’t know if it leaves scars like smallpox.

I later find out it’s more like small pox than chicken pox or shingles; sexual contact is one of the main means of transmission.

It’s now Monday May 23^rd.

It’s a beautiful fine day today, and not too cold a start. I walked up to the store and back to get some croissants for lunch. When I woke early this morning I listened to the newly released podcast Will be Wild. Man, it quite upset me. I had listened to an episode on the Skulduggery podcast where the authors had spoken about their new podcast, about the events leading up to the riot on January 6 2021. I found it shocking indeed, horrifying.

This afternoon I had my ears suctioned; I had them syringed years ago; now they do suctioning. My GP thought it would be a good idea, and so it was.  It was a little uncomfortable at the time, rather like being at the dentist’s; but I’m glad I had it done.

Today’s Covid 19 report is good-good, although Wellington mayor Andy Foster has Covid 19. Today there are 6,000 new community cases, and there’ve been 9 deaths. There are 363 people in hospital, and 14 in Intensive Care.

It’s reported that cases were broken into regions like this: Northland (158), Auckland (2053), Waikato (463), Bay of Plenty (206), Lakes (77), Hawke’s Bay (163), Mid Central (196), Whanganui (85), Taranaki (179), Tairāwhiti (27), Wairarapa (45), Capital and Coast (444), Hutt Valley (181), Nelson Marlborough (230), Canterbury (878) South Canterbury (90), Southern (461), West Coast (62), Unknown (2). There were 58 new imported cases.

It’s now Wednesday May 25^th.

Yesterday I met a friend and we visited the Fine Arts Academy, where there is a wonderful exhibition until 12 June. There are paintings by Charlotte Hird, Vivienne Manthel-French, Philip Markham and others. There are some beautiful paintings, and more lovely things in the gift shop. I would very much like to visit it again. Afterwards, we had lunch at a nearby café, but it was just on midday and very busy there.

This morning it was very cold, but later a fine, sunny day.

This morning I went to hymn singing – lovely, as always. Thankfully I didn’t get a frog in my throat as I sometimes do. Afterwards, I caught a bus into town and had a cup of coffee and a cheese scone. Afterwards, I walked to a cinema where I saw Operation Mincemeat – a very good film.  Pardon my ignorance but I did not know that the British invaded southern Sicily in 1943.  This was a complicated operation to deceive Hitler; Churchill, of course, loved it. I guess the movie showed the intricacy of planning such an operation, and the human side of it too.  Colin Firth, Matthew McFadyen and Jonny Flynn starred; Penelope Wilton too. Jonny Flynn, who played Mr Knightly in the latest film of Emma, starred as Ian Fleming. I enjoyed the film, but I think JD would have hated it, so I didn’t feel guilty about seeing it alone. There were I think 4 other adults in the theatre.

Meanwhile, there’s been another school shooting in – where else – the US, this time in Texas, in an elementary school. Nineteen children have died and two adults. The numbers keep going up. Apparently the gunman, a teenager, is dead. This follows a recent shooting at Buffalo, where ten people died, and it seems this was definitely a hate crime, where the teenage shooter set out to kill black people.

Before this latest tragedy, President Biden said the US would defend Taiwan if China attacked. This has caused a general freak out: another Biden gaffe; why, I wonder? Biden has done a marvellous job of unifying support for Ukraine against the Russian attack, without committing any US forces to the special military action; why shouldn’t he do the same for Taiwan? This was no gaffe, in my view.

In New Zealand, the governor of the Reserve Bank has raised the OCR to 2%.  I thought the OCR announcement was made on a Thursday. Now it’s evidently on Wednesday.

Today’s Covid 19 report is as follows: there are officially 8,150 new cases, and it’s reported that omicron sub-variant BA. 2.12.1 has been detected. This case does not have a direct link to the border.  There are 368 people in hospital, including 11 in Intensive Care. There have been 11 deaths.

Of the 11 deaths reported, two were from the Auckland region, one from Waikato, two from Taranaki, one from Hawke’s Bay, one from MidCentral, three from Canterbury, and one from Southern. One person was aged under 10, one was in their 30s, one was in their 60s, one was in their 70s, three were in their 80s, and four were aged over 90.

It was announced yesterday that New Zealand would stay at the Orange level.  The Hon Chris Hipkins predicts that New Zealand will have another wave of omicron. There were a number of public transport cancellations today, because of staff sickness.

There is worldwide concern about monkeypox, which is spreading around the world, but it is not thought to be as infectious, or pose as much of a threat, as the coronavirus.

In the US elections today, Brian Kemp won his primary election against the Trump-endorsed Brian Purdue; when I looked, Brad Raffensberger was ahead of his competitors for Secretary of State; and Herschel Walker had also won his primary. Perhaps there are chances here for democrats after all.

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi.

Today is Tuesday Mat 17^th, 2022. Kia ora!

Yesterday I went to a friend’s house for lunch.  It was lovely.  I feel at present that I don’t have much to write about, however in the afternoon I read more of the Stalingrad book. It is such a wonderful novel:  for years, I had thought that the Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 was very scary and effective. But it seems it was not; the German victories were Pyrrhic ones, in that while they kept on “winning”, as they moved east, in fact they were gravely stretching their supply lines, and the troops were ill-clad and ill-supplied. In the end, of course, the Russians (well supplied by Allied forces) won.

Now I am watching the success of Ukrainian forces against the Russian invasion:  there is such irony here, in that the brave defence of the Ukrainians against the ill-timed and ill-equipped invasion of the much-vaunted Russian troops parallels in many ways the ill-judged German invasion of Russia.

This morning I learned that one third of Russia’s forces have been destroyed; that Ukrainian forces are entering Russia north of Kharkiv; that there is fierce fighting around Izyum, which the Russians have taken; that there have been more evacuations from Mariupol (which has still not surrendered; and there’s more evidence in Bucha of Russian shooting of civilians. The Ukrainians deliberately flooded a village to prevent Russian military access; and while Ukrainians reported the use of phosphorus bombs in Mariupol, the Telegraph podcast reports that these were probably mistaken for incendiary devices.

In Covid 19 news, the NZ Prime Minister Ardern is still unwell. Phil Twyford has tested positive as well. Australia has a very high number of cases – I think it was 55,000 on Sunday, although you’d struggle sometimes to get this news. Mind you, there have been deaths and hospitalisations and even some on ventilators there. In New Zealand, we’ve had no one on a ventilator since the initial outbreak.  JD took a RAT test on Sunday evening, and I took one on Monday morning – both were negative, thankfully. I didn’t take one because I had symptoms, but because I’d been out and about, and was to visit a friend’s house.

