From The Strait Times paper, out of Singapore The Straits Times 24 Nov 2021 Linette Lai Political Correspondent linettel@sph.com.sg As Singapore turns the tide in its fight against Covid-19, it must not allow the differences that have emerged during the pandemic to become permanent divides that affect its politics, said…
Making a more responsive primary care health sector
It was with a lot of sadness I read on the Weekend Herald on 13 November 2021, about a grieving daughter whose father died a painful death at home 12 days after contracting Covid-19. The father had tried to get medical help but was told from the sources advocated by…
Totally over mask wearing
I’m so doubley-dosed with vaccine. Why do I need to wear a mask? I’m totally sick and tired of all of the government’s COVID-19 rules, and I’m over labour’s nanny state. The worst thought is there’s another two years worth of her hell before I can cast my vote to…
All Hail Pressreader.com!
Here’s a GREAT app / website: https://www.pressreader.com/catalogI found Pressreader through the Hutt City Library who have a library-wide subscription allowing their members free access to the world’s papers.For all those current-events interested persons who are sick of Radio New Zealand’s sycophantically-biased selection of news content, Pressreader allows readers to triangulate…
Wolves in sheep’s clothing
The government’s Three Waters reform is wiffy. Seriously wiffy that not all looks as it seem, sometimes milk masquerades as cream. Phil Goff, current Auckland Mayor, ex-labour party leader and a long term pinko-socialist isn’t towing the party line over the government’s Three Waters reform. I can imagine this is…
Frontier Firms, Entrepreneurial Credit and Housing Inequality
There’s a couple of ideas swirling around my head at the moment, stimulated by MOTU’s paper on New Zealand Frontier Firms, and Bob Jones’s observation here: That fate may still await us if we don’t open the immigration doors. The average age of European kiwis is 40, that is past an…
Better data storytelling
There is no such thing as truthThere are only stories. And everyone has their own version. For example, when talking about why the sun rises, over the ages there have been many many different stories people believed to be true.The Greeks and the Aztecs thought the sun to be a…
My life is full of non-single use, non-disposable bags…
One of the first things 2017’s Labour / Greens / New Zealand First coalition government did was strongly signal its “green credentials”. First cab off the ranks was stopping new offshore drilling oil permits. The second cab off the ranks was, oddly, single use disposable plastic bags…. Rejoicing in the…
Living on a completely different housing planet
I wish I could tag-out of New Zealand’s property market. What a mess! Here’s something I recently read from Singapore. Not only did their equivalent of our Reserve Bank governer take personal and professional responsibility for an overpriced housing market, but a sniff of an “overheated” housing market is one…
Human Rights Commission: This wasn’t really a report about migrants, was it…?
Here’s a seriously dodgy publication put out recently by the Human Rights Commission: Drivers of Migrant New Zealanders experiences of racismFrom its forward, Meng Foon writes: Findings from Stats NZ’s General Social Survey indicate that people born outside of Aotearoa report higher rates of discrimination compared with those born in…
Got a new cat 🐱
Meet Marco 😁
Fair pay agreements are bad policy for everyone
As Michael Wood steps into his Delorean to take us Back to the Future with this government’s labour relations agreements, he’s setting New Zealand on a crash course to the worst industrial relations policy New Zealand had to offer from the 1970’s and 1980’s. Here’s something I’ve written previously.
On budgets and band aids..
Lots of writing by the talking heads in the media about the government’s up coming budget. The Word on the Street is summerised nicely by former Nayland College old boy class mate of mine, Bryce Edwards. Writing for that hand-wringingly leftish, rainbow-coloured, de-colonised state broadcaster RNZ, Bryce advises Jacinda and…
Another great New Zealand legend bows deeply, and exits stage left…
Sadly, today a New Zealand comedy legend and icon of my early life, David McPhail, died. David joins a sadly long list of New Zealand greats…
Colonialism in sport: email to Newsroom
From: james@jameshogan.nz Sent: Wednesday, 12 May 2021 12:59 pm To: ‘mark.jennings@newsroom.co.nz’ ; ‘tim.murphy@newsroom.co.nz’ Subject: Woman’s rugby as a process of colonisation?Hi Mark and Tim,I was reading Ashley Stanley’s article on woman’s sports (https://www.newsroom.co.nz/lockerroom/womens-rugby) and was interested in the connection made between where the professional game is now between the genders,…
Happy Birthday to Me!
Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday dear Jamesie… Happy birthday to me! I share my birthday with famous people like Rosie Collins and Abigail Phillips! This one’s not a significant birthday but next year is. I’m thinking a cocktail party next year… 🎉🎊🥳
The Giver and the Gift, by Judith Gouin (Judith Hogan)
My mother wrote a book back in about 1996. Here it is in its entirety The Giver and the Gift book 1cc The Giver and the GiftJudith GouinDedication: This book is dedicated to all my sons – Gregory, Adam, Marcus and James, with all my love.PART ONE A thick mist…
The Rimutaka Rail Trail
I finally got back on my bike yesterday to do some decent kilometers in the saddle. John Keene and I decided we’d ride the Rimutaka Rail Trail.IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT It WAS a dark and stormy night! I woke up at 2:00am with the sound of rain…
Fill your Mind
Back in the day, when the internet wasn’t behind a firewall, you could download and listen to all of Berkeley University’s first year lectures.I used to download all of these onto my MP3 player, and go cycling for 2-3 hours, feeding both body and mind.I’ve found they’ve archived all the…
Finding beauty in the small things
Sometimes…. The morning dishes can look like a Japanese garden water feature…