from redacted.inc

Ukrainians have been turned away from entering Germany. What happened to open arms to all Ukrainians? 

According to a German newspaper, “German authorities have turned away 5,935 Ukrainians who were trying to illegally cross the country’s borders from January through September 2024.” 

Germany was a top destination for Ukrainians when the conflict with Russia began in 2022 but Germany is also busy accepting migrants from the Middle East now too. They have accepted a reported total of “2.67 million and 1.93 million in 2022 and 2023 respectively.” 

Is it any coincidence then that Germany’s economy is utter scheiße [shit]?

 Last week, the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast and said that the German economy would stagnate this year even though they had previously predicted a 0.2% growth. 

“At the moment we are not as successful as we should be and as we used to be in the European Union,” said German Finance Minister Christian Lindner. 

As European analyst Ralph Shoellhammer put it: “It is not that Germans are getting lazier, but they are demoralized by a government that is perceived to support everyone except hard-working (or willing to do so) Germans.” 

by Geoffrey Churchman

Eva and I were invited yesterday to a morning tea with about 20 Waikanae National Party members to hear what progress has been made on central government issues that affect locals in the past 12 months. The topics can be summarized as Healthcare Facilities, Transport and Education.

They are non-partisan topics and I imagine the same questions and discussion would happen among Labour Party members.

Healthcare: it’s unlikely Kapiti will get its own hospital within 10 years, the problem isn’t only cost but a shortage of nurses and doctors to staff one. We’ve already seen the Waikanae beach medical centre close because of this shortage. One guy mentioned that he had a severe nose-bleed one night and called an ambulance: one wasn’t available, so his wife drove him to Kenepuru Hospital. “You could die from this, you need to go to Emergency in Wellington,” he was told there. But another woman who had a heart attack had more success, an ambulance showed up in 10 minutes and she was in Wellington in another 25 minutes. Another guy suggested a private-public partnership could build a Kapiti hospital

Education: everyone knows how choc-a-bloc the two primary schools are and the town needs another one. We may see that with the Waikanae North fast-tracked housing development. Tim also spoke about the need for tertiary education schooling: not just for medical personnel but also tradies in construction with apprentice training. We don’t want to see people do long commutes elsewhere for these as they may relocate elsewhere.

Transport: Passenger trains that will continue north from Waikanae: the new tri-mode multiple unit trains are not due to arrive until 2029; in the meantime Tim says he is trying to get another run each day each way for the Capital Connection train which comes down in the morning from Palmerston North then just sits in the Wellington railyard for most of the day before going back in the evening.

Double track and electrification from Waikanae to Otaki was a National Party promise in 2020, but people voted for the Jacinda regime instead which severely depleted the government coffers, and there is the need to remedy the single-track pinch points such as the Waikanae River bridge so that a faster timetable is enabled. He is still pushing for the Peka Peka full ‘Ewy’ interchange which suffered the same fate. As it’s not that a big-ticket item, he is hopeful he can achieve it before 2026 and he got the NZTA to keep the land that had been earmarked for it. But the big-ticket item, which is definitely happening with work starting next year, is the continuation of the ‘Ewy’ to north of Levin.

Congestion at the Elizabeth Street level crossing. This is getting ever worse and Tim says the emergency crossing that was put in place should become a second normal crossing to alleviate it.

In fact in Belmarsh Maximum Security prison, the same prison that the same judiciary threw Julian Assange into. Needless to say, this is banned in the UK but not elsewhere.

Some readers will remember that Dick Cheney was Dubya’s VP and was the driving force — along with Joe Biden — behind his administration’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. How did that work out? Well, most folks know, and it didn’t benefit either Iraq, the U.S. or their lapdogs in Downing Street, London.

It’s claimed that over 1 million Iraqis died as a result of Dick Cheney and Dubya’s war so it’s no wonder the former supports Kamala — he loves war as much as she does.

Reviewed by Tony Orman

The outdoors for everyone

Interest in tramping and the outdoors has risen astronomically in recent years. Once very much a male domain, participation has embraced particularly solo females and families. 

For anyone entering the wonderful wilderness world of New Zealand via tramping, this book is an invaluable guide to equipment, bush-craft techniques and 59 selected walks in both North and South Islands.

 The Aotearoa name is inappropriate

I must mention the title and the use of the mystical word “Aotearoa”. To an overseas visitor, use of “Aotearoa” would seem wrong. After all it’s not the official name for the country and in fact, its origin is not Maori or even mentioned in the much-discussed Treaty.

Be that as it may, I feel for marketing any book, the use of Aotearoa is not helpful. But then other publishers are using Aotearoa so why not join the trend? Not for me thanks.

Covering a great variety of walks and tramps

Nevertheless this is an excellent book, with each text of a walk, accompanied by photographs and a map.

The book is admirably directed at families with the first two sections dealing with important aspects such as packing, topographical maps, gear, food, weather, safe trampling and etiquette.  Then it delves into the individual walks subdivided into hikes for children, quick walks, multi-day and rougher and tougher tramps, and finally focusing on alpine and more rugged backcountry terrain.

An instructive and beautifully presented book

I liked the emphasis on safety and judicious decision-making because the mountains are no place for fool-hardiness.

The author says her goal in writing the book is simple — “to inspire people to get out and explore this breath-taking country and give them the know-how to do it.” Hannah-Rose Watt has achieved this admirably.

The excellent presentation and lay out make it an instructive and invaluable book for would-be trampers and experienced ones too. 

Highly recommended.

Wild Walks Aotearoa by Hannah Rose Watt is published by Penguin Books, RRP $50