Yesterday there were 7,061 new cases 0f Covid 19, and 5 deaths. There were 415 cases in hospital, and ? in Intensive Care. It was also reported that of the deaths, 3 people were from the Southern region, 1 was from Auckland and 1 was from Bay of Plenty. 1 person was in their 50s, 1 person was in their 70s, and 3 were aged over 90. Of these people, 3 were women and 2 were men.

In North Korea, there’ve been more deaths – 50 odd, this far. It’s feared that over 1 million people have been infected.  I just competed a survey about concert attendance, and I have to say I don’t feel nearly as safe as I did in 2020, when we both enjoyed going to several concert performances.  The seating in the Michael Fowler Centre is very cramped – like being on an aeroplane; so I wouldn’t choose to go there at present.  Perhaps if mask-wearing were enforced, and they used every second row, I might consider it.

Today’s Covid 19 report is more serious than yesterday’s. Today there are 9,843 new cases, and eight deaths have been reported. There are 421 people in hospital, and 10 in Intensive Care.

Of the eight people whose deaths the ministry reported on Tuesday, three were from the Southern region, two from Auckland, two from Northland, and one from Canterbury. One person was aged in their 60s, four people were in their 70s, and three were aged over 90. Of these people, four were women and four were men.

It’s reported that the location of new community cases was Northland (288), Auckland (3442), Waikato (792), Bay of Plenty (342), Lakes (185), Hawke’s Bay (361), MidCentral (339), Whanganui (105), Taranaki (291), Tairāwhiti (90), Wairarapa (87), Capital and Coast (600), Hutt Valley (249), Nelson Marlborough (320), Canterbury (1305), South Canterbury (177), Southern (781), West Coast (83), Unknown (6). Nationwide, the seven-day rolling average of community case numbers on Tuesday was 7795 – last Tuesday it was 7927. There were 63 new imported (i.e.  from overseas) cases.

The numbers I’m watching most closely are those from Hawkes Bay (361) ad Wellington (600). That’s a concerning rise.  I haven’t had a report from Hohepa for a few weeks now. It seems that we’re well and truly in for more sickness, whether it be flu or Covid 19. 

Meanwhile, the Heretaunga Wing at Hutt Hospital has been declared an earthquake risk, and must be evacuated; in Hawkes Bay, a ward has been placed in lockdown to prevent the spread of the highly contagious norovirus, and at Southland Hospital in Invercargill more than one ward has been closed to visitors because of multiple Covid 19 exposures.  It’s reported that two patients, one on the rehabilitation ward and another on the medical ward, both tested positive on Friday followed by two more, one in each ward. Two patients on the surgical ward have also since tested positive. There are restrictions in other areas of the hospital also. In the US, Stephen Colbert is back – he did have Covid 19, and was getting better when he fell ill again. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel has it – again.

In Ukraine, the last besieged fighters (more than 260) have left Mariupol, it’s reported. Does that mean they’ve conceded defeat?

It’s now Wednesday May 18^th.

This morning I got up early and went to hymn singing. It was lovely, as always. Afterwards I had morning tea and wrote to my daughter; as the shop filled up, I was happy to leave and catch the bus into town.  I went to David Jones, but evidently they’ve been having a sale for some time now, and lots of things have gone. I didn’t see anything I wanted to buy there. The I walked to Unity Books, where I did buy something – a book about Persia, (a history of ancient Persia) with beautiful coloured photographs. Then I met my cousin for lunch at a café which was almost empty. I had a very nice omelette. Then I caught a full bus home. Thankfully, the bus emptied out and I was able to sit well away from other passengers.

Tomorrow I have singing again.

Todays’ Covid 19 report wasn’t great. There are 9,570 new cases of Covid 19, and there’ve been 32 new deaths. That takes the total to over 1,000. There are 425 people in hospital, and 9 in Intensive Care.

Of the 32 people whose deaths the ministry reported on Wednesday, two people were from Northland; nine from the Auckland region; two from Bay of Plenty; two from Taranaki; one from Tairāwhiti; four from MidCentral; two from Hawke’s Bay; three from the Wellington region; one from Nelson-Marlborough; four from Canterbury and two from Southern. One person was in their 20s; four people were in their 40s; two in their 50s; four in their 60s; nine in their 70s; nine in their 80s and three were aged over 90. Of these people, 10 were women and 22 were men.

The location of Wednesday’s new community cases was Northland (273), Auckland (3,297), Waikato (742), Bay of Plenty (307), Lakes (173), Hawke’s Bay (304), MidCentral (318), Whanganui (124), Taranaki (283), Tairāwhiti (82), Wairarapa (91), Capital and Coast (642), Hutt Valley (241), Nelson Marlborough (314), Canterbury (1,368), South Canterbury (155), Southern (737), West Coast (112), Unknown (7).

Nationwide, the seven-day rolling average of community case numbers on Wednesday was 8024 – last Wednesday it was 7533. So the numbers are inching upwards. There were 91 new imported cases.

It’s now Thursday May 19^th. This morning I listened to a very interesting interview between Dan Carlin (of Hardcore History fame) and Barry Strauss about the battle of Actium (in 31 B.C.), which heralded the change of Roman government from a republic to an empire under the Emperor Augustus (formerly Octavian). This was so absorbing I was almost late to singing.

Singing was very enjoyable, as always. We do so enjoy our time together.  We sang some beautiful songs, including ABBA’s SOS, Joni Mitchell’s The Circle Game, and Will you still love me tomorrow.  Afterwards JD met me and we had lunch at La Cloche, always enjoyable. Quiche, salad, French fries and a long black coffee – delicious. We got home to find another LRB has arrived. I have so much to read and to listen to at present.

Today’s coronavirus report is as follows: there are 9,091 new community cases; there have been 5 further deaths. There are 411 in hospital, and 12 in Intensive Care. The increase in numbers continues to be worrying. I can’t find the figures now, but Wellington (not the Hutt Valley) had 595 new cases, and I think Hawkes Bay had about 259. Somebody died in Wellington.

It’s now Friday May 20^th.

Early this morning was the thunderstorm we were promised yesterday. Yesterday we had wind, rain and stormy weather; this morning we had lots of thunder and lightning. I listened to a Skulduggery podcast, where the hosts spoke to the two hosts of the new “Will be Wild” podcast. This has just been released and goes over the events of the US Capitol riot on January 6 2021.Once again, I am very depressed about all this, hearing more information about the dreadful events leading up to that fateful day.

A new issue of the LRB arrived yesterday. I read an article about the refugees arriving in Poland from Ukraine. They are mainly women and children, because men are required to stay in Ukraine and fight. Many of these women are particularly vulnerable to male crooks, American evangelists, and the Polish government’s archaic attitude towards abortion, despite many cases of rape, by both invading Russian troops, and those who would seek to exploit woman and teenage girls.  I also read an article about grain supplies disrupted by the war; many countries used to buy grain from Russia and/or Ukraine. These supplies have been hugely disrupted, as countries sought to recover from the effects of climate change or the coronavirus pandemic, or both. Egypt is particularly badly affected.

