Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: An open thread while I'm down with #OGB

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  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Sacha,

    So if the NZ dollar drops to say 75 US cents what will happen to our fuel prices? And what will be the flow on costs to the CPI?

    I know in rough terms we'll be f'd but I was wondering if anyone has a spreadsheet that could estimate that - Keith????

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Anyone want a coffee some time?

    I'll buy you a drink or two at the blend.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to Rich Lock,

    Mocking with love, Recordari. With love. :)

    And because he didn't sell me his Atomic (yes ,I need 2 alright) I went out and got a Gaggia. Making a bloody nice cuppa I must say.:)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,

    And because he didn't sell me his Atomic

    Heh! I recall the offer being open. But then I'd only have one, and that would be... fewer?

    Cheers Rich. Am hoping the lurgy goes away sufficiently before then. Otherwise it will be mock-tales [sic] for me. ;-)

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso, in reply to Rich Lock,

    I actually use a Bialetti stovetop. Although I've started calling the man in the logo drawing 'Gio'.

    Hah! His actual name is L'omino coi baffi (the little mustachioed man) and he's a movie star.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    But could the residents have readily left? From the account of the family member in the Spectrum Care book trying to get her older brother out in the 1980s was not possible.She talks about being only allowed to take him out for a short time and the distress of both of them when she had to take him back.

    Good question, though as you might have noticed I mentioned in my earlier post about an inmate who left to work as a shepherd. That went on all the time, some actually moved out when they were deemed able to, while others worked during the day and continued to live at Kimberley.

    There was a lot of industry in Levin then, and also a horticultural research station over the road. One of their best prospects got a tractor driving job there. A lot was expected of him, possibly because of his movie star good looks, but he took the corner off their new brick office block on his first day.

    Because Levin accomodated/was a dumping ground for everyone from newborn babies to the elderly, naturally the rules varied. Obviously bedridden endocephalics who required intensive care weren't about to scarper. It was also the place where NZ's last congenital hypothyroid cretin ended her days.

    Accomodation ranged from hospital wards through dormitories, to the privileges of having your own room.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    L'omino coi baffi

    That is clappity inducing awesome. Thanks.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Kate Hannah, in reply to Russell Brown,

    And everyone but John Key can remember the answer.

    I was four. But I 'marched' in my red and white striped mothercare buggy. And I still recall a first year New Zealand history class, maybe in 1999 or 2000 when the whole rest of the class (a few years younger than me, admittedly) referenced sport and rugby as key and critical positive aspects of Pakeha culture. The lecturer, Dr Jeanine Graham, came up to me afterwards and said: "they don't remember the Tour or its aftermath." For me, the Tour has loomed large, and, I imagine, informed my interest in and study of the ways in which cultures and countries describe and remember the traumatic past.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2010 • 107 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Some of the saddest stories I've read are by those who were severely physically disabled and also non-verbal. Very vulnerable and a universal assumption that they were also intellectually impaired. I've been to two conference presentations by such people relating their experience of institutionalisation. Very powerful.

    On the other hand I have a young and prolific Facebook and Twitter friend who has a similar very high level of impairment and also does not use spoken words. Yet he lives with his mother, goes to school, plays music, has the freedom of the neighbourhood (as much as you can in a power chair with very limited personal mobility), and has an active social media life. So better is possible.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Musical corporate culture (via Gemma Gracewood).

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace, in reply to Kate Hannah,

    In 1981 there were several of us young mothers who took our babies on the marches in those striped buggies. But things got nasty at Molesworth Street and we didn't take them after that as it was too dangerous (that night we escaped and went home to watch the royal wedding, but I remember the shock of seeing women's bloodied faces under the streetlights). After that the fathers and friends regularly padded up with newspapers and bike helmets and it was quite an anxious wait until they came home again. Last Friday night there was a '81 Molesworth Street tour reunion. My daughter went along to hear first hand what she had participated in. And the current Sth African ambassador talked about what it had meant for them.

    But what struck me most about it all was how young the anti-tour protesters had been then, and how brave, staunch and how organised they were (and without cellphones or computers).

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Leopold, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    Was on every march in Wellington EXCEPT Molesworth Street. Previous Saturday we had blocked the motorway - no one thought of wearing helmets then - After reports of Molesworth came through we started wearing them...

    Since Jan 2007 • 153 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    I wasn't old enough to experience 1981, but had I been, I would have been firmly on the anti-Tour side.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    I was 10 during the Tour and remember almost entirely vicariously. Watching the field invasion live, and Dad explaining what it was all about. He then explained at dinner how he felt about it, that it was a very hard choice, given that he both loved rugby and had strong opinions against law breaking, and found it very hard to see the police as an enemy, his best friend being a cop. Also he worked for the government. Yet he decided that he was against the tour because the cause was righteous and the government needed to listen. He attended every march in Auckland in whatever the "medium danger" crowd was, basically trying to push the police backwards with weight of numbers was his description.

    Years later he was called for jury duty in a case against a bunch of people arrested and charged with inciting a riot during the Eden Park protests. He was not sure whether he should be required to excuse himself from the case, when during the evidence he saw himself in some of the prosecution footage. But the judge directed the jury wisely, stating simply that he knew that the Tour had been extremely divisive and that people would have many opinions about it, and that they need not fear that having been involved with protesting excluded them, indeed, one of the main reasons for juries was so that such people could be fairly represented in the justice system. Furthermore, none of that should be relevant to what they were then to decide upon, which was about whether the accused had actually incited a riot, a crime with quite a high threshold and severe penalties. Dad argued quite strenuously that this threshold had not been met and managed to convince all of the jurors to acquit all of the defendants.

