A strange story in the Kapiti News about an incident in Peka Peka is below.  Burglars don’t usually present themselves to their intended victim(s).

We can only repeat the recommendations made earlier that you should try to get photos (an audio-visual recording is the ideal) of shady characters in or near your property and their vehicle(s) and send these to your Neighbourhood Watch coordinator and the police.

“Smile, you’re zapped!”  A sign in our front entrance to let all callers know they get their picture taken.

So in the spirit of trans-Tasman friendship, here is a picture of one of Australia’s prettiest towns, Leura in Blue Mountains, 100 km from Downtown Sydney, a pic taken in spring.  Visitor website

A series of lessons for one at any rate.  Presumably, the first performance will be later in the year.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is well known, but if you’ve not seen one of their performances, here is their version of the theme to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Thursday clashes with the council meeting; although the lecture may be more enlightening. 🙂

Donald Trump has long been an opponent of free trade agreements — in the 1980s he took out full page newspaper ads in New York criticizing Ronald Reagan on the subject — so it’s no surprise scuttling TPP was on his priority list and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is also in his sights.

Lots of American manufacturers and their workers have seen big retailers like Walmart replace US-made products with container-shiploads from China. And, naturally, if wages south of the border are only 20% of what they are in the US, it makes sense to move manufacturing there, which plenty of manufacturers have.  In the US north-east to mid-west you see just as many abandoned factories as you do in Eastern Europe.

However, technology is just as big if not a bigger factor in job losses than industrial relocation to the Third World.

An anti-free trade stance is actually traditional Democrat ideology and contrary to Republican ideology. Trade protection was the policy pursued by governments of both parties in NZ from the late 1930s to the Rogernomics era of the 1980s when several industries, including car assembly, vanished.

The problem is that while trade protection may create jobs, it also makes the products more expensive and thus less affordable for workers.

The lesson learned the hard way by a lot of entrepreneurs following Rogernomics is that if you can’t compete on price, then you have to compete on quality; that’s now going to be even more important than before.

The US is NZ’s fourth largest trading partner after Australia, China and the EU collectively (including the UK), and although it only represents about 12% of total trade, that’s not insignificant.

A lesson from history after Britain joined the EU in 1973 is that if traditional markets suddenly close themselves to what you have to sell, then you have to go door knocking to develop new ones.

Regarding other aspects of the change in the US Presidency, it’s probable that dramas in the US centre of power are going to heat up with Trump, dominate the news even more than before — and distract attention from local issues, which really affect people’s lives more directly. We’ll do our bit to try to counter that.

From the stuff website

A bus service from Levin to Waikanae is set to roll out for a two-year trial period.

After the wheels almost came off when the Greater Wellington Regional Council did not include it in its passenger transport plan in August 2016, the bus service is now ready to move from March 7.

The bus route crosses a regional boundary and now Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Council were now both contributing $12,500 a year toward the project.

Horizons transport planner Jayme Anderson said the joint venture, operated by Uzabus, will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The service was timed to connect with the Metro trains into Wellington and provided a way for Levin shoppers to get to Waikanae.

Horowhenua District Council community services manager Denise Kidd said the Older Persons Network supported increased affordable and accessible public transport options such as the Levin-to-Waikanae service.

“[Transport] is a particular issue for older people living in the Horowhenua district,” Kidd said.

The council was not funding the service, but it looked forward to the service starting in March, Kidd said.

SuperGold Card holders could travel for free between 9am to 3pm and from 6.30pm on weekdays, as well as on weekends and public holidays.

We have previously proposed a diesel railcar service between Waikanae and Palmerston North, and think that is preferable to this proposal — but it’s better than nothing.

An article from the Kapiti News follows.  The Spring rains which have yet to stop have swollen the flow of the river above normal — and quite a lot of branches have followed. (VUWTC pic)

Gliding down the steady flow of the Waikanae River, Amanda Gibbons watched from her raft as her son followed closely behind on an inflatable donut ring, the branches of nearby trees brushing them as they passed.

Moments later, however, the pair were thrown into sudden and fast-flowing rapids.

Unable to stop, Gibbons was pushed towards a fallen tree spanning the width of the stream, opposite the Greenaway Rd entrance to the Waikanae River.

Full article

There’s been no need so far this summer for garden sprinklers or hosing so Dougherty’s revenue from the water meters will be down; and the last few days have seen a ‘weather bomb’.  While it’s no comfort to know others are in the same situation, an article in the LA Times starts:-

The briefing papers for the council meeting of 26 January next contain this draft submission from the council to the central government, for councilors’ approval.

The Rates Rebate Scheme is for low income property owner-occupiers who get rebates on their rates to a maximum of about $700 a year at present; this is administered by the councils around the country — but refunded to them by the central government.

Retirement village residents in ‘licence to occupy’ villages don’t get these as they are not owners — they are effectively renters, paying effectively a bond to the property company of the whole value of the house/flat at the time they move in; they (or their heirs) get it back when they leave, less hefty ‘refurbishment’ fees.  They also pay normal monthly rentals to the property company.

But — it is revealed in paragraph 11 of this submission that the KCDC gives rebates to such people anyway of up to $150 per resident.  This is news to us.

We will enquire of the KCDC what precisely it donates to the residents of these villages, also if the property businesses (Summerset, Ryman, Metlife etc.) also get any direct concessions on what rates normal property owners have to pay.

The response will be reported on here.