This morning one of my sons and his two children visited; then someone came from Access to do some cleaning.

I read more LRB articles: about the war in the Crimea in the 1850’s: who (of my era!) can forget Tennyson’s poem, of the 1968 film, The Charge of the Light Brigade (where British troops looked particularly incompetent). It’s reproduced below  I also read an article about the Italian commander Rodolfo Graziani, in the Second World War. I remembered there is a podcast about him too. I had never heard of Graziani before, but I doubt I will forget his brutality in Ethiopia in 1937 (after an assassination attempt) after this. He and Mussolini also took many valuables from Ethiopia with them.

Today’s Covid 19 report is as follows: today there were 7,800 new community cases of Covid 19, and 17 deaths were reported. Among them, 3 people died in Wellington, one in Hawkes Bay. There are 401 people in hospital, and 14 in Intensive Care.  In Wellington, there are 530 new cases; in Hawkes Bay there are 270. In Australia, people are still dying in large numbers, there are many in hospital, and some on ventilators.  You can look up the totals each day on the ABC news website. In North Korea, there are 2 million cases, and the leader is not best pleased.

In Ukraine, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have been taken to Russia, Russia announces; the Ukrainians are invading Belgorod, in Russia; some refugees are returning to western Ukraine, brave souls, to their ruined homes.  I don’t really know what’s going on there. The US Senate, despite their internal political hassles, have approved a large aid package – I think it’s 33 Billion US dollars.

That’s it for now. Thank goodness we have RAT tests!  Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

BY ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON

I

Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

   Rode the six hundred.

“Forward, the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns!” he said.

Into the valley of Death

   Rode the six hundred.

II

“Forward, the Light Brigade!”

Was there a man dismayed?

Not though the soldier knew

   Someone had blundered.

   Theirs not to make reply,

   Theirs not to reason why,

   Theirs but to do and die.

   Into the valley of Death

   Rode the six hundred.

III

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them

   Volleyed and thundered;

Stormed at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of hell

   Rode the six hundred.

IV

Flashed all their sabres bare,

Flashed as they turned in air

Sabring the gunners there,

Charging an army, while

   All the world wondered.

Plunged in the battery-smoke

Right through the line they broke;

Cossack and Russian

Reeled from the sabre stroke

   Shattered and sundered.

Then they rode back, but not

   Not the six hundred.

V

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon behind them

   Volleyed and thundered;

Stormed at with shot and shell,

While horse and hero fell.

They that had fought so well

Came through the jaws of Death,

Back from the mouth of hell,

All that was left of them,

   Left of six hundred.

VI

When can their glory fade?

O the wild charge they made!

   All the world wondered.

Honour the charge they made!

Honour the Light Brigade,

   Noble six hundred!

Ukraine is to hold a war crimes trial. In the US, males who sire unborn children are nowhere to be seen.

Today is Tuesday May 10^th, 2022. Kia ora.

This morning I met an old friend for coffee. The café where we had agreed to meet was closed, so we went to another one. It was quiet when we first went there, and we had a lovely time.

The rest of the day has been very quiet. The Covid 19 report was worse than yesterday’s: there are 9,173 new community cases and there’ve been 14 deaths. There are 385 people in hospital, and 13 in Intensive Care. There have now been over one million cases in New Zealand: that’s about one in five.

Of the 14 deaths reported on Tuesday, six were aged in their 70s, three were in their 80s and five were over 90. Six of those people were from Canterbury, two were from Auckland and one each were from Northland, Waikato, MidCentral, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington and Southern DHBs.

It’s reported that the new community cases are as located as follows: Northland (265), Auckland (2945), Waikato (625), Bay of Plenty (254), Lakes (175), Hawke’s Bay (274), MidCentral (348), Whanganui (97), Taranaki (255), Tairāwhiti (75), Wairarapa (105), Capital and Coast (600), Hutt Valley (264), Nelson Marlborough (339), Canterbury (1397), South Canterbury (164), Southern (889) and West Coast (98). The location of four cases is unknown.

Wellington is seeing more cases this week than last week.

It’s reported that Russia held a march in Moscow yesterday for Victory Day, with no fly-past. Putin made a very odd speech, blaming the West for his invasion of Ukraine.  He didn’t look well, and had a blanket over his legs. In Ukraine, Dr Jill Biden has visited Kyiv, and also Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. The misery grinds on. 

In the US, there is still a great deal of talk about the Supreme Court draft decision to revoke Roe v Wade, depriving women of the right to an abortion. I am still amazed that there is no talk of male responsibility. I know some men are very upset if their partner chooses not to go ahead with a pregnancy, but in all these discussions male responsibility is not discussed at all – “My body, my choice” is therefore a logical conclusion for American women.

I was further amazed when listening to The Bulwark podcast, when Charlie Sykes reiterated his opposition to democrat proposals to cancel student debt.  He sees no connection between the two issues. Most people see having a good education as a key towards bettering one’s opportunities, but if poorer women have to bear and raise children they can’t afford, it’s extremely unlikely that those children will get a good education.  In my opinion, Americans have very black and white views about issues, whereas most issues are very grey, with all kinds of different viewpoints on them. 

It’s now Wednesday May 11^th.

This morning I went to hymn singing. It was heartening, as always. Afterwards I was going to catch a bus into town, but the bus wasn’t at the stop till well after 10 am, but it did turn up. I had my first long black coffee for the day in town, with a toasted cheese scone.  It is much cooler today – closer to 10 degrees C. Today’s Covid 19 report is not so good. There are officially 7,970 new community cases, and there’ve been 28 further deaths.  There are 381 people in hospital, and 10 of them are in Intensive Care. 77 cases were identified at the border, but the borders are to fully open earlier than expected. In Auckland, one high large school (Albany Junior High School) has taken up online learning again, seeing that they have 200 students impacted by omicron.

It’s reported that of the new cases, 2633 were in Auckland. The rest were in Northland (252), Waikato (594), Bay of Plenty (254), Lakes (151), Hawke’s Bay (256), MidCentral (261), Whanganui (95), Taranaki (209), Tairāwhiti (75), Wairarapa (87), Capital and Coast (498), Hutt Valley (190), Nelson Marlborough (282), Canterbury (1172), South Canterbury (152), Southern (744), West Coast (62), Unknown (3). So those numbers are not decreasing as fast as we would have hoped.

Of the cases in hospital, 167 were in Auckland. The rest were spread across Northland: eight; Waikato: 44; Bay of Plenty: 17; Lakes: 5; Tairāwhiti: 1; Hawke’s Bay: 14; Taranaki: 10; Whanganui: 1; MidCentral: 23; Wairarapa: 1; Hutt Valley: 4; Capital and Coast: 12; Nelson Marlborough: 6; Canterbury: 44; South Canterbury: 2; West Coast: 4; Southern: 18. The average age of those in hospital is currently 60. Eleven of the deaths of people with Covid-19 were in their 80s, eight were in their 70s, five were in their 90s, two were in their 60s, one was in their 50s and another was in their 40s. 12 in Wellington! 

