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A recent article in the NY Times caught my attention, it described a “troubling surge in Homicides” following Covid-19 Lockdowns.[^1] I was immediately reminded of a similar article in the NZ Herald following our L4 Lockdown that was referred to as “Murderous May”.[^2] Both articles described in detail how violent crime had risen dramatically following the restrictions, and although the US is clearly facing different issues, neither article…

I have been inspired by the lives of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Kate Sheppard, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela. At the heart of their lives was a passion to make attractive communities. They are the champions of a compassionate and a free society that we enjoy today. A greater freedom from discrimination, oppression, and poverty. The picture they paint of a compassionate free society is one of connected, cohesive,…

At the turn of the twentieth century, life was very different from what it is today, and children’s toys were no exception. Morris Mitchum produced the original Teddy Bear, and cousins Binney and Smith began manufacturing an eight pack of crayons under the brand ‘Crayola’. The box sold for a nickel and contained black, brown, blue, red, violet, orange, yellow, and green. The steam era was well advanced, and progress made by its now commonplace…

Recognized for many different reasons; a diarist, poet, and punk rock musician, he was part of New York’s post punk and beatnik scene in the 1970’s and 1980’s and had lived a harrowing existence of drug addiction and prostitution in his younger years famously chronicled in his best known novels, the gritty autobiographical, The Basketball Diaries and it’s follow up, Forced Entries. In addition to his literary output, his music also continues to…

It’s been a highly unusual year with many of us spending an increased amount of time at home and in our gardens. For some this has been a godsend as it has allowed us to catch up on house and garden jobs and commence on long overdue projects. Fast forward to October and it feels like spring has well and truly arrived! Blossoms are out and the lush green buds are starting to appear. The weather is warming up and if you are like us here at Tree…

Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 12.2 percent in the June 2020 quarter, the largest quarterly fall recorded since the current series began in 1987, as the COVID-19 restrictions in place through the quarter impacted economic activity, Stats NZ said today. “The 12.2 percent fall in quarterly GDP is by far the largest on record in New Zealand,” national accounts senior manager Paul Pascoe said. · Measures to contain COVID-19 have led to…

In late 2017, while on our second date, Topher and I had the idea to drive the planet. That evening we shook hands to agree that “one day” we would follow through with our big plan. · In March the following year we arrived in Vancouver to pick up our Jeep Wrangler “Gunther”. On the 18th of April 2018 Gunther, Topher and I began one of the longest overland expeditions ever undertaken from Deadhorse, Alaska to Auckland, New Zealand.

There’s an increasing divide between how Covid-19 related news and information is being reported by governments, health authorities and the mainstream media on one hand, and alternative media and independent expert commentators on the other. This is particularly the case on matters of science. The resultant public uncertainty is fuelling ever more polarised public viewpoints in relation to what should and shouldn’t be done because of, or in…

If, as many predict, we will have to learn to live with Covid-19 for some years, we need to get our border issues sorted out. No, I’m not talking about our international border. I’m talking about the one down the road here on the edge of Auckland. · I’m talking about the borders you get when you lockdown a region or a city; the border that divides people who live in one zone and work in another. · In the latest lockdown, much of the debate has…

Earlier this summer, the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee set about crunching data on more than 40,000 genes from 17,000 genetic samples in an effort to better understand COVID-19. Summit is the second-fastest computer in the world, but the process – which involved analyzing 2.5 billion genetic combinations – still took more than a week. When Summit was done, researchers analyzed the results. It was, in the words of…