    For me and the other ten year olds, it was our first memories of any political consciousness, brought home by the broken noses and black eyes and broken arms of our parents, but also the amazing sense of unity produced by it, the feeling of a righteous struggle that could actually be won. I often wonder where that feeling has gone in NZ politics - the apathy everywhere is depressing.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    In the winter of 1981, I was 34, didnt have a vehicle, and was working at the Franz Post Office, commuting from Big O courtesy my neighbour.

    We knew about the protests, were very much for them and anti-tour, but what could I do?

    About midway through the tour, word reached us that the Springboks were to have a an r&r...in Franz.

    A whole 5 of us (4 women and one a wonderful solitary male) gathered with our protest notices ("We neither support the tour, nor welcome you to the Coast")
    at the THC boundary - entrance to the village of Franz. About 40 locals gathered across from us, holding up their welcome signs (they had every right to do that of course) - and shouting abuse at us. A group of 5 males took it into their heads
    to come across and attempt to bull us off. The languages & sentiments they used were vile (the male was, gasp, a known artist.) One grabbed at the nearest sign - which happened to be mine.

    He may have thought I'd swing the sign at him. I didnt, It was a sign that took up the top third of my manuka pole. The pole was smoked, seasoned, and had a adze-shaped point. It was my fighting stick (I know how to use a bo.)
    I brought the stick up to his throat level and started moving forward.
    He moved back - and the bus with the Springboks aboard came up the straight.

    I never spoke to several of the people in that mob again. Asides from "Yes" or "No" at the PO...

    I know exactly what side I was on, and where I was, in the only protest I could take part in.

    Incidentally, the local cop, who had been rung by one of the Franz welcome group, had better things to do with his time than turn up.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace, in reply to Leopold,

    That motorway one was quite fun. Just near where we lived. Trevor Richards updating the crowd via a loud hailer as he was listening on a transistor radio to events elsewhere (was that the Hamilton game?). Wonder what the protest technology of 2041 will be?

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    if the NZ dollar drops to say 75 US cents what will happen to our fuel prices?

    In 2000, bulk gasoline was about 64% of pump petrol costs. You've also got the refinery mark up in there (something amusingly called the crack spread) - I'm guessing maybe 50% of todays pump price is crude,.

    Which means that if the oil price stayed the same and the NZ dollar dropped by 20%, the price of petrol would rise around 10%. It might be a bit less than that, given that the oil price probably factors in the rate between USD and other world currencies.

    How much that affects inflation in the short and medium term is hard to judge. You need an econometrician.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Kate Hannah, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    My parents marched in Hamilton - but left the march before the game was famously stopped - they had me, 4, my brother, 7 and my sister was 'on the way' - so decided it was not the best environment for all those small children. Many of their friends (my dad worked - in fact still does - at the university) were those kept on, bloodied and not bowed. yes, the level of passion and organisation was impressive - a forebear of other protests mentioned upthread: the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior looms large in my psyche, as does the 1984 election - we taught my 2 year old sister to say Piggy everytime Muldoon appeared on screen. My parents partied into the night when Lange was elected .....

    Auckland • Since Mar 2010 • 107 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    You need an econometrician

    Yeah someone must have a spreadsheet that calculates that. Which is why I was hoping Keith might know.

    It's also more complex than just Oil. CPI also includes imported consumer goods (I think). So they should respond directly to changes in the dollar but how much of an effect that has on CPI I don't know, again there must be a spreadsheet or ten lurking somewhere.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Islander,

    Incidentally, the local cop, who had been rung by one of the Franz welcome group, had better things to do with his time than turn up.

    Brilliant.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace,

    My father's cousin (Dr Rogers - former MP) had the safe house in Hamilton. He had to do a lot of bandaging and his wife a lot of comforting.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    Some of the saddest stories I've read are by those who were severely physically disabled and also non-verbal. Very vulnerable and a universal assumption that they were also intellectually impaired. I've been to two conference presentations by such people relating their experience of institutionalisation. Very powerful.

    A little incident my mother described more than once, which I guess was some indication of how it had affected her. During WW2 when she'd just started work at Templeton (she'd wanted to train as a midwife) she'd been given the task of dealing with a group of the kind of people you describe. They'd just arrived from a home at Nelson that had been closed due to the demands of the war, and she had only a "trusty" older male patient to help her make them comfortable for the night on mattresses laid on the floor. She happened to catch the eye of one who would have been only a boy, just as the older guy said that the best way to deal with them would be to "exterminate them with a flamethrower." While he might not have understood the precise meaning, she could tell that he certainly got the sentiment.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to recordari,

    Heh! I recall the offer being open. But then I'd only have one, and that would be... fewer?

    I recall it had no steamer. That was the problem I faced. Anyway My Gaggia Titanium is a treat. You go on your way with you coffee collectables :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Kate Hannah, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    I worked with Cathy Colebourne http://www.waikato.ac.nz/wfass/subjects/history/people/catharine/ years ago on an oral history project for Tokonui - it was an honour to meet and record stories of former patients and former staff. It may be my bias, given that I'm a lover of words, and stories, but the opportunity to tell our stories about the past, about past trauma, seems to me so important. I'm loving the memories being posted here - the tears turned to words.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2010 • 107 posts Report Reply

  • Kate Hannah, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    Rufus Rogers? I interviewed him in oh, 2004/2005 when I was working on some stuff to do with the university's history.....

    Auckland • Since Mar 2010 • 107 posts Report Reply

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