In the US Bill Gates has Covid 19, and New York Governor Kathy Hochl has Covid 19. Journalist and author John Dickerson and his family have had Covid 19. We all know lots of people who have had Covid 19. But you can get it again. No one in my immediate family has had it so far, but it has come very close.

In the US, the reaction to the leaked Supreme Court decision drags on. It transpires that one of the reasons for the decision to overturn Roe is that the stock of babies to adopt is very low, way below the demand. 

It’s now Saturday, May 14^th.

On Thursday morning I had singing.  It was very enjoyable; we had a committee meeting afterwards.  After that I got a lift into town and bought some more corduroy trousers – they had a special with 30% off everything. Then I caught a bus home. After school, two of my grandchildren visited, and we attempted to tidy up the yard with sweeping and gathering up leaves into the rubbish bin or into plastic bags (dry-cleaner covers). It was fine and warm outside, but I found it hard not to pull weeds out as well as tidying up.

On Friday someone came from Access to do some cleaning.  I changed the sheets and towels. Afterwards we went into town to pick up a delivery, and had a delicious lunch at the Tasting Room. Although it was quite late, they were happy to feed us, and there were few people there. I enjoyed it.

Today we had lunch at Gipps St Deli.  I do like their quiche – the custardy filling reminds me of the baked custard my mother used to make, a flavour and texture I’ve been unable to replicate.  We had nice salad too, and I had a beautiful cup of coffee. On our way back, we stopped in Brandon St so that I could change the trousers I’d bought at Farmers.  It was raining, and there was lots of traffic. After this, we stopped at the supermarket in Thorndon, which, again, was super busy. There were no potato topped pies left, and they didn’t have my favourite salad, but we did get more feijoas and coffee beans. The kind staff were allowed to pack our goods again – which is much appreciated. It has been raining off-and-on all day, and much cooler than previously.

The Covid 19 report is so-so; sadly, Prime Minister Ardern and her daughter have tested positive for Covid 19. A good friend of ours in Auckland has tested positive for Covid 19, and has recovered. Today there are officially 7,068 new cases, and there’ve been 18 further deaths. There are 398 people in  hospital, and 8 of them are in Intensive Care.

Of the new cases, it’s reported that  2409 were in Auckland, and the rest were in Northland (202), Waikato (507), Bay of Plenty (200), Lakes (120), Hawke’s Bay (219), MidCentral (237), Whanganui (55), Taranaki (198), Tairāwhiti (57), Wairarapa (75), Capital and Coast (459), Hutt Valley (228), Nelson Marlborough (209), Canterbury (1,096), South Canterbury (105), Southern (619), West Coast (69), and Unknown (4).

Of the deaths reported on Saturday, two people were from Northland; four were from Auckland; three were from Waikato, one was from Lakes DHB, two were from MidCentral, two were from the Wellington region, one was from the West Coast, one was from Canterbury, one was from South Canterbury and one was from Southern. One person was in their 40s, one was in their 60s, five were in their 70s, five were in their 80s and six were aged over 90. Of these people, nine were women and nine were men.

That’s still an alarming number of new cases, and an alarming number of deaths, although the numbers of those hospitalised or in Intensive Care has reduced significantly. I guess we were hoping that numbers of new cases and deaths would have reduced more than this by now.

In Ukraine, the news of Ukrainian forces’ achievements continues to be amazing. Yesterday I heard that Russian forces had attempted to build a pontoon bridge and were transporting equipment across it, only to be attacked by Ukrainian forces; the Russian equipment was greatly damaged, if not destroyed, and many Russian soldiers (Ukraine claims 1,000) were lost. It seems that Ukrainian forces are making great strides, but Russian forces are focussing on Eastern Ukraine, and their brutality continues.  Putin has threatened to cut the supply of electricity to Finland in retaliation for its joining NATO. Sweden intends to join too.  The President of Turkey has expressed reservations about this. Ukraine has reportedly taken back more towns that Russian forces occupied; the Russians seem now to be concentrating on the Donbas area in eastern Ukraine. The BBC reports that Russian forces have been driven out of Kharkiv.  Senator Mitch McConnell has visited Kyiv.

North Korea has finally admitted to a Covid 19/omicron epidemic. First there was one case, then 2 deaths, then 5 deaths and thousands of cases; now 21 deaths. It seems their population is unvaccinated. Leader Kim Jong Un has called it a time of “great turmoil”. They have limited testing capabilities, too, it’s reported. A lockdown has been imposed, which will no doubt cause huge problems in a country which already has trouble feeding itself.

It’s now Sunday May 15^th

This morning there was quite a strong earthquake felt in Wellington, centered to the east of Kapiti Island. There was an initial light shake, followed by an alert on my phone to expect more shaking, and then immediately there was some quite strong shaking.

This morning I attended church via zoom.  They were due to have visitors today, and the omicron numbers are rising, so I chose not to go in person. I think the organist was having a day off too.

That’s it for now. I have discovered that I missed the Scandi Film Festival. I am determined to show brave and go to some of the French Film Festival films. Last year most of them were wonderful.  Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi.

It’s now Friday May 6, 2022. Kia ora.

I’m receiving a Morning Briefing from the New York Times, which I’ve recently signed up for. Unfortunately, I can’t keep it or save it; I get an alert in the morning; once I move away from that image, I haven’t figured out a way to go back to it. But it’s very informative; I find it most useful.

The briefing tells me that in Ukraine, Mariupol is still holding out, with 200 civilians in the Azovstal steel plane there, and some Ukrainian troops. The rest of the civilians have been evacuated. A former employee told the Russians how to get into the plant, which has rambling networks of underground tunnels and bunkers. Desperate hand-to-hand fighting is going on there, I gather.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have reclaimed a village near Kharkiv, and thus pushed Russian forces back and prevented their access. This is seen as a strategic move. India is reported to be buying oil from Russia at low prices. In Iraq, there is a terrible dust storm.

In China, there’s a lot of Covid 19 testing going on – presumably, it’s PCR testing. China is clinging to its covid-zero policy, despite unrest in Shanghai; it’s citizens aren’t allowed out of their homes to protest.

In the US, a sub-variant of the BA.2 variant of the omicron variant of Covid 19 is known as BA2.12.1, apparently. It seems that while several people were infected with Covid 19 after a grid-iron dinner, several more became infected after the White House Correspondent’s dinner. I do hope President Biden doesn’t get this – although if Nancy Pelosi and HM Queen Elizabeth can get it and recover, I guess there’s hope for Joe Biden.

