Engineer strike could spoil Christmas gatherings

ON Christmas Day, picture an elderly couple sitting at dinner, eating a few slices from a turkey which would serve 10. They pull two crackers from the box. Underneath the decorated Christmas tree sit gaily wrapped presents which will not be opened today. They toast ‘‘absent friends’’ and think there are far too many. Neither the Grinch nor Scrooge has created this situation.

The Air New Zealand engineer strike notice came too late to post the parcels, and some are too fragile to post. If the family was here, they could give those gifts which are otherwise not sensible. It came after the turkey had been bought and stowed in the freezer.

If the engineers had wanted public support, I think they have miscalculated the effect of their decision.

Perhaps the most apposite comment comes from Charles Dickens. Did the engineers really mean to say ‘‘Christmas. Bah humbug’’?

Lynne Hill

Mosgiel

Carbon

WHILE there are arguments both for and against global warming being caused by humans, and the speed at which it is happening, there should be no argument about carbon and carbon dioxide.

For some unexplained reason many correspondents use carbon when they mean carbon dioxide. If the argument has meaning, then the correct wording must be used. Carbon dioxide is a gas that is released by many facets of our world, including humans by the simple action of breathing, and is considered by some as the major contributor to climate change through global warming. No mention is made of the largest greenhouse gas of all, water vapour. Carbon is a chemical element which bonds with other elements, it is important for all life and is probably the last item we would want to abolish or reduce. R.J. McKenzie

Andersons Bay ...................................

BIBLE READING: . . . creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay . . . — Romans 8:21.

Council projects

IT is easy to find out if the elections to the Dunedin City Council are near. We start hearing about outrageous and grandiose projects, all planned and ready by those who are about to throw their hats into the ring.

In the last two weeks, we heard about ridesharing plans into the city (after getting rid of many of the car parks in the previous weeks), fears for our water supply network (someone suddenly remembered that we have a water supply network with more than its share of problems), cycle track to Mosgiel (heard about this for a number of years now), waterfront playground (God alone knows exactly where), all the ongoing hype about cycleways (to the detriment of the majority of people of Dunedin), and the like.

It is election time for the mayor and councillors, most of whom are desperate to get reelected!

Mathew Zacharias

Mosgiel