Can Donald Trump do the unthinkable?
to Plimmerton domain. It is also a cycle track, but is very wide and safe for both groups.
The other is a diversion from this walkway just past Whenua Tapu cemetery.
Walk a short distance along Airlie Rd and over the rail bridge, and look for the sign for the Taua Tapu Track on the left.
You go up and across farmland with glorious views out to Mana Island, with the options of either walking down the track and Motuhara Rd (with lovely views) or dropping down from the end of the Taua Tapu Track to Karehana Bay on a delightful tui-song bush track to Reserve Rd in Plimmerton, then along the beach front to Plimmerton Village. There is even a third option – to take the coastal route from Pukerua Bay to Plimmerton.
Drop down to the beach on one of the two tracks from Pukerua Bay (the Goat Track off Rawhiti Rd, or off Pukerua Bay Beach Rd) and then follow the coast, keeping in mind this is rougher on foot and is probably hard going for small children unless they are keen-as types.
This is the longest route of the three.
SAD TALE OF TITAHI BAY THEATRE
The Titahi Bay community is very supportive, but sadly is unable to support its local theatre.
In August 2012 the theatre’s landlord, Porirua City Council, declared its building, the Titahi Bay Community Hall, to be unsafe, and closed the doors.
Porirua Little Theatre is officially homeless and the historic Titahi Bay Community Hall is falling to pieces.
It was like an off-stage theatrical melodrama, with so many local actors made homeless by an uncaring wicked landlord – Porirua City Council.
It is hoped the new city council, led by a new and enthusiastic mayor, will rescue Porirua Little Theatre, and encourage repair and restoration, rather than demolition, thereby allowing the theatre company to return to its home base in Whitehouse Rd, Titahi Bay.
Then the local community can once again support live theatre in the Bay, and encourage local actors to give it a go on stage. as they once did for local actors Ray Henwood (King Lear at Circa Theatre), and Paul Barrett (currently touring New Zealand in HMSPinafore).
FIREMEN THANKED
May I say through you how great the firemen from Titahi Bay performed on May 5 when Main Road in Titahi Bay flooded. I think some fire boys from Wellington came to help as well.
Two lovely young lads lifted me through a window and carried me to higher ground then one piggybacked me to the fire engine and I was driven in style to my daughter and son-in-law’s home.
What a pity that the camera man didn’t come further into TItahi Bay Main Road and Whitehouse Roads to see how much damage was suffered there, too.
I amforever grateful and that goes with big thanks to all concerned, but a special thanks for Andre and Chris.
Incredibly, the United States seems to have settled on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as the contenders to become the most powerful person on Earth. Non-Americans have thus begun biting their nails in earnest about the prospect of Donald Trump sitting in the White House, with his finger on the nuclear button.
Most observers still do not believe Trump will emerge triumphant in November, although a sizeable minority argue that he has credible hopes of doing so. Here’s a brief summary of those opposing points of view:
Trump Can’t Win
Some 65 of the 72 opinion polls taken during 2016 have shown Clinton beating Trump, often by wide margins. Given how polarised the US is, this virtual consensus has to be significant.
Of late, the Republican support base has been among white men, a group John McCain won by 57-43 per cent over Barack Obama in 2008, and among white women, whom Mitt Romney carried by 14 points over Obama in 2012.
White voters however, form a shrinking part of the US electorate. Any Republican lead among whites tends to be negated by its crushing deficit among minorities. Trump is viewed negatively by 77 per cent of Hispanic voters, worse even than Romney, who lost Hispanics by 73-27 per cent in 2012.
Romney lost women voters 56-44 per cent overall in 2012, and Trump is polling even worse among women, thanks to a series of misogynist comments.
Meaning: as Trump increases his appeal to white male voters, the more that should galvanise women voters and the Hispanic and black communities to mobilise to stop him.
Trump also faces unprecedented opposition from traditional Republican donors. Already, big donors such as the Koch brothers have signalled they are considering sitting out the 2016 contest.
Conservative American columnists from Jennifer Rubin to David Brooks have condemned Trump, and a sizeable share of the core Republican base appears willing to skip the election, or vote for a spoiler. Ultimately, many influential Republicans seeking to modernise the party share almost nothing in common with Trump’s right-wing populism, which seems based on a nostalgic hunger for the America of the 1950s – when manufacturing jobs were plentiful, every public sign was in English, and no-one had to think twice before saying anything around women, or minorities.
Finally, Trump’s history of bad business dealings and his reluctance to release his tax records seem bound to hurt him during the months ahead.
‘‘The world should be worried, but shouldn’t be losing sleep just yet.’’
Trump Can Win.
Conversely, once Trump gets officially anointed as the Republican nominee, that will lend him substance and legitimacy. Already, polls show Trump closing the gap in key swing states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.
Also, Clinton is almost as unpopular as Trump, and is a relatively poor campaigner. She is widely seen to be a creature of Wall Street and the Washington establishment, and many Bernie Sanders supporters will not vote for her. New voter registration laws passed by a Republican Congress will also mean that many votes cast for Clinton by poor, black and Hispanic voters will be disallowed.
Currently, election prediction markets give Trump only a 30 per cent chance of victory. The world should be worried, but shouldn’t be losing sleep just yet.