There’s ongoing anger at the Supreme Court (draft) decision to rescind Roe v Wade, allowing legal abortion in the US; it’s now feared that they’ll go after not only abortion medication, but also contraceptives themselves.  Back to the future, girls and women;  how many supposed rights did we win, only to see them being dismantled – politically correct speech, while frustrating, was far better than “free speech”; violence is not, ever, ok; scientists can make mistakes but their proofs are far safer than hunches or hearsay; and many of us preferred some segregation – having separate restrooms, or hospital wards. I remember the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, where they had blue or pink above each rest room. You could choose to be female or male, but not both, at the same time. I thought that was very clever.

Today’s Covid 19 report was better than the last two days, but there are still far too many deaths. There were 7,347 new cases, and 24 deaths.

It’s reported that of today’s deaths, two people were in their 40s; one in their 50s, one in their 60s; seven in their 70s; eight in their 80s and five were aged over 90. The latest deaths spanned the country with one person was from Northland, eight from Auckland; four from Waikato; one from Bay of Plenty; one from Lakes DHB area; one from Taranaki; one from MidCentral; two from the Greater Wellington region; two from Canterbury and three from the Southern region. Thirteen were female and 11 were male. The total is now 845 deaths.

There are 363 people in hospital with the virus, including 18 in intensive care. Today’s breakdown of people in hospital with Covid across New Zealand included Northland: 11; Waitemata: 40; Counties Manukau: 37; Auckland: 60; Waikato: 31; Bay of Plenty: 20; Lakes: 3; Tairāwhiti: 0; Hawke’s Bay: 15; Taranaki: 6; Whanganui: 4; MidCentral: 14; Wairarapa: 1; Hutt Valley: 3; Capital and Coast: 10; Nelson Marlborough: 11; Canterbury: 66; South Canterbury: 4; West Coast: 1 and Southern: 26. The average age of Covid patients in hospital is 57. This has been consistent so far.

It’s reported that new community cases of Covid-19 were detected in: Northland (234), Auckland (2346), Waikato (443), Bay of Plenty (189), Lakes (106), Hawke’s Bay (212), MidCentral (272), Whanganui (83), Taranaki (226), Tairāwhiti (66), Wairarapa (100), Capital and Coast (482), Hutt Valley (185), Nelson Marlborough (254), Canterbury (1261), South Canterbury (99), Southern (721), West Coast (64), and four in unknown locations.

It’s now Saturday May 7^th.

The news is confirmed that Ukrainian forces have sunk another Russian ship; that they have probably made some attacks in Russia itself, such as Belgorov; there are further efforts to evacuate remining citizens in Mariupol; and that fierce fighting continues in Mariupol, but the Ukrainians have not surrendered, so far.

Today’s Covid 19 report is slightly better than in previous days, although it’s hard to find, now. There are officially 6,745 new community cases, and there have been 12 deaths. There are 339 people in hospital, including 15 in Intensive Care. We’re not told where the new infections are.

It’s now Sunday May 8^th.

Unusually, I am woken by the alarm on my phone. I get JD to make a video of me opening my daughter’s present.  There is a beautiful mug, with a beautiful card and some fudge and a sachet of a gingerbread and chocolate flavoured drink – you just add water and stir.  I load the video into Storypark, but when I look later it’s not there, so I load it again.  There was a phone call from her too, but she doesn’t say much – I think she enjoys hearing the sound of my voice.  I went to church, and the minister has diagnosed positive for Covid 19, so again he’s refining his televangelist skills. He does it very well, although he did sound a bit hoarse. We were given flowers and pins to pin them to our clothes.  Actually his wife had Covid 19 just a few weeks ago (perhaps back in March?) There were barely twenty people physically at church. We heard about Tabitha/Dorcas, a female disciple, and then more from the book of Revelation. There was a special morning tea afterwards, to honour the fact that everyone has a mother, but I didn’t go, partly because I wanted to catch a bus home, and partly because I am due to see one of my granddaughters this evening, and therefore I want to limit my exposure. I did go to the supermarket to get some wrapping paper and a bereavement card, and found it very busy. Then I went to catch my bus, only to find it had been cancelled. Plan B was to catch the train, and I walked to the station, only to find I’d just missed the one I’d hoped to catch. So it was a long, slow, journey home, with lots of waiting – but not too cold.

Before the 1 pm Covid 19 report comes out, I learn that Prime Minister Ardern is to isolate at home for 7 days, because her partner, Clarke Gayford, has Covid 19. Today’s report is not too bad, with 5,647 new community cases, but only 3 deaths. There are 350 in hospital, (17 of them in Intensive Care) but the BA.5 variant (I didn’t know there was such a thing) has been detected at the border (again, in a person who had travelled from South Africa).  The BA.4 variant was detected on May 1, also in a person from South Africa.

It’s reported that the arrival of the BA.5 sub-variant in New Zealand is not unexpected and underlines the importance of the rapid antigen testing of all arrivals at day 0/1 and day 5/6 followed by a PCR test of any arrivals who test positive which then allows whole genome sequencing to be done. So now we know.

It’s reported that today’s New Zealand cases are in Northland (129), Auckland (1895), Waikato (353), Bay of Plenty (143), Lakes (77), Hawke’s Bay (176), Mid Central (184), Whanganui (69), Taranaki (131), Tairāwhiti (30), Wairarapa (67), Capital and Coast (424), Hutt Valley (206), Nelson Marlborough (189), Canterbury (914), South Canterbury (83), Southern (523), West Coast (51), Unknown (3). The numbers reported today show that the seven-day rolling average of daily cases has increased slightly since last Sunday. Today the average is 7510; last Sunday it was 7414.

Today it’s reported that all remaining women and children have been evacuated from Mariupol, from the steel plant. The ship that was sunk was the Admiral Makarov. A drone is reported to have struck a landing craft at Snake island.    

In the evening we visited a granddaughter on her birthday, and set up and played the game we had given her. We had a lovely time. How nice that her birthday fell on Mother’s Day this time!  Almost nine tears ago, my eldest granddaughter was born on the (then) Mother’s Day.

It’s now Monday May 9^th.

