Author: telboy2

A reminder of aging

Boxing day in the sun. After a Christmas day spent at home with lots of food and the company of the children,this morning involved a communal run along the waterfront. From the needle by St. Pats to Point Jerningham in the sunshine, though little wind, we ran. A beautiful way to spend a beautiful morning despite the physical discomfort.

There was an eye opener.Age is catching me. Finally all three children were able to out run me. The peak is well gone though one must keep going. I was pleased to do the the 7.5Km in particular, that the foot injury was quiet.

All again tomorrow.

 

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The Messiah

Saturday evening comprised our annual trip to  see the choral event of the Christmas season. The first time we went to see a performance was a long time ago at the Albert Hall. Since we have lived in Wellington we ave been maybe close to ten times. This one was quite a big event as it was being held at the Michael Fowler Centre. The NZSO and I presume big soloists and a famous conductor. Not famous to me but that does not count.

Unfortunately we found the performance a bit flat. We were sitting at the sides of the stalls ans so under the upper level which may  have blocked out so of the sound. Was the choir a bit small? The male voices seemed a little overpowered by the the female ones. I found the conductor a little ‘showy’.

Handels Messiah

So good but not great.

Sara requested that we go see it a performance in New York. Nice idea but not easy.

NZ hits the front page of the BBC website again over the flag

New Zealand chooses new flag as preliminary winner – BBC News

New Zealand chooses new flag as preliminary winnerThe design titled Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue) came out topsNew Zealanders have picked a blue and black design with the silver fern as the preliminary winner in a referendum on a possible new national flag.The runner-up is a similar-looking red, white and blue design.The final result will be announced on Tuesday after late and overseas votes are counted, and may change as the winning margin is narrow.A second referendum will be held in March to decide whether to adopt the new flag, or keep the existing one.

Source: New Zealand chooses new flag as preliminary winner – BBC News

About 50% turnout and effectively 10% of votes spoiled.

I do not like this design though slight less painful on the eye than the similar “weet-bix” flag.

Maybe the debate will heat up now that there will be a clear choice between the current and the alternative.

Wellington hits The Guardian

 

48 hours in Wellington, New Zealand: where to go, what to do

It’s cool-as, cute, culinarily blessed and compact. Wherever you are in the Kiwi capital, chances are you’re a 10-minute stroll from the next place you want to be

 

It’s cool-as, cute, culinarily blessed and compact. Wherever you are in the Kiwi capital, chances are you’re a 10-minute stroll from the next place you want to be

Source: 48 hours in Wellington, New Zealand: where to go, what to do

Do not fall into a trap

A thoughtful perspective highlighting the risk of our reflex actions.

Terror can only succeed with our cooperation | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | The Guardian

The warlike response to the Paris massacre by western governments, the media and the rest of the world has answered the dreams of Islamic State ‘The French are bombing the Isis captial Raqqa, doubtless proving that bombs from the air kill the innocent as effectively as guns on the ground.’

Think what your enemy wants you to do, and do the opposite. No maxim of war is so ignored.Since last Friday’s killings in Paris, the world has answered the dreams of Islamic State. It has drenched their deeds in fame, glorified its perpetrators with vilification and defined them as warriors not murderers. Deeds of the most squalid horror have been “nationalised” then internationalised. The whole world has been drawn into Isis’s web of fear. Its wildest fantasies have been realised.

The potency of terror lies not in the act but in the aftermath. The act is death and destruction, horrendous in itself. The response is what gives it political traction. As with Osama bin Laden on 9/11, Isis wants the world to go berserk, declare emergencies, tear up freedoms, persecute moderate Muslims and bomb Muslim cities. By capitulating to these desires, the west has vastly increased the power of the terror – and the likelihood of imitation.

Source: Terror can only succeed with our cooperation | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | The Guardian

Response to violence

Of course the events in France are making lots of headlines. Much of the response to the events is in terms of more violence. There have been French airstrikes in Syria. Francois Hollande talks of destroying IS (Etat islamique), that France is at war, that the number of police will be increased and that there will be no reduction in the armed forces.

There is currently a state of emergency in place that gives greater powers to the state for, I believe, a period of three months. President Hollande wants to change the constitution to give more powers permanently.

Etat d’urgence et article 16 : pourquoi Hollande veut-il réviser la Constitution ?

Le Monde.fr | • Mis à jour le

François Hollande veut réformer la Constitution en s’inspirant du comité Balladur de 2007, qui proposait d’inscrire l’état d’urgence dans la Constitution.
François Hollande veut réformer la Constitution en s’inspirant du comité Balladur de 2007, qui proposait d’inscrire l’état d’urgence dans la Constitution. PASCAL ROSSIGNOL / REUTERS

Le chef de l’Etat a évoqué, lundi devant le Congrès, une vaste révision de la Constitution pour « permettre aux pouvoirs publics d’agir conformément à l’Etat de droit contre le terrorisme de guerre ». François Hollande veut réformer la Constitution en s’inspirant notamment du comité Balladur de 2007, qui proposait d’y inscrire l’état d’urgence. Une source gouvernementale a évoqué la création d’un un régime constitutionnel d’« état de crise »et d’un « visa de retour »pour les Français ou résidents en France qui seraient « impliqués dans des activités terroristes à l’étranger ».

Brings to mind(taken from John Naughton blog):

“Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”

― Benjamin Franklin