The main things in the news are the war in Ukraine, (and Putin’s Victory Day celebration on May 9), and the US Supreme Court’s decision that they intend  to reverse Roe v Wade, which had made abortion legal in the US for almost 50 years (since 1973).  As discussions go on, with shock and horror, there is no mention whatsoever of a man’s role in most conceptions, certainly in the majority of pregnancies requiring termination. Surely a man is involved, and should be just as committed to raising the potential child as a women is. But they are so extreme in the US. Some states have trigger laws that will go into effect immediately when Roe v Wade is overturned, permitting almost no exceptions – rape, incest, maternal health, anyone? – to this cruelty. Protesters see it as likely that the abortion pill will be banned, as will contraception.  The feelings of women have no place in this discussion, much less the wrong performed by the male who created this situation. As in the past, white women who can afford the procedure will probably be all right, although technically they’ll be  committing a crime; poorer and/or  black women, the most likely victims of rape, are to bear the child (and the consequences) regardless.  I’m not personally in favour of abortion, but I think it should be safe and legal whenever it happens: a decision between a woman, her God, her doctor, and her family. What monsters these older men are, who think it’s their decision to restrict others’ “freedoms”. I agree with those who think the authority of and respect for the Supreme Court is already much diminished, and will be further so by this decision. Of course it’s not really a surprise, but, like the invasion of Ukraine, it’s shocking when it happens.

In Ukraine, bombing has occurred at a school in Eastern Ukraine, killing 60 civilians, including children. Dr Jill Biden has visited Ukraine.

I am rereading Stalingrad, the huge novel by Russian Jew Vasily Grossman about the Hitler’s attack on Russia, culminating in the deadly battle of Stalingrad. It’s s kind of companion volume to Tolstoy’s War and Peace.  But while this tells of what seems like the Germans’ inexorable advance eastward, I’ve been listening to lots pf podcasts, many about the history of Ukraine, and the progress of the current conflict, but also talking about the disastrous Operation Barbarossa, and how the Germans kept on winning for a time but were massively unprepared for the conditions they would find, and the Russian resistance: this was to prove very strong, and the Russians had the powerful T42 tank and an air force, and despite Stalin’s purges, they were prepared to die, and fought very strongly. To a German, to be sent to the Eastern front was disastrous.  Putin’s current Special Military Operation into Ukraine is being seen as similarly ill-fated, ill-prepared, and not thought-through-properly, although like Hitler’s troops’ movements in the 1940’s, very destructive and brutal indeed. Putin, on the other hand, is also being compared to Stalin, in many of his actions, particularly the way Stalin had treated Ukraine in the 1930’s.  One recent cartoon quipped what if Stalin and Hitler had a baby?

Today’s Covid 19 report wasn’t too bad, although I was prepared for a worse one, given that several people I know have Covid 19 – closer to me than I’m comfortable with. Today there are 6,407 new cases, and two more deaths. That’s considerably less than we’ve been used to for the last few days. There are 368 people in hospital, and 18 in Intensive Care.  Today’s detailed information is not readily available. Three people (incoming passengers from South Africa) have now been diagnosed with the BA.5 omicron subvariant of Covid 19.

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi.

Today is Wednesday May 4^th, 2022. Kia ora.

This morning I got up early and went to hymn singing. It was beautiful – we sang the famous Easter hymn (Christ the Lord is risen today), Blessed Assurance, and Thine be the Glory.  Afterwards I got brave and had morning tea at a café – a long black coffee, and a date scone. Afterwards I caught a bus into town, and bought a birthday present for another granddaughter. Then I caught buses home.

In the US, the 28 page Supreme Court draft opinion by Samuel Alito, on reversing the “egregious” decision to allow legal abortion, dominates newspapers and podcasts.  It’s pointed out that abortion was never in the US Constitution; that it has been a right since 1973; and furthermore, what “right” does this unelected body, the Supreme Court, have to withdraw an existing right? There are big fears that this will lead to complete bans on abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, or danger to the mother’s life; that it will lead to further difficulties in obtaining contraception or abortion tablets; that it will outlaw gay marriage.  People know that abortion will take place, in any case;  surely it should be safe and legal?  I expect that we will have to answer to God for our decisions in this life. Marina Hyde in the UK’s Guardian writes very well under the following title: Through the Trumpian Looking Glass, forcing women to die from illegal abortions is “pro-life”.   

Now that the right-wing have got what they’ve been campaigning for, for years, are they rejoicing?  I haven’t seen any celebrations, so far.  Perhaps the protesting is more fun than winning?  What effects will this leaked opinion have on the mid-term elections?  This opinion is dated February 28. That’s ages ago! We all suspected they were heading this way.

As it turns out, the only person publicly celebrating was Marjorie Taylor Greene. Mitch McConnell was disgusted that the draft opinion had been leaked, and thinks a witch hunt should get underway to find out who leaked the document,

One wonders just why the Right everywhere are so determined to give women a hard time: you’d almost think they didn’t have mothers themselves, but were conceived and raised in petri-dishes. Some one probably endured a great deal of nausea, vomiting, fatigue, general discomfort, needing to pee a lot, and labour pains to various degrees, and that was just before the birth. Then you’ve got swollen breasts, cracked nipples, the need to get one’s figure back, colic, teething, croup, childhood ailments, ongoing fatigue and safety issues, as the child grows up, into a teenager, and then an adult, who is likely to tell you that you’ve done all this wrong. Who’d be a woman?  Who indeed? Well, it’s a privilege to have children, in my view, and they can turn out amazingly well, despite the sacrifices. I was fortunate in that I was able to give birth to wonderful children who have grown into clever and admirable adults and are now having beautiful children of their own.  I’m thankful that while their lives could have been better, they could have been a lot worse.

There’s been a great deal of shocked reaction to this “draft” opinion, which was dated at the end of February and apparently was voted on; of course, with the majority of justices being safely conservative, the majority decision was that it should be overthrown (note it hasn’t been overthrown yet).  There are protests across the US; this has a very “Handmaid’s Tale” feel about it. There are certainly some wonderful fathers around, and their support is greatly valued, but by and large mothers bear the discomforts of pregnancy and childbirth, especially the physical ones, whether or not the outcome is successful in terms of a giving birth to a healthy, normal child. In fact, one usually feels like an incubus, the pregnancy so takes over one’s body.

This morning I listened the Bulwark podcast. Of course, they are obsessed with the Roe v Wade draft opinion (it’s not a decision as yet), but the latter part of the podcast I found very amusing. I didn’t see Benjamin Wittes as a demonstrator (although his Brookings Institute was on Nixon’s enemies list), but this was very funny. He and some others hired a lighting firm to project the Blue and Yellow Ukrainian flag onto the Russian Embassy building in Washington DC. The Russians tried to use spotlights to hide it; the light operator kept moving the projection. The Secret Service helped the demonstrators.  Ben says there’s something further planned for May 9^th. It’ll be Witte (he says, punning on It’ll be Wild). Here’s a link:

https://www.knkx.org/2022-04-14/meet-the-activists-who-projected-a-giant-ukrainian-flag-on-russias-embassy-in-d-c.

I was going to rejoin my singing group on Thursday mornings for term 2 (we cancelled term 1) tomorrow, but having seen today’s Covid 19 report, I’m not so sure that I’ll go. Today’s report is not good, with 8,454 new community cases, and 24 deaths, including a child under 10. These deaths include 12 people who died in the last three days, and 12 people who died since March 5.  One assumes that you seriously don’t want to be so sick that you have to go to hospital, since it seems you’re likely to get Covid 19 there; or perhaps there are deaths from rest home residents. There are 481 people in hospital, including 14 in Intensive Care. I still feel very vulnerable with this amount of illness around.

Of the deaths, it’s reported that one was aged under 10; one was between 10 and 19 years old, two were in their 40s, one in their 50s, two in their 60s, nine in their 70s, five in their 80s and three were aged over 90. Nine of the deceased were from Auckland, four from Waikato, two from Bay of Plenty, one from Whanganui, one from MidCentral, two from the Greater Wellington region, three from Canterbury and two from Southern DHB. Seven were female and 17 were male.

It’s reported that there are new community cases reported in  Northland (222), Auckland (2568), Waikato (501), Bay of Plenty (256), Lakes (142), Hawke’s Bay (278), MidCentral (308), Whanganui (102), Taranaki (245), Tairāwhiti (79), Wairarapa (112), Capital and Coast (614), Hutt Valley (231), Nelson Marlborough (281), Canterbury (1418), South Canterbury (106), Southern (900), West Coast (85), and six in unknown locations. There were 54,210 active cases of Covid-19 across the country on Wednesday.  That’s still quite a lot! Most by far are detected by RAT tests.

Officials also reported an additional 124 cases of Covid-19 detected at the border. One wonders how they are tested, since I thought MIQ was over?

In the US, late show host Jimmy Kimmel has Covid 19; here in New Zealand, Minister of Health Andrew Little is now isolating after a family member tested positive.  It’s still very much around.

On the climate front, there’s a warning that in New Zealand sea level rise is likely to come sooner than expected, because much of New Zealand’s coastal areas are sinking as well. It’s warned that many coastal homes may become uninsurable.  In India and Pakistan, they’re battling heat  waves.  It seems to me that while the need for Russian oil and gas is not so great in summertime as in winter time, if it’s very hot people may well wish to use air conditioning units to cool their environments down.

It’s now Thursday May 5^th.

My Thursday singing sessions resumed this morning.  There was a good turnout, although many of us are still afraid of Covid 19.  I felt this was a risk I was prepared to take, and having said I’d be there, I was reluctant to change my mind. It was lovely, of course;  lovely to be back and see everyone again. Highlights for me were singing Tutira mai ngā iwi, Mull of Kintyre, and Wild Mountain Thyme.

Today’s Covid 19 report was not good: 8,609 new community cases were reported, and 20 deaths, including that of a child under 10. There are 386 people in hospital, including 14 in Intensive Care.

One of the 20 deaths reported on Thursday was under the age of ten. One was aged in their 50s; five were in their 60s; two were in their 70s; seven were in their 80s and four were aged over 90. Three of the deceased were from Auckland; one was from Waikato; five were from Bay of Plenty; two were from Hawke’s Bay; one was from the Greater Wellington region; one was from Nelson-Marlborough, five were from Canterbury and two were from Southern. Twelve were female and eight were male.

New community cases were reported in: Northland (207), Auckland (2796), Waikato (543), Bay of Plenty (237), Lakes (135), Hawke’s Bay (229), MidCentral (347), Whanganui (104), Taranaki (239), Tairāwhiti (68), Wairarapa (88), Capital and Coast (575), Hutt Valley (242), Nelson Marlborough (323), Canterbury (1379), South Canterbury (114), Southern (900), West Coast (76), and seven in unknown locations. The ministry also reported a further 97 Covid-19 cases detected at the border.

It seems to me that case numbers are going up again, while hospitalisations are falling.  The number of deaths continues to be a concern. Last night I listened to two ABC news podcasts (coronacast) saying that at present we’re dealing with sub-variants of the omicron variant of Covid 19; there could well be other variants yet to come; this might be like the flu, where different strains are common each winter, and ever winter we need a new flu jab. Dr Norman Swan also pointed out that statistically the risk of dying is greater now than it was two years ago, in Australasia, but we have added defences like vaccines, drugs to treat coronavirus, and more effective masks.

There is a new book out called The Palace Papers by Tina Brown.  Stories from it are dribbling out, including a story that Meghan Markle hated every second of her and Prince Harry’s Australasian tour shortly after their dramatic wedding.  Well, she certainly smiled for the cameras, and I doubt that she regretted changing into a new dress three times a day, sometimes forgetting to remove the label.  The New Zealand taxpayers shelled out a princely sum for this tour; I expect the proprietors of the Maranui Café in Wellington’s Lyall Bay aren’t best pleased either; even if you’re with Team Harkle (and I am certainly not), you’d have to be a teensy bit upset, I think, that she didn’t even enjoy the tour. I know there was that incident where she left early, and it was said the heat was too much for her; nevertheless, it would have been good manners if she could have been nice about it all. We (almost) all feel cheated now. I was sceptical when they married, but was prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt, that it might turn out better than it has; if I were Archie Mountbatten-Windsor’s sister, I’d be mightily disappointed not to have met the famous great-grandmother she was supposedly named after.

On Monday evening there are two attractions, requiring some bravery. One is a showing (a film of the Metropolitan Opera in New York) of Mussorgsky’s opera, Boris Godunov, at the Penthouse Theatre, with a special dinner – Chicken Kiev, as well; the other is a concert at St Paul’s Cathedral with members of the NZSO and the Tudor Consort playing – for Ukraine.  Both of these are very tempting – I hope I get to go to one of them.

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi.

Today is Friday April 29^th 2022. Kia ora.

I slept well last night, and it’s been a good day.  The weather continues to be fine and warm, although it’s cold in the nights and mornings. I changed the sheets and towels, and then went with JD for an appointment in Thorndon. After this we had lunch at La Cloche, where I had a salmon and leek tart with salad, and we shared a beautiful cake with an almond flavour.

In the afternoon someone came from Access to do some cleaning. I’m enjoying reading my new Anne Tyler novel, French Braid.

Today’s Covid 19 report is so-so, with 8,242 new community cases, and 14 deaths. There are 480 people in hospital and 15 of them are in Intensive Care.

On Friday night we watched a strange film called Windfall on one of the streaming giants. The female lead was the woman who starred in Emily in Paris (a series I found extremely annoying).

On Saturday, another fine day, JD had an appointment in Karori. Afterwards, we enjoyed a very nice lunch at the Gipps St Deli.  I had quiche and salad. Normally I’m weary of quiche, but this was really nice. I also had a chocolate caramel slice, also delicious: I took most of it home to finish later. Then we went to the Warehouse in Porirua. There was a special on woollen slippers, which I need, so I tried some on, and JD tried some on too, since it was two pairs for $18 – an unbelievably low price. We move to the checkout, only to find we had too queue up for self checkout. The slipper special turned out not to apply – we’d got the wrong things. I didn’t want to go back – there were many people by that time, and I was very tired, so we let it go, but I was angry about the misleading signage.

The Covid 19 report wasn’t too bad, with 7,043 new community cases, and 7 deaths.  The Washington Post reports that formerly unvaccinated older adults were dying, but now the vaccinated elderly are dying too. I couldn’t read the rest of the article, so don’t know any more than that. I’m not sure how many people were in hospital, but as I recall there were 15 in Intensive Care, down from previous numbers.

On Sunday morning I went to church. There would have been barely 30 people there, but we had the organ, and it was marvellous. We sang Immortal, Invisible, This is the Day, Come Thou long expected Jesus, and There is a Redeemer. One of the texts was the famous story in Acts of Saul/Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus.  There is that wonderful bit where Ananias, sent to him, says Saul, brother; and this was a zealous young man who actively sought out Christians in order to destroy them, and had sat by while Stephen was stoned.

 Afterwards I caught a bus back to Johnsonville.  Later this week my Thursday morning singing starts up again, after cancelling term one.

Today it’s reported that there are 5,646 new community cases of Covid 19, and 6 further deaths. There’ve now been 750 deaths from Covid 19 (or with Covid 19). It’s also reported that someone from overseas has tested positive for an omicron sub-variant BA.4, not hitherto found in New Zealand. There are 466 people in hospital, including 16 in Intensive Care.

Case numbers in each DHB were as follows: Northland (139), Auckland (606), Waikato (341), Bay of Plenty (175), Lakes (116), Hawke’s Bay (149), MidCentral (202), Whanganui (64), Taranaki (149), Tairāwhiti (99), Wairarapa (58), Capital and Coast (360), Hutt Valley (152), Nelson Marlborough (222), Canterbury (931), South Canterbury (118), Southern (625), West Coast (74), Unknown (6). There were 62 cases at the border.  The numbers are certainly taking a while to wind right down; while New Zealand is well past this peak, it’s taking ages for the numbers to dwindle right away.

With regard to the war in Ukraine, I’ll try to condense the facts that have made an impression on me in the last few days. The head of the UN, Antony Gutierrez, went to Kyiv, after visiting Putin in Moscow, and the Russians shelled Kyiv while he was there. I guess it’s a good thing that he went, but I’ve heard it said he didn’t condemn the war forcefully enough. There are also issues over whether the Ukrainians are grateful enough for the support they’re receiving, mainly from the US, where President Biden continues to ask Congress for large sums of money to support Ukraine, both militarily and from a humanitarian perspective. There is discussion about offensive as opposed to defensive weaponry. It seems the US has now accepted that Ukraine may “win” this conflict – although what winning means has not really been defined. It made a big difference for US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin to go to Kyiv; also, many countries, including the US, are setting up embassies there again. It seems the Ukrainians are still having victories in small skirmishes, but heavy fighting continues in Donbas and the Donbas regions in the East of Ukraine.  It also seems that the Russians have captured several more small towns and deported more Ukrainians into Russia. Several people have commented on Putin’s brutality, comparing it to that of Stalin. The threat of nuclear war is ever present.

It’s now Tuesday May 3^rd.

Yesterday on Monday I got a lift into town with JD and went to see The Duke, starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren. Actually I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected: it seemed really slow-moving to start with, and the desperate poverty and living conditions and general cruelty seemed very sad.  It was diverting, however, and nice to get out. There were only 3 other people in the theatre, so I felt quite safe.

It’s reported that there are 9,109 new community cases of Covid-19 today and 20 related deaths.  There are 481 people in hospital, including 10 in ICU.

One person was from Northland, one from Auckland, two from Waikato, two from Bay of Plenty, four from Tairāwhiti, four from the Greater Wellington region, five from Canterbury and one from Southern. One person was in their 50s, three in their 60s, three in their 70s, eight in their 80s and five were aged over 90. Of the people who have died, 12 were women and eight were men.

The locations of today’s community cases are Northland (266), Auckland (2678), Waikato (547), Bay of Plenty (280), Lakes (167), Hawke’s Bay (283), MidCentral (365), Whanganui (121), Taranaki (249), Tairāwhiti (88), Wairarapa (89), Capital and Coast (437), Hutt Valley (433), Nelson Marlborough (332), Canterbury (1586), South Canterbury (161), Southern (947) and the West Coast (78). The locations of two cases are unknown.

The 481 cases in hospital are in Northland (30), Waitematā (75), Counties Manukau (70), Auckland (90), Waikato (33), Bay of Plenty (27), Lakes (two), Hawke’s Bay (11), Taranaki (four), Whanganui (one), MidCentral (eight), Wairarapa (one), Hutt Valley (five), Capital and Coast (13), Nelson Marlborough (nine), Canterbury (70), South Canterbury (three), West Coast (one) and the Southern region (28).

Meanwhile, 128 Covid-19 cases have been detected at the border. 128!

Yesterday there 6636 new cases in the community and seven people died with the virus – this brings the total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 to 757. There were 480 people in hospital, including 12 in ICU or HDU.

In Ukraine, some people were able to evacuate safely from Mariupol, but the Russians started shelling again as soon as they were gone.  Reports are conflicted, as ever; the Ukrainians are having success with preventing Russian forces from achieving their war aims, whatever they are; but Russian troops are still inflicting lots of damage and doing lots of harm. It seems some Ukrainians have been forcibly repatriated to Russia.  Who are they, and where have they gone?  It could be very difficult to track this down sometime in the future. Nancy Pelosi has made a visit to Kyiv, and promised more aid until the job is done. Some in the US are saying it was a good thing for her to go there, but it should have been bipartisan.  The EU is trying to draw up a plan to get agreement to reduce its dependence on Russian oil and gas.

In China, a mass evacuation centre has opened in Beijing; evidently wanting to avoid the protests in Shanghai, the government has closed restaurants and schools and limited access to some facilities, but has thus far avoided a complete lockdown.  You have to show evidence of a negative test to use public transportation. Facilities in evacuation centres aren’t great – no one wants to go there.  It seems many people diagnosed positive are asymptomatic, which is perhaps unusual.  There hasn’t been much of it here. Apparently cases are surging again in South Africa (and in New York). South Africa has seen variants of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. The two people diagnosed here with the BA4 subvariant both flew here from South Africa. Should we be more afraid, than we already are?  We are reassured (for now) by Those Who Should Know about these things. Are we ever going to be free from the coronavirus? I doubt it, now. Initially I said This Too Shall Pass; I have my doubts, now. It has totally changed our lives.

In the US, a document leaked by Politico claims that the US Supreme Court has voted to strike down Roe vs Wade, thus ending legal abortion in the US, unless individual states elect to make it available in their own state. In Georgia, a long-awaited grand jury is being convened to look into Trump’s phone call to Brad Raffensberger.

That’s it